01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement

<p class="lt-chem-21656">Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes that material substances undergo. Of all the scientific disciplines, it is perhaps the most extensively connected to other fields of study. As you begin your study of college chemistry, those of you who do not intend to become professional chemists may well wonder why you need to study chemistry. You will soon discover that a basic understanding of chemistry is useful in a wide range of disciplines and career paths. You will also discover that an understanding of chemistry helps you make informed decisions about many issues that affect you, your community, and your world. A major goal of this text is to demonstrate the importance of chemistry in your daily life and in our collective understanding of both the physical world we occupy and the biological realm of which we are a part.</p>

<p class="lt-chem-21656"></p><div id="e82a2379-9feb-6632-b9a6-253802e1343a" class="mt-guide-content"><div class="noindex"><ul class="mt-topic-hierarchy-listings mt-guide-listings"><li data-page-id="21691" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.1: Studying Chemistry" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.01:_Studying_Chemistry"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.1: Studying Chemistry</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">An understanding of chemistry is essential for understanding much of the natural world and is central to many other disciplines. Chemistry is the study of matter and the changes material substances undergo. It is essential for understanding much of the natural world and central to many other scientific disciplines, including astronomy, geology, paleontology, biology, and medicine.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="21692" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.2: Classification of Matter" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.02:_Classification_of_Matter"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.2: Classification of Matter</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">Matter can be classified according to physical and chemical properties. Matter is anything that occupies space and has mass. The three states of matter are solid, liquid, and gas. A physical change involves the conversion of a substance from one state of matter to another, without changing its chemical composition. Most matter consists of mixtures of pure substances, which can be homogeneous (uniform in composition) or heterogeneous (different regions possess different compositions &amp; properties.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="21693" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.3: Properties of Matter" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.03:_Properties_of_Matter"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.3: Properties of Matter</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">All matter has physical and chemical properties. Physical properties are characteristics that scientists can measure without changing the composition of the sample under study, such as mass, color, and volume (the amount of space occupied by a sample). Chemical properties describe the characteristic ability of a substance to react to form new substances; they include its flammability and susceptibility to corrosion.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="21694" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.4: Units of Measurement" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.04:_Units_of_Measurement"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.4: Units of Measurement</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">The natural sciences begin with observation, and this usually involves numerical measurements of quantities such as length, volume, density, and temperature. Most of these quantities have units of some kind associated with them, and these units must be retained when you use them in calculations. Measuring units can be defined in terms of a very small number of fundamental ones that, through &quot;dimensional analysis&quot;, provide insight into their derivation and meaning.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="21695" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.5: Uncertainty in Measurement" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.05:_Uncertainty_in_Measurement"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.5: Uncertainty in Measurement</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">Measurements may be accurate, meaning that the measured value is the same as the true value; they may be precise, meaning that multiple measurements give nearly identical values (i.e., reproducible results); they may be both accurate and precise; or they may be neither accurate nor precise. The goal of scientists is to obtain measured values that are both accurate and precise.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="21696" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.6: Dimensional Analysis" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.06:_Dimensional_Analysis"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.6: Dimensional Analysis</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">Dimensional analysis is used in numerical calculations, and in converting units. It can help us identify whether an equation is set up correctly (i.e. the resulting units should be as expected). Units are treated similarly to the associated numerical values, i.e., if a variable in an equation is supposed to be squared, then the associated dimensions are squared, etc.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="24745" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.E: Matter and Measurement (Exercises)" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.E:_Matter_and_Measurement_(Exercises)"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.E: Matter and Measurement (Exercises)</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">These are homework exercises to accompany the Textmap created for &quot;Chemistry: The Central Science&quot; by Brown et al.</dd></dl></li><li data-page-id="70560" class="mt-list-topics"><dl class="mt-listing-detailed"><dt class="mt-listing-detailed-title"><a title="1.S: Matter and Measurement (Summary)" class="internal" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement/1.S:_Matter_and_Measurement_(Summary)"><span class="mt-icon-article-topic"></span>1.S: Matter and Measurement (Summary)</a></dt><dd class="mt-listing-detailed-overview">This is the summary Module for the chapter &quot;Matter and Measurement&quot; in the Brown et al. General Chemistry Textmap.</dd></dl></li></ul></div></div><script type="application/json" id="mt-localizations-guide-tabs-settings">/*<![CDATA[*/{"MindTouch.IDF3.label.guide.settings.classifications":"Classification settings","MindTouch.IDF3.label.guide.settings.learningpath":"Path settings","MindTouch.IDF3.label.overview.max.count":"{0} characters remaining.","MindTouch.IDF3.label.overview.max.count.over":"Warning.  {0} characters will be truncated.","MindTouch.LearningPath.dialog.remove.cancel":"Cancel","MindTouch.LearningPath.dialog.remove.confirm":"OK","MindTouch.LearningPath.dialog.remove.header":"Remove path","MindTouch.LearningPath.dialog.remove.message":"You are about to remove this path from this guide."}/*]]>*/</script>

