Scientific Principles (Chemistry, Biochemistry and Genetics).
Textbooks
•“Science in Nursing and Health Care”, Mark Foss.
•“Science in nursing”, Laurie Cree.
•“Chemistry for the Health Sciences” Sackman, Lehman.
•“General Chemistry”, Ebbing, Gammon.
•“Fundamentals of general, organic, and biological chemistry” John McMurry.
Introduction to Chemistry (6 hours) – Dr. Scully
- States of Matter.
- Atoms, ions, elements, molecules, compounds, mixtures, chemical reactions.
- The atom and its structure – definitions, composition, electronically neutral atom, electronic shell, AMU, molecules.
- Chemical symbols and formulae.
- Basic introduction to the periodic table (chemical elements of the body, importance of these elements and their function).
- Basic principles of ionic and covalent bonding; cations, anions and covalent compounds.
- Hydrogen ions, acids and bases. The pH scale, buffers and indicators.
- Solutions, solution concentration, and its significance in nursing.
Organic chemistry (3hours) Dr. McGlacken
Relevance of Chemistry to Nursing
- Your body is made of chemicals – keeps us alive.
- We breathe in oxygen and nitrogen to be used in different processes. Kreb's cycle which is a series of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions of central importance in all living cells that use oxygen as part of cellular respiration.
- NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti inflammatory drugs) for pain relief.
- Antibiotics for infections e.g. penicillin
- Cisplatin – cancer treatment.
- Blood work is analyzed in a lab using various chemical tests. We hyperventilate because our body's pH is off and breathing in CO2 (like breathing in a paper bag) helps stabilise the pH in our blood.
- Red blood cells contain haemoglobin which binds to oxygen and transports to around the body. Anaemia is defined as a qualitative or quantitative deficiency of hemoglobin.
- Oral rehydration therapy - effective treatment for dehydration – consists of a solution of electrolytes, especially sodium and potassium administered orally.
- Learning chemistry allows you to understand chemistry Language for its application in medicine
Chemistrycan be defined as the study of the composition, structure and properties of matter and the reactions that matter undergoes.
Physical Chemistry is concerned with structure of matter, energy changes.
Analytical Chemistry is concerned with the identification, separation and quantitative determination of the composition of different substances.
Organic Chemistry deals with the synthesis and reactions of the compounds of carbon.
Inorganic Chemistry is concerned with the chemistry of elements other than carbon and their compounds.
What is Matter?
Matter is the general term for the material things around us. It can defined as whatever occupies space and can be perceived by our senses.
There are two ways of classifying matter – by its physical status (solid, liquid or gas) or by its chemical status (element, compound or mixture).
Physical Classification of Matter:
A solid is a form of matter which is rigid and has a definite shape and volume.
A liquid is a form of matter which flows and has no fixed shape but has a definite volume.
A gas is a form of matter which flows and has no fixed shape or volume.
Example: Water can exist as a solid, liquid or a gas. It exists as a solid in the form of ice; as a liquid as liquid water; as a gas as steam (gaseous water).
Chemical Classification of Matter:
A substance is a kind of matter that cannot be separated into other kinds of matter by any physical process.
While a mixture is a kind of matter that that can be separated by physical means.
All matter is composed of indivisible (cannot be
decomposed further) atoms. An atom is an extremely
small particle of matter that retains its identity during
chemical reactions.Basic diagram of an atom.
An element is a type of matter composed of only one kind of atom.
Today 111 elements are known and these are listed in the periodic table. Examples of elements would be sodium, oxygen, chloride, iodine, gold, silver…
Basic diagram of an element, which is composed of only one kind of atom. These atoms are not chemically bonded together.
A compound is a type of matter composed of two or more elements chemically combined in fixed proportions. Examples of compounds are sodium chloride (the element sodium and the element chloride are chemically bound together. This is commonly known as salt).
Basic diagram of a compound composed of two ore more elements chemically bound together.
Example: Both sodium and chlorine are elements. Therefore, sodium is only composed of sodium atoms, and chlorine is only composed of chlorine atoms. Both of these elements can chemically combine together in fixed proportions to form a compound. This compound is called sodium chloride (salt). This compound is a substance which cannot be separated by physical means.
A mixture is a material that can be separated by physical means into two or more substances. Example: salt in water which can separated by distillation – boiling off the water.
Mixtures can be classified into two types:
A homogenous mixture (solution) is a mixture that is uniform in its properties throughout the samples. Cannot be easily separated. Example: Air is a gaseous mixture of nitrogen and oxygen, which are physically combined but not chemically.
