HARAMAYA UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF NATURAL AND COMPUTATIONAL

SCIENCE
DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY

General and Inorganic Chemistry (ChEg2202)

For 2nd year Chemical Engineering Students

By Weynshet.A (MSc in Inorganic chemistry)

 Important Inorganic Compounds
Introduction
 Inorganic chemistry deals with the properties of all of the
elements in the periodic table.
 These elements range from highly reactive metals, such as
sodium, to noble metals, such as gold.
 The nonmetals include solids, liquids, and gases, and range from
the aggressive oxidizing agent fluorine to unreactive gases such
as helium.
 Although this variety and diversity are features of any study of
inorganic chemistry, there are underlying patterns and trends
which enrich and enhance our understanding of the discipline.
 Inorganic chemistry has considerable impact on our everyday
lives and on other scientific disciplines.
 The chemical industry is strongly dependent on it.
• Inorganic chemistry is essential to the formulation and
improvement of modern materials such as catalysts,
semiconductors, optical devices, superconductors, and advanced
ceramic materials.
• The environmental and biological impact of inorganic chemistry
is also huge.
• Consider the difference between inorganic chemistry and
organic chemistry.
• Organic chemistry is concerned with the study of the structure
and properties of compounds containing carbon.
• All organic compounds contain carbon atoms.
• Inorganic chemistry is the study of the other elements and non-
carbon containing compounds.
• Some carbon compounds are not considered to be organic (mostly
for historical reasons), such as CO, CO2, diamond, graphite, and
salts of carbon containing polyatomic ions (e.g., CO32-, CN-).
• Inorganic compound: Compounds of elements other than carbon,
but including carbon, oxides, carbonates.
• Most inorganic compounds are ionic compounds.
Table :Properties of typical organic and inorganic compounds.
 Inorganic compounds

1. Oxides: 2. peroxides:

3. Hydroxides:
4. Hydracids: 5. Oxoacids and thioacids:

6. Salts:
7. Coordination compounds:
 Periodic law

Historical development of the periodic table

• Dimitri Mendeleev in Russia (1869) and Lothar Meyer in Germany
(1870) independently recognized that there was a periodic
relationship among the properties of the elements known at that
time.
• Both published tables with the elements arranged according to
increasing atomic mass. But Mendeleev went one step further than
Meyer:
• By the twentieth century, it became apparent that the periodic
relationship involved atomic numbers rather than atomic masses.
The modern statement of this relationship, the periodic law, is as
follows: the properties of the elements are periodic functions of
their atomic numbers.
• A modern periodic table arranges the elements in increasing order
of their atomic numbers and groups atoms with similar properties
in the same vertical column
• The elements are arranged in 7 horizontal rows, called
periods or series, and 18 vertical columns, called groups.
• Groups are labeled at the top of each column.
• In the United States, the labels traditionally were numerals
with capital letters. However, IUPAC recommends that the
numbers 1 through 18 be used, and these labels are more
common.
 We can sort the elements into large classes with common properties:
 metals (elements that are shiny, malleable, good conductors of heat
and electricity);
 nonmetals (elements that appear dull, poor conductors of heat and
electricity); and
 metalloids (elements that conduct heat and electricity moderately
well, and possess some properties of metals and some properties of
nonmetals).
 The elements can also be classified into:
 main-group elements (or representative elements) in the columns
labeled 1, 2, and 13–18;
 transition metals in the columns labeled 3–12; and
 inner transition metals in the two rows at the bottom of the table
(the top-row elements are called lanthanides and the bottom-row
elements are actinides.
 Atomic Structure
• Atomic structure refers to the configuration of the
constituents of the atom.
• The chemistry of an element is determined largely by its
electronic configuration.
• Atom, the smallest constituent particle of matter; which
consist a dense central nucleus surrounded by a cloud of
negatively charged electrons.
 It was learned that an atom contains a very small nucleus
composed of positively charged protons and uncharged neutrons,
surrounded by a much larger volume of space containing
negatively charged electrons.
 The nucleus contains the majority of an atom’s mass because
protons and neutrons are much heavier than electrons, whereas
electrons occupy almost all of an atom’s volume.
 The diameter of an atom is on the order of 10−10 m, whereas the
diameter of the nucleus is roughly 10−15 m, about 100,000 times
smaller.
Table 2: Properties of Subatomic Particles
 • For a perspective about their relative sizes, consider this: If the
nucleus were the size of a blueberry, the atom would be about
the size of a football stadium.

