Crystalline Solids, Solutions, and Electrochemistry
Classified in Chemistry
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Crystalline Solids
Crystal Lattice
The main characteristic of crystalline solids is a regular and repeating pattern of constituent particles. A crystal lattice is a three-dimensional arrangement of points in space, representing the arrangement of these particles.
Unit Cells
Unit cells are the smallest repeating units in a crystal lattice. They are broadly divided into two categories:
- Primitive Unit Cells: Constituent particles are present only at the corners.
- Centred Unit Cells: Contain particles at positions other than corners, in addition to those at the corners. There are three types of centered unit cells:
- Body-Centred Unit Cells: Contain one particle at the body-center, besides those at the corners.
- Face-Centred Unit Cells: Contain one particle at the center of each face, besides those at the corners.
Solutions
Solubility
Solubility is the maximum amount of a substance that can be dissolved in a specified amount of solvent. It depends on the nature of the solute and solvent, as well as temperature and pressure.
Colligative Properties
When a non-volatile solute is added to a volatile solvent, the vapor pressure of the solution decreases. Several properties are connected to this decrease, including:
- Relative lowering of vapor pressure
- Depression of freezing point
- Elevation of boiling point
- Osmotic pressure
These colligative properties depend on the number of solute particles, not their nature.
Abnormal Molar Mass
Ionic compounds dissociate into ions when dissolved in water. This dissociation can lead to an experimentally determined molar mass that is lower than the true value. For example, one mole of KCl in water dissociates into two moles of particles (K+ and Cl-), affecting colligative properties and molar mass calculations.
Electrochemistry
Galvanic Cells
A galvanic cell converts the chemical energy of a spontaneous redox reaction into electrical energy. This energy can be used to power electrical devices.
Electrolytic Cells
An electrolytic cell uses an external voltage source to drive a chemical reaction. A simple example is two copper strips in copper sulfate solution. Applying a DC voltage causes Cu2+ ions to discharge at the cathode.