<p></p>

<p class="hideprint">Thumbnail: Chemicals in flasks (including Ammonium hydroxide and Nitric acid) lit in different colours (CC <span class="acronym-ignore">BY</span> 2.0 Generic; <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/27304596@N00" rel="nofollow">Joe Sullivan</a> via <a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/27304596@N00/96522428" rel="nofollow">Flickr</a>)</p>

function loadMathJaxScript() {
    try {
    	const script = document.createElement('script');
      script.id = "mathjax-script";
    	script.src = "https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/mathjax@4/tex-mml-svg.js";
    	script.type = "text/javascript";
      script.defer = true;

document.head.appendChild(script);
    } catch (err) {
        console.error(err);
    }
}

document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (e) => {
	loadMathJaxScript();
});

if (window.PageName !== 'Realtime MathJax'){
MathJax = {
  options: {
    ignoreHtmlClass: "tex2jax_ignore",
    processHtmlClass: "tex2jax_process",
    menuOptions: {
      settings: {
        zscale: "150%",
        zoom: "Double-Click",

assistiveMml: true, // true to enable assitive MathML
        collapsible: false, // true to enable collapsible math
      },
    },
  },
  output: {
    scale: 0.85,
    mtextInheritFont: false,
    displayOverflow: "linebreak",
    linebreaks: {
      width: "100%",
    },
  },
  startup: {
    pageReady: () => {
      if (window.activateBeeLine) {
        window.activateBeeLine();
      }
      return MathJax.startup.defaultPageReady();
    },
  },
  chtml: {
    matchFontHeight: true,
  },
  tex: {
    tags: "all",
    tagformat: {
      number: (n) => {
        if (window.InitialOffset) {
          const offset = Number(window.InitialOffset);
         	if(!offset) {
          	return front + n; // If offset is falsy (nan, undefined, etc.)
          }
          const added = Number(n) + offset;
          return front + added;
        } else {
          return front + n;
       	}
      },
    },
    macros: {
      eatSpaces: ['#1', 2, ['', ' ', '\\endSpaces']],
      PageIndex: ['{' + front.replace(/\./g, '{.}') + '\\eatSpaces#1 \\endSpaces}', 1],
      test: ["{" + front + "#1}", 1],
      mhchemrightleftharpoons: "{\\unicode{x21CC}\\,}",
      xrightleftharpoons: ['\\mhchemxrightleftharpoons[#1]{#2}', 2, '']
    },
    packages: {
      "[+]": [
        "mhchem",
        "color",
        "cancel",
        "ams",
        "tagformat"
      ],
    },
  },
  loader: {
    '[tex]/mhchem': {
      ready() {
        const {MapHandler} = MathJax._.input.tex.MapHandler;
        const mhchem = MapHandler.getMap('mhchem-chars');
        mhchem.lookup('mhchemrightarrow')._char = '\uE42D';
        mhchem.lookup('mhchemleftarrow')._char = '\uE42C';
      }
    },
    load: [
      "[tex]/mhchem",
      "[tex]/color",
      "[tex]/cancel",
      "[tex]/tagformat",
    ],
  },
};
};
///*]]>*/</script>

<hr class="autoattribution-divider" /><div class="autoattribution"><p><a target="_blank" class="internal mt-self-link" href="/Sandboxes/johnnyphung/chemistry_central/01:_Introduction_-_Matter_and_Measurement">1: Introduction - Matter and Measurement</a> is shared under a <a rel="nofollow" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0" target="_blank">CC BY-NC-SA  3.0</a>  license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts.</p></div>

Reset