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Chemistry: Matter and Measurement
Objectives

Chapter Learning Goals

  1. Give the symbol and name of the elements mentioned in this chapter.
  2. Identify the group and period to which an element belongs.
  3. Identify the regions of the periodic table (metals, metalloids, nonmetals, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, transition metals).
  4. Recognize the seven basic SI units of measure and give the numerical equivalent of the common metric prefixes used with these units.
  5. Express numbers in scientific notation. (See Appendix A in your text.)
  6. Express temperatures using Fahrenheit, Celsius, and Kelvin temperature scales.
  7. Determine the number of significant digits in a measured quantity.
  8. State the result of a calculation involving measured quantities to the correct number of significant digits.
  9. Interconvert between metric and English units.
  10. Identify properties as extensive or intensive.
  11. Relate density to mass and volume.

Life has changed more in the past two centuries than in all the previously recorded span of human history. The earth's population has increased more than fivefold since 1800, and life expectancy has nearly doubled because of our ability to synthesize medicines, control diseases, and increase crop yields. Methods of transportation have changed from horses and buggies to automobiles and airplanes because of our ability to harness the energy in petroleum. Many goods are now made of polymers and ceramics instead of wood and metal because of our ability to manufacture materials with properties unlike any found in nature.

In one way or another, all these changes involve chemistry, the study of the composition, properties, and transformations of matter. Chemical laws describe the changes that take place in nature, and chemistry is deeply involved in the profound social changes of the past two centuries. In addition, chemistry is central to the current revolution in molecular biology that is exploring the details of how life is genetically controlled. No educated person today can understand the modern world without a basic knowledge of chemistry.



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