Week 2 Recall Questions Flashcards
A) Properties of atoms
* ~25 elements make up all living matter. What elements are the most common in living matter?
- The distance of an e– from the nucleus is related to its energy level. Based on the figure and the reading, answer the following questions.
- carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen—accounting for more than 96% of the mass of an organism.
- Seven other elements—calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium—contribute most of the remaining 4%.
A) Which is higher in energy, an electron in the first shell or the third shell?
an electron in the third shell.
A) Which is closer to the nucleus, an electron in the first shell or the third shell?
1st shell
A) What happens as an electron moves from the third shell to the first shell? From the first shell to the third shell?
- The first shell has the lowest amount of energy. If an electron in a higher shell (3), moves to 1st, the atom has lost energy.
- The higher the shell, the higher the energy. So if an electron moved from the 1st shell that has a lower amount of energy, to the 3rd shell, the atom as gained energy.
A) The difference between a shell and an orbital is …
- A shell is made up of electrons with the same principal quantum number
- Orbitals are made up of electrons with different spins that are all in the same energy level.
A) Based on the figure above, how many valence electrons does nitrogen have?
How many more electrons does nitrogen need to fill its valence shell?
- 5 electrons in total. 3 available to bond
- 3 more electrons
A) What is unique about Helium, Neon, and Argon?
Atoms that naturally have enough protons to support electrons that completely fill the valence shell are inert—the “noble gasses” helium, neon, and argon
A) How many valence electrons does Oxygen have?
6 in total but only 2 available to bond with.
A) How many electrons are needed to fill Oxygen’s valence shell?
2 electrons
B) Chemical Bonds
B) Which of the three different bond types is a weak bond and which are strong bonds?
- Covalent bonds are strong.
- ionic bonds are weak
- Hydrogen bonds are weak alone, but strong together.
B) Explain the difference between a polar and non-polar covalent bond.
- Polar covalent bonds result when electrons are unequally shared between atoms,
- Nonpolar covalent bonds result when electrons are more equally shared between atoms.
B) Why is an O-H bond considered polar whereas an O-O or C-H bond considered non-polar?
- Oxygen’s EN is greater than Hydrogen’s, so it pulls electrons towards it. it is unbalanced
- 2 Oxygens have the same EN and it cancels each other out.
- Carbon and Hydrogen have similar EN’s that cancel each other out.
B) How many covalent bonds are found in methanol (CH3OH)? Are they polar or non-polar? (χ H= 2.1, C=2.5, O=3.5)
- 4 covalent bonds.
- they are all polar
B) What kind of bond forms between Na and Cl? What happens to the electron?
ionic bond.
- the electron is transfer from Na to Cl. because Cl has a higher EN, therefore pulling the electron more strongly towards it.
- 3.16 - 0.93 = 2.23
- Na has 1 electron in shell, would need 3 more to fill it
- Cl has 7 electrons in shell, would need 1 more to fill it
B) What are the rules of hydrogen bonding?
- Each atom in the hydrogen bond is also covalently bonded to something else via polar covalent bonds
- always involves a partially-positive hydrogen atom.
- the second atom is always partially-negative (usually O or N)
- electrons are not shared. it is an attraction between opposite partial chargers.
- each hydrogen atom can only form 1 hydrogen bond.
– molecule can be h-bonded to more than 1 thing, but each partial charge can only be involved in a single h-bond.
B) What are the characteristics of a hydrogen bond? Which atoms are always and which of frequently involved?
- Weak in biological settings, but very important.
- weak alone but strong together
- always hydrogen
- in biology, frequently nitrogen and oxygen
B) What function do hydrogen bonds have in large molecules like DNA?
They allow the 2 strands in DNA to attach to one another, making it very stable.
- the bases of DNA form h-bonds. which allows the structure to be very strong, b/c there are a lot of h-bonds. and many h-bonds together are strong.
B) Is water a polar or non-polar molecule? Explain.
polar. because the oxygen has a greater EN than Hydrogen, therefore Oxygen pulls electrons towards it.
- has 2 strong polar covalent bonds between O-H.
B) What is the basis for the ability of water to from hydrogen bonds?
- the fact that the hydrogens have a partial positive charges and oxygen has a partial negative charge, means water can h-bond with anything that has partial charges.
- that is the basis for how water interacts with out molecules
B) What are important characteristics of hydrophilic molecules?
- have polar covalent bonds resulting in partial charges
- form h-bonds with water
- dissolve in water
- being able to interact with water and form h-bonds, is what allows molecules to dissolve
- if can h-bond with water = hydrophilic
- Ex: Glucose
B) What are important characteristics of hydrophobic molecules?
- have nonpolar covalent bonds
- little affinity for water – cant form h-bonds
- interact with other non polar molecules and excludes water
C) Carbon based molecules
C) Explain why Carbon can form 4 covalent bonds.
This is because carbon has four unpaired outer electrons that it readily shares to complete its outermost energy level.
- With different combinations of single, double, and even triple bonds, an almost limitless array of molecules is possible
C) Explain the difference between a single covalent bond and a double covalent bond.
- A single bond is formed when two atoms share one pair of electrons
- whereas a double bond is formed when two atoms share two pairs (four electrons).
C) If a Carbon atom is involved in a double covalent bond, how many additional single
covalent bonds can it form? Explain why.
2 additional single bonds, as there are only valence electrons available to bond.
- Because each carbon atom can form a maximum of four bonds, the number of hydrogen atoms in a molecule decreases as the number of bonds between any two carbon atoms increases