Understand basic chemistry

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AP Biology › Understand basic chemistry

Questions 1 - 10
1

Which answer choice shows the correct chemical formula for barium sulfate?

Explanation

We should first remember the difference between sulfate, sulfite, and sulfide. Sulfate is , sulfite is ` and sulfide is .

The only answer choices that could be right must have in them. We then need to see that barium usually has a charge of , as the periodic table shows us, and so we need a charge of to cancel that out. The answer is .

2

How many lone pairs of electrons exist on the following molecule?

BF3

1

0

9

10

11

Explanation

.. ..

:F — B — F: Boron can have a violated octet (6 e-) and each F has 3 lone pairs

.. | .. for a total of 9 pairs of unpaired electrons

:F:

..

3

Which of the following chemical compounds is written incorrectly?

Explanation

Ionic chemical compounds are always named with the metal before the non-metal. The correct way to name sodium chloride would be , and not , because sodium is the metal and chloride is the non-metal.

All the other examples have the metal before the non-metal. The other answer choices correspond to potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, hydrogen chloride (hydrochloric acid), and calcium fluoride.

4

All of the following are carbohydrates except __________.

amino acids

starch

glucose

glycogen

Explanation

Carbohydrates include the monosaccharide glucose and polysaccharides starch and glycogen. Amino acids contain nitrogen and are the building blocks of polypeptides.

5

Choose the answer with the correct electron configuration for a sodium atom.

Explanation

is the correct configuration for a neutral sodium atom.

A neutral sodium atom contains eleven electrons, so you can eliminate and which contain twelve and ten electrons, respectively.

Next, can be eliminated because of the Aufbau principal, which states that electrons are placed into orbitals from the lowest to highest energy. In this answer choice, the (lower energy) orbital is not completely filled, containing only five out of the possible six possible electron that it can hold. This orbital must be filled completely before electrons can be placed in the (higher energy) orbital.

is incorrect because there are seven electrons in the orbital. This is impossible, as p orbitals hold a maximum of six electrons.

6

What is the molecular geometry of an ammonia molecule with the formula ?

Trigonal pyramidal

Trigonal planar

Tetrahedral

Trigonal bipyramidal

Explanation

In an ammonia molecule, the nitrogen is bonded to three hydrogen atoms and also has a lone electron pair. This lone pair will repel the three hydrogens out of a planar orientation, which results in a trigonal pyramidal geometry.

Compounds with the general formula AX3 and one lone pair will be trigonal pyramidal.

Compounds with the general formula AX3 and no lone pairs will be trigonal planar.

Compounds with the general formula AX4 and no lone pairs will be tetrahedral.

Compounds with the general formula AX5 and no lone pairs will be trigonal bipyramidal.

7

Identify the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in a charged cation of aluminum (mass number = 27).

Protons=13

Neutrons=14

Electrons=10

Protons=13

Neutrons=14

Electrons=13

Protons=10

Neutrons=14

Electrons=13

Protons=10

Neutrons=14

Electrons=16

Protons=16

Neutrons=14

Electrons=13

Explanation

The atomic number of aluminum is 13, which means it has 13 protons. All atoms with 13 protons are called aluminum. The mass number of aluminum is 27 and is the sum of neutrons and protons. We simply subtract the number of protons from the mass number to get the number of neutrons. Normally there are an equal number of electrons and protons. But since this aluminum exists as an ion with a +3 charge, it has lost three electrons and has only 10 electrons.

8

Choose the correct chemical formula for sodium sulfate.

Explanation

Sulfate is a polyatomic ion that is composed of one sulfur atom and four oxygen atoms. The ion has a net charge of .

Since sodium ions have a charge of , we must use two atoms of sodium in order to result in a neutrally charged compound.

This makes the neutral chemical compound .

9

Name the following compound:

Iron(III) oxide

Iron oxide

Iron(II) oxide

Iron trioxide

Explanation

Because iron has multiple oxidation states, we need to follow the cation with the roman numeral that signifies how many electrons each iron ion has donated to oxygen. Since oxygen gains two electrons in order to satisfy its octet, the three oxygens will accept a total of six electrons from two iron atoms. This means that each iron must donate three electrons, so that each atom donates electrons equally. As a result, the name of the ionic compound is iron(III) oxide.

Another acceptable name for the compound would be ferric oxide. The term "ferric" refers to iron(III) and the term "ferrous" refers to iron (II).

10

Which of the following molecules cannot participate in hydrogen bonding?

Explanation

Hydrogen bonding takes place when a hydrogen atom is attracted to a highly electronegative atom in another molecule. Hydrogen bonding takes place between hydrogen and either nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine. Carbon has an electronegativity similar to hydrogen's, and will not hydrogen bond with hydrogens in other molecules.

Only molecules with -OH, -FH, or -NH groups can form hydrogen bonds.

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