A heterogeneous mixture is mixture that consists of physically distinct parts, each with different properties. Can be easily separated. Example: a mixture of salt and sugar stirred together. If you looked closely you would see the separate crystals of sugar and salt.
Chemical Symbols and formulae:
It is convenient to use symbols for the atoms of the different elements. An atomic symbol is a one or two letter notation used to represent an atom corresponding to a particular element. Typically the atomic symbol consists of the first letter in capitals from the name of the element, sometimes with an additional letter from the name in lower case.
Examples: Chlorine has the atomic symbol of Cl.
Oxygen has the atomic symbol of O.
Hydrogen has the atomic symbol of H.
Sodium has the atomic symbol of Na (from its latin name).
Z / Name / Symbol / protons / neutrons / electrons1 / Hydrogen / H / 1 / 0 / 1
2 / Helium / He / 2 / 2 / 2
3 / Lithium / Li / 3 / 4 / 3
4 / Beryllium / Be / 4 / 5 / 4
5 / Boron / B / 5 / 6 / 5
6 / Carbon / C / 6 / 6 / 6
7 / Nitrogen / N / 7 / 7 / 7
8 / Oxygen / O / 8 / 8 / 8
9 / Fluorine / F / 9 / 10 / 9
10 / Neon / Ne / 10 / 10 / 10
11 / Sodium / Na / 11 / 12 / 11
12 / Magnesium / Mg / 12 / 12 / 12
13 / Aluminium / Al / 13 / 14 / 1
14 / Silicon / Si / 14 / 14 / 14
15 / Phosphorous / P / 15 / 16 / 15
16 / Sulphur / S / 16 / 16 / 16
17 / Chlorine / Cl / 17 / 18 / 17
18 / Argon / Ar / 18 / 22 / 18
19 / Potassium / K / 19 / 20 / 19
Molecules:
Some atoms do not normally naturally occur singly but as molecules. A molecule may consist of two or more identical atoms such as oxygen (O2 – contains two atoms of atoms chemically bonded together). Gases often like to exist as two atoms chemically bonded together. i.e. N2 (nitrogen gas), H2 (hydrogen gas). A molecular formula gives the exact number of atoms of an element in a molecule.
Example: H2O is the molecular formula of water (contains two atoms of hydrogen and one atom of oxygen chemically bonded together)., CO2 is the molecular formula for carbon dioxide (contains one atom of carbon and two atoms of oxygen), NaCl is the molecular formula for sodium chloride, in which it contains one atom of sodium and one atom of chlorine.
The molecules in a substance are so small that if a glass of water was enlarged to the size of the earth, the water molecules would be about the size of a golf ball.
Chemical reactions:
Molecules or elements can undergo a chemical reaction to produce a new type of compound:
- 2H2 + O2 = 2H2O
Two molecules of hydrogen gas (2 X H2) and one molecule of oxygen gas (O2) gives two molecules of water (H2O).
- Na + Cl2 = NaCl
One molecule of the element sodium (Na) and one molecule of chlorine gas (Cl2) gives one molecule of sodium chloride (NaCl – salt).
The Structure of the Atom:
Remember that an atom is an extremely small particle of matter that retains its identity during chemical reactions. An atom consists of protons, electrons and neutrons.
A proton is a particle that has a mass of approx. 1 amu (atomic mass unit) and is positively charged.
An electron is a tiny particle which has a mass of approx. 0 amu and is negatively charged.
A neutron is a particle that has a mass of 1 amu and is neutrally charged.
The protons and neutrons exist in the atom’s central core which is called a nucleus. This is positively charged due to the protons.
The electrons exist around the atom’s central core of the nucleus in a region called the electron cloud. Since electrons are negatively charged they balance the positively charged protons in the nucleus, so that the overall charge of the atom is neutral.
Basic diagram of the atom.
Particle Mass (amu) Charge Location in Atom
Proton ~1.0 +1.0Nucleus
Neutron ~1.0 0Nucleus
Electron ~0 -1.0 Electron cloud
The electrons exist in areas within the electron cloud in regions known as electronic shells. These electronic shells can only contain a certain number of electrons.
Electronic ShellNo. of Electrons
12
28
38
Therefore the first electronic shell can only contain two electrons.
The second electronic shell can only contain 8 electrons….
The Atomic Number (Z) of an element is the total number of protons or electrons in the nucleus of an atom. Due to the fact that the overall charge of the atom is neutral then the number of protons is equal to the number of electrons.
The Mass Number (M) of an element is the total number of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus of an atom. (Note: the mass number is bigger than the atomic number).
The difference between the mass number and the atomic number is equal to the number of neutrons in the nucleus.
Therefore each element has its own atomic number and mass number which is represented as the mