Essential Chemical

Concepts

Session II
Learning Objectives for Module II

 Upon completion of this module the student

would be able to:
 Learn fundamental concepts in atomic
theory
 Write balanced chemical reaction equations.
 use balanced chemical reactions to get
quantitative information on environmental
processes.
 Differentiate between activity and
concentration.
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory

 The atom is the smallest part of an element that

can exist and still retain all the chemical
properties associated with the element.
 The atom maintains a neutral charge and
consist of a positively charged nucleus and a
negatively charged atomic shell that contains
electrons.
 The nucleus is composed of positively charged
protons and of neutrons that have no charge .
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory (cont’d)

 For an atom to maintain a neutral charge , the

number of protons must equal the number of
electrons.
 All matter is composed of 103 fundamental
substances called elements, which are distinguished
by the number of protons with the atom.
 The number of protons in the nucleus, Z, is the
element’s atomic number.
 The sum of the protons and the neutrons in an atom’s
nucleus is the element’s mass number, A.
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory (cont’d)

 Atoms of the same element contain the same number of

protons, but the number of neutrons may vary to form
isotopes.
 Isotopes are atoms of the same element that contain a
different number of neutrons and thus have different
weights.
 The atomic weight (AW) of an element is relative to the
weight of carbon-12 and is equal to the mass of one mole
of that element.
 The atomic weight of each element is listed in the
periodic table.
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory (cont’d)

 The molecular weight (MW) of a compound is

the sum of the AWs of the individual elements in
the compound.
 A radical of free radical is typically a very
reactive element, compound, or ion (such as H+,
F-, Cl-) that has an unpaired electron in its
outermost electron shell.
 The equivalent weight (EW) of an element or
radical provides informationon its reactivity.
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory (cont’d)

 EW is calculated by dividing the element’s AW or

radical’s MW by its assumed valence (or charge),
z:
 EW = MW/z where z represent the valence of
the reactive unit.
 Normality, N, relates the mass of solute per
volume of solution, as presented below.
 N = mass of material/L of solution/EW
 = number of equivalents/L of solution
Fundamentals concepts in
atomic theory (cont’d)

 A 1 N solution contains 1 equivalent

weight of a substance per liter of solution.
 Molarity I is defined as the moles of a
solute per liter of solution.
 N= z x M
 Chemical Reactions

 Almost every pollution problem we encounter

has a chemical basis.
 The greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, toxic
wastes, groundwater contamination, air
pollution, acid rain are all examples of
chemical processes in the environment.
 An environmental engineer must therefore be
grounded in chemical principles.
 Chemistry is the study of the composition ,
reactions, and characteristics of matter.
 Chemical Reactions (cont’d)

 Chemical processes are represented by

chemical reaction, which provides
qualitative and quantitative information.
 Qualitative information shows what the
reactants and products are.
 Quantitative information is based on the
law of conservation of mass showing how
much of each compound is involved to
produce the products.
Chemical Reactions Equations

 The balancing of the equation such that the number of

atoms on the right side of the equation is equal to the
number of atoms on the left side is known as
stoichiometry.
 Example:
 1. CH4 + O2 ----------- CO2 + H2O
 CH4 + 2O2 ----------- CO2 + 2 H2O
 1 mole CH4 + 2 moles O2 ---------- 1 mole CO2 + 2
moles H2O
 16g CH4 + 64g O2 ------ 44g CO2 + 36g H2O
Chemical Reaction Equations

 2. What mass of carbon dioxide would be produced if 100 g of

butane is completely oxidized to carbon dioxide and water?
 C4H10 + O2 ----------- CO2 + H2O
 2C4H10 + 13O2 ----------- 8 CO2 + 10 H2O
 2 moles C4H10 + 13 moles O2 ----- 8moles CO2 + 10 moles H2O
 116g C4H10 + 416g O2 ------- 352g CO2 + 180g H2O
 100 g of butane is 100g/58g/ moles = 1.72 moles
 8 moles of CO2 is produced from 2 moles of C 4H10
 So by proportion (8 X 1.72)/2 moles is produced = (6.88 moles)
(44g/mole)
 = 303g of CO2
 3. Calculate the theoretical oxygen required to completely oxidize
1.67 X 10-3M glucose solution to carbon dioxide and water.
Chemical Reaction Equations

 3. C6H12O6 + O2 ----------- CO2 + H 2O

 C6H12O6 + 6O2 ----------- 6CO2 + 6 H 2O

 1 mole C6H12O6 + 6 moles O2 ------- 6 moles

CO2 + 6 moles H2O
 180g C6H12O6 + 192g O2 ------- 264g CO2 + 108g
H2 O
 1.67 X10-3 M = (1.67 X10-3 mole/L) (180g/mole) (1000
mg/g) = 300 mg/L
 Therefore the oxygen required = 300mg/L glucose x
192g O2 /180 g glucose = 320 mg/L O2
 Chemical Reaction Equations
Consider the following reaction representing the
combustion of propane:
 C3 H8 + O2 ------ CO2 + H2O
(a). Balance the equation.
(b). How many grams of oxygen are required to burn 10g of
propane?
©. How many grams of oxygen are required to burn 100g of
propane?
(d). At Standard temperature and pressure (0 oC, 1 atms)
what volume of oxygen would be required to burn 100g of
propane?
(e). What volume of air is required to burn 100g of propane
assume that air is 21% oxygen and 79% Nitrogen?
(f). At STP what volume of CO2 would be produced when
100g of propane are burned?
 Solution
 a.C3 H8 + 5 O2  3 CO2 + 4 H2O
 Basis: 1 mole of propane
 b. 5 moles of O2 is needed per mole of propane.
 (10.0 g C3 H8 ) (1mole C3 H8 / 44 g C3 H8 ) =
0.2273 moles C3 H8
 # moles of O2 required = (0.2273 moles C3 H8) ( 5
moles / 1mole C3 H8 ) = 1.136 moles O2
 Mass of O2 required = (1.136 mole O2 )/ ( 32 g
O2 / mole O2 ) = 36.36 g O2
 Solution