Figure 1. If an atom could be expanded to the size of a football stadium, the

nucleus would be the size of a single blueberry.
 Atoms-and the protons, neutrons, and electrons that compose them
are extremely small. For example, a carbon atom weighs less than 2
× 10−23 g, and an electron has a charge of less than 2 × 10−19 C
(coulomb).
 When describing the properties of tiny objects such as atoms, we
use appropriately small units of measure, such as the atomic mass
unit (amu) and the fundamental unit of charge (e).
 Atomic mass unit (amu) has been defined with regard to the
most abundant isotope of carbon, atoms of which are assigned
masses of exactly 12 amu.
 Thus, one amu is exactly 1/12 of the mass of one carbon-12
atom: 1 amu = 1.6605 × 10−24 g. (The Dalton (Da) and the
unified atomic mass unit (u) are alternative units that are
equivalent to the amu.)
 The fundamental unit of charge (also called the elementary
charge) equals the magnitude of the charge of an electron (e)
with e = 1.602 × 10−19 C.
 The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom is its atomic
number (Z).
This is the defining trait of an element
Its value determines the identity of the atom
 𝒂𝒕𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒄 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓(𝒁) = 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔
𝒎𝒂𝒔𝒔 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓(𝑨) = 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒕𝒐𝒏𝒔 + 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇
𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔
𝑨 − 𝒁 = 𝒏𝒖𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒏𝒆𝒖𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒔
 Atoms are electrically neutral if they contain the same number of positively
charged protons and negatively charged electrons.
 When the numbers of these subatomic particles are not equal, the atom is
electrically charged and is called an ion.
The charge of an atom is defined as follows:
Atomic charge = number of protons − number of electrons
 An atom that gains one or more electrons will exhibit a negative charge and is
called an anion.
 Positively charged atoms called cations are formed when an atom loses one or
more electrons.
 For example, a neutral sodium atom (Z = 11) has 11 electrons. If
this atom loses one electron, it will become a cation with a 1+
charge (11 − 10 = 1+). A neutral oxygen atom (Z = 8) has eight
electrons, and if it gains two electrons it will become an anion with
a 2- charge (8 − 10 = 2-).
 The Bohr Model of the Atom
 Bohr theory modified the atomic structure model by explaining that
electrons move in fixed orbitals (shells) and not anywhere in
between and he also explained that each orbit (shell) has a fixed
energy.
 in an atom, electrons (negatively charged) revolve around the
positively charged nucleus in a definite circular path called orbits
or shells.
 The energy levels are represented by an integer (n=1, 2, 3…)
known as the quantum number.
 This range of quantum number starts from nucleus side with n=1
having the lowest energy level. The orbits n=1, 2, 3, 4… are
assigned as K, L, M, N…. shells and when an electron attains the
lowest energy level, it is said to be in the ground state.
 The electrons in an atom move from a lower energy level to a higher energy
level by gaining the required energy and an electron moves from a higher
energy level to lower energy level by losing energy.
 Each orbit or shell has a fixed energy and these circular orbits are known as
orbital shells.

 Mathematically, this model was determined by the equation: , where RH is

the Rydberg constant (2.18 x 10-18J), ni and nf are integers with nf > ni.
Q1: What is the energy (in joules) and the wavelength (in meters) of
the line in the spectrum of hydrogen that represents the movement of
an electron from Bohr orbit with n = 4 to the orbit with n = 6? In
what part of the electromagnetic spectrum do we find this radiation?
Solution
• In this case, the electron starts out with n = 4, so n1 = 4. It comes
to rest in the n = 6 orbit, so n2 = 6. The difference in energy
between the two states is given by this expression:

The wavelength of a photon with this energy is found by the expression

Rearrangement gives:
 Quantum Theory of Electrons in Atoms
 Electrons in atoms can exist only on discrete energy levels but not
between them.
 It is said that the energy of an electron in an atom is quantized, that
is, it can be equal only to certain specific values.
 The energy levels are labeled with an n value, where n = 1, 2, 3,…
This number, n, is referred to as the principal quantum number.

