- The basic language of chemistry is introduced including symbols and equations.

(Note that sections related to ‘amount’ in the extended part of the syllabus are not included this year)

This is Dmitri Mendeleev, the founder of the Periodic Table of Elements, Although his original table was rather empty, it has now been filled, (due to more modern discoveries), and is essential for all aspects of chemistry. There 103 elements now known to man which can be found upon the periodic table. If you like an interactive periodic table click on this link.

Atoms of Elements have shells. There are electrons on these shells.

For the first 20 elements, the first shell is full when it has 2 electrons on it, the next shell is full when it has 8, and the third shell is full when it has 8. To find out how many shells an element atom has, you look on the periodic table. For every row (downwards) one shell is added. The first row (Hydrogen and Helium) only has one shell, and the next one has 2 shells and so on...

You can tell the number of electrons by its relative atomic mass (number above the symbol). You can tell the the number of electrons on the outer shell by looking at what group it is in.

Most elements can be combined like water, a combination of 2 hydrogen molecules and an oxygen molecule. Some elements react with other elements. For example, when you mix copper sulphate with magnesium, the magnesium will replace the copper to create magnesium sulphate and copper. The symbolic equation for this is: CuSO4+Mg->MgSO4+Cu. However if you mix magnesium sulphate with copper, you will not get a reaction. This is because magnesium is more reactive so it will not let go of the other molecules which complete its outer shell.

The reason atoms react with one another is because they are "trying" to fill their outer electron shells. For example, carbon will combine with two oxygen molecules to form carbon dioxide because carbon needs to gain four electrons to complete its outer shell while each oxygen needs to gain two. That means each oxygen will share two electrons with the carbon and the carbon will share its four electrons equally between both oxygens.

Vocabulary List:

* Atoms: are made up of three types of particles.

               - protons: positively charged particles, in the central part (forms nucleus) of an atom.

               - neutron: non-charged particles, in the central part of an atom (forms nucleus) of an atom.

               - electrons: negatively charged particles.

* Atomic Number/Proton Number: number of protons.

* Atomic Mass/Mass Number: mass of protons and neutrons.

Elements, Compounds, Mixture, and Molecules: 

*An element only include one kind of an atom.

*A compound contains two or more atoms of different elements, chemically bonded.

*A mixture contains two or more atoms of different elements, physically bonded.

*A molecule contains two or more atoms of same kind, chemically bonded.