 ©. (100.0 g C3 H8 ) (1mole C3 H8 / 44 g C3 H8 ) =
2.273 moles C3 H8

 # moles of O2 required = (2.273 moles C3 H8) ( 5

moles / 1mole C3 H8 ) = 11.36 moles O2
 Mass of O2 required = (11.36 mole O2 )/ ( 32 g
O2 / mole O2 ) = 363.64 g O2
 Solution

 Assuming that O2 behaves like an ideal gas

 d. Volume of O2 required = (11.36 moles O2 )
( 22.414 X 10-3 m3 / mole) = 0.225 m3
 (e). Volume of Air O2 is 21% air by volume.
 Vo2 = (0.225 m3 O2) (1 m3 / 0.21 m3 O2) = 1.213 m3
air.
 (f). (3 moles CO2/ mole C3 H8 ) ( 2.273 moles C3
H8 ) = 6.82 mole CO2
 Volume of CO2 = (6.82 mole CO2 ) (22.414 X 10-3
m3 / mole) = 0.153 m3 CO2
Activity and Concentration

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTIVTITY AND

CONCENTRATION
 Activity is effective or apparent concentration
in water or the portion of the true mole-
based concentration of a species that
participates in a chemical reaction.
 In most environmental situations the activity
and concentration are used interchangeably.
 Use of activity instead of concentration
accounts for nonideal effects.
 Activity and Concentration
(cont’d)

 Activity is related to concentration by

activity coefficient which in turn is related
to the ionic strength by different
correlation depending on the electrolytic
nature.
 Activity coefficients depend on the
solution’s ionic strength.
Activity and Concentration
(cont’d)

 The activities of dissociating (ionic) and

nondissociating (neutral) species in
aqueous solutions are influenced by the
ionic strength of the solution.
 It is the combined effect of all ionic
species in water.
 Ionic Strength

Ionic Strength () of a solution has the units of

mole/Liter is ameasure of the long-range
electrostatic interactions in that solution
) = ½ [Cizi2 ] where Ci is the molar concentration of
an ionic species i and zi is the charge of the ion.
The ionc strength of aqueous systems rarely exceeds
0.7M and has been correlated to the total dissolved
solids (TDS) or specific conductance:
 = 2.5 X 10-5 (TDS) where TDS is in mg/L
Ionic Strength (cont’d)
 = 1.6 X 10-5 ( specific conductance) where specific
conductance is inmho/cm.
Calculating Activity Coefficients Electrolytes
{Ci} = γ [Ci] where {Ci} is activity of species Ci and γ is
the activity coefficient and [Ci] is the concentration.
 Activity Coefficient

 The activity coefficient for electrolytes is related to the

ionic strength by the Guntelberg approximation for
solutions with µ <0.1M.
 Log γ = (-Azi2 µ½)/ (1 + µ½)
 A = 1.82 X 106 (DT) -½ D is the dielectric constant, T is the
Temperature
 or by Davis approximation for µ< 0.5M
 Log γ = (-Azi2 µ½)/ [(1 + µ½) - 0.3 µ]
 For nonelectrolytes;
 Log γ = ksµ where ks is the salting-out coefficient
Relationship between ionic strength (µ) and
mean ionic activity coefficient (γ)

Name Equation Range of (µ)

Debye- Huckel Extended Log γi = -Azi 2 (µ)1/2 µ < 10-23
Debye –Huckel Log γi = -Azi 2 [(µ)1/2 /(1 µ < 10-1
+ Ba(µ)1/2 )]

Guntelberg Log γi = -Azi 2 [(µ)1/2 /(1 µ < 10-1

+ (µ)1/2 )]

Davis Log γi = -Azi 2 [(µ)1/2 /(1 µ < 0.5

+ (µ)1/2 ) – 0.2µ]

For water at 298K , A = 0.51 , B = 0.33 Source: Elements of Environmental

Engineering Thermodynamics and Kinetics Valsaraj K.T 2000 CRC press Boca
Raton.
Calculation of Activity
coefficient (γ)

 Determine the activity Coefficient for a 0.002

molal solution of NaCl in water at 298K.
 µ = ½[(0.002) (1)2 + (0.002)(1)2 ]
 = 0.002mol/kg.
 Since µ , 0.002, we can use the Debye- Huckel
limiting law
 Log γ = - 0.51(1)2 (0.002)0.5 = -0.023
 γ = 0.949.
Homework

 If sea water at 293 K has the following

composition , what is the ionc strength of
seawater?
Electrylyte Molality
NaCl 0.46
MgSO4 0.019
MgCL2 0.034
CaSO4 0.009