Figure : Different shells are numbered by

principal quantum numbers

 This quantum mechanical model for where electrons reside in

an atom can be used to look at electronic transitions, the
events when an electron moves from one energy level to
another.
 Quantum Numbers
• The quantum numbers are parameters that describe the
distribution of electrons in the atom.
• Principal Quantum Number (n) - Represents the main energy
level, or shell, occupied by an electron. It is always a positive
integer that is n= 1, 2, 3...
• Angular Momentum Quantum Number (l) - Represents the
energy sublevel, or type of orbital, occupied by the electron.
The value of l depends on the value of n such that l= 0, 1,... n-1.
Magnetic Quantum Number (ml) - Represents the number of
possible orientations in 3-D space for each type of orbital.
• Since the type of orbital is determined by l, the value of ml ranges
between –l and +l such that ml= -l, ...0, ...+l.
• The total number of possible orbitals with the same value of l
(that is, in the same subshell) is 2l + 1.
Spin Quantum Number (mS) - Represents the two possible
orientations that an electron can have in the presence of a magnetic
field, or in relation to another electron occupying the same orbital.
 Only two electrons can occupy the same orbital, and they
must have opposite spins. When this happens, the electrons are
said to be paired. The allowed values for the spin quantum
number ms are +1/2 and -1/2
Working with Shells and Subshells
 Indicate the number of subshells, the number of orbitals in each
subshell, and the values of l and ml for the orbitals in the n = 4
shell of an atom.
Solution
 For n = 4, l can have values of 0, 1, 2, and 3. Thus, s, p, d, and f
subshells are found in the n = 4 shell of an atom.
 For l = 0 (the s subshell), ml can only be 0. Thus, there is only
one 4s orbital.
 For l = 1 (p-type orbitals), m can have values of –1, 0, +1, so we
find three 4p orbitals.
 For l = 2 (d-type orbitals), ml can have values of –2, –1, 0, +1,
+2, so we have five 4d orbitals.
 When l = 3 (f-type orbitals), ml can have values of –3, –2, –1, 0,
+1, +2, +3, and we can have seven 4forbitals. Thus, we find a
total of 16 orbitals in the n = 4 shell of an atom.
• Calculate the maximum number of electrons that can occupy a shell
with (a) n = 2, (b) n = 5.
a. When n = 2, there are four orbitals (a single 2s orbital, and three
orbitals labeled 2p). These four orbitals can contain eight electrons.
b. When n = 5, there are five subshells of orbitals that we need to sum:
 1orbital labeled 5s
 3orbitals labeled 5p
 5orbitals labeled 5d
 7orbitals labeled 5f
 +9orbitals labeled 5g
=25orbitals total
• Again, each orbital holds two electrons, so 50 electrons can fit in
this shell.
• The number of orbitals in any shell n will equal n 2 . There can be up
to two electrons in each orbital, so the maximum number of
electrons will be 2 × n 2 .
Q: Identify the subshell in which electrons with the following
quantum numbers are found:
(a) n = 3, l = 1; (b) n = 5, l = 3; (c) n = 2, l = 0.
Electron filling of orbitals (electronic configuration):
 The arrangement of electrons in the orbitals of an atom
 In writing electronic configurations or electron filling of orbitals,
we follow the Aufbau principle, Hund’s rule, and the Pauli
Exclusion Principle. These are:
1. The Aufbau Principle (building up principle): It explains the
order in which the electrons fill the various orbitals in an atom.
Filling begins with the orbitals in the lowest energy, or most
stable, shells and continues through the higher-energy shells, until
the appropriate number of orbitals is filled for each atom
The energy of atomic orbitals increases as the principal quantum
number, n, increases. The energy increases as we move up to the 1s, 2s
and then 2p, 3s, and 3p orbitals.
 Figure: This diagram depicts the energy order for
atomic orbitals and is useful for deriving ground-
state electron configurations.

Hund's rule: states that each degenerate orbital, (e.g.2px, 2py, and 2pz) must
first receive one electron before any of the orbitals can receive a second
electron.
Pauli Exclusion Principle: each orbital contains a maximum of two electrons.
These two electrons must have opposite values for the spin, which is generally
indicated by showing the electrons as arrows pointing up (↑) or down (↓).
The electron configurations and orbital diagrams of these four elements are:
• Quantum Numbers and Electron Configurations What is the
electron configuration and orbital diagram for a phosphorus
atom? What are the four quantum numbers for the last electron
added?
Solution: The atomic number of phosphorus is 15. Thus, a
phosphorus atom contains 15 electrons. The order of filling of the
energy levels is 1s, 2s, 2p, 3s, 3p, 4s, . . . The 15 electrons of the
phosphorus atom will fill up to the 3p orbital, which will contain
three electrons:

• The last electron added is a 3p electron. Therefore, n = 3 and, for

a p-type orbital, l = 1. The ml value could be –1, 0, or +1. The
three p orbitals are degenerate, so any of these ml values is
correct. For unpaired electrons, convention assigns the value of
+1/2 for the spin quantum number; thus, 𝑚𝑠 = +1/2
2. CHEMICAL BOND