Extrascore Sample Questions - Answers

Q.1: What are the ‘laws of chemical combination’?

Ans: There are two important laws of chemical combination established by Lavoisier,
are as follows:
(i) Law of Conservation of Mass
The law of conservation of mass states that mass can neither be created nor destroyed
in a chemical reaction.
(ii) Law of Constant Proportions
The Law of Constant Proportions which is also known as the Law of Definite
Proportions, was established by Proust. According to this law, in a chemical substance
the elements are always present in definite proportion by mass. All pure samples of a
compound contain the same elements combined together in the same proportion by
mass. For example, a sample of water would always contain hydrogen and oxygen in
the ratio of 1:8 by mass irrespective of the source of water.     
Q.2: Explain the ‘Law of Conservation of Mass’.
Ans: See answer of Q. 1 above.
Q.3: What is the Law of Constant Proportion ?
Ans: See answer of Q. 1 above.
Q.4: What are the postulates of Dalton’s Atomic Theory of matter ?
Ans: According to Dalton’s atomic theory, all matter, whether an element, a compound
or a mixture is composed of small particles called atoms. The different postulates of
Dalton’s atomic theory are stated as follows:
(1) All matter is made of very tiny particles called atoms.
(2) Atoms are indivisible particles, which can not be created or destroyed in a chemical
reaction.
(3) Atoms of a given element are identical in mass and chemical properties.
(4) Atoms of different elements have different masses and chemical properties.
(5) Atoms combine in the ratio of small whole numbers to form compounds.
(6) The relative number and kinds of atoms are constant in a given compound.    
Q.5: What is the full form of IUPAC? What is the present accepted norm of IUPAC for
naming symbols of elements?   
Ans: The full name of IUPAC is International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
Many of the symbols are the first one or two letters of the element’s name in English.
The first letter of a symbol is always written as a capital letter (upper case) and the
second letter is always a small letter (lower case). For example, Hydrogen is written as
H and Aluminium is written as Al. Some symbols are formed from the first letter of the
name and a letter, appearing later in the name. For example, Chlorine as Cl and Zinc as
Zn. Some other symbols are taken from the names of elements in Latin, German or
Greek. For example, the symbol of Iron is Fe from Latin name ferrum.    
Q.6: Write the names of symbols of five elements where the symbols are taken from
their name in English.  
Ans: The symbols of the following elements have been taken from their name in
English: Calcium (Ca), Oxygen (O), Zinc (Zn), Magnesium (Mg) etc.
Q.7: Write the names of symbols of five elements where the symbols are taken from
their name in a language other than English.
Ans: The names of symbols of the following elements have been taken from their name
in a language other than English: Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Lead (Pb), Sodium (Na), Iron
(Fe) etc.
Q.8: Define and explain atomic mass of an element.
Ans: The atomic mass of an element is the relative mass of its atom as compared with
the mass of a particular atom of Carbon-12 ( 12C) isotope taken as 12 units. Thus the
atomic mass of an element indicates the number of times one atom of an element is
heavier than 1/12 th of a Carbon-12 ( 12C) isotope atom. For example, the atomic mass
of oxygen is 16 which indicates that an atom of oxygen is 16 times heavier than 1/12 th
of a Carbon-12 (12C) isotope atom.      
Q.9: Distinguish between a ‘molecule’ and a ‘compound’.
Ans:
Molecule - a molecule is usually formed when at least two atoms of the same or
different kinds combine. If two or three atoms of the same kind of element combine,
then it is referred to as a molecule of an element or simply Molecule. For example,
molecule of oxygen(O2) is formed by the combination of two oxygen atoms. However,
there are exceptions such as argon (Ar), helium (He) which are made up of only one
atom of that element.
Compound - Molecule formed by union of two or more atoms of different atoms is called
a molecule of compound or simply Compound. For example, a molecule or a compound
of carbon dioxide is formed by the union of one carbon atom and two oxygen atoms.
However,  the noble gases consists of molecules of single atoms only.     
Q.10: Define: (a) Atomicity (b) Ion (c) Molecular Mass (d) Relative Formula Mass
Ans:
(a) Atomicity - Number of atoms in a single molecule of an element is known as
atomicity. This can also be defined as the number of atoms constituting a molecule.
(b) Ion - An ion is a charged particle which can be positively or negatively charged. A
negatively charged ion is called an Anion and a positively charged ion is called a
Cation. Ions may consist of a single charged atom or a group of atoms that have a net
charge on them known as Polyatomic Ion.
(c) Molecular Mass - The molecular mass of a substance is the relative mass of its
molecule expressed in atomic mass unit (u). It is equal to the sum of the atomic masses
of all the atoms present in one molecule of the substance. For example, one molecule
of water (H2O) contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen.
Molecular mass of water = 2 x atomic mass of hydrogen + 1 x atomic mass of oxygen
                                     = 2 + 16 = 18 u.
(d) Relative Formula Mass (or Formula Mass) - The Formula Mass of a substance is the
sum of atomic masses of all atoms in a formula unit of a compound. Formula Mass is
used for substances whose constituent particles are ions.       
Q.11: What is valency ? Mention use of valency.
Ans: Valency is the combining capacity of an element.
Valency can be used to find out how many atoms of an element will combine with the
other element to form a chemical formula. For example, hydrogen has a valency +1 and
chlorine has a valency –1, so one atom of hydrogen combines with one atom of chlorine
to form hydrochloric acid (HCl). Oxygen has a valency –2, so one atom of oxygen
combines with two atoms of hydrogen to form water molecule (H 2O).      
Q.12: What are the rules of writing a chemical formula? or, How is a molecular formula
of a compound written ?
Ans: In order to write formula of a compound comprised of cations and anions, the
valencies of the ion must be known. Let us consider a compound composed of cation A
with valency x+ and anion B with valency y–. Then the molecular formula can be written
by following the rules given below:
(i) Write down the symbols of the cation and anion side by side.
       A    B
(ii) Write their valencies at the top corners as
      Ax+  By–
(iii) The valencies or charges on the ions must balance after combining. So, interchange
between the ions their valencies and these are placed on the lower side of each radical
or used as subscripts.
      Ay Bx    
(iv) If a radical is multi-atomic, use a small bracket around it before writing the valency
number to indicate the ratio.
(v) Eliminate the common factor, if any, from the numbers used in subscripts. For
example, calcium phosphate, a compound of calcium ion with valency 2 + and phosphate
ion with valency 3– is written as Ca3(PO4)2.   
Q.13: Give the chemical name, chemical formulae for the following compounds having
common names:
Baking soda, Washing soda, Blue vitriol, Green vitriol, Gypsum, Oil of vitriol or White
vitriol, Soda ash, Marble, Lime water.
Ans:
 Common Name Chemical Name Chemical Formula
Baking Soda Sodium bicarbonate NaHCO3
Washing Soda Sodium carbonate Na2CO3.10H2O
Blue Vitriol Copper sulphate CuSO4.5H2O
Green Vitriol Ferrous sulphate FeSO4.7H2O
Gypsum Calcium sulphate CaSO4.2 H2O
Oil of Vitriol Sulphuric acid H2SO4
Soda ash Sodium carbonate Na2CO3
Marble Calcium carbonate CaCO3
Lime water Calcium hydroxide Ca(OH)2

Q.14: Name the smallest particle that has all the properties of an element.
Ans: Atom.
Q.15: How many ions are present in one mole of ions ?
Ans: 6.023 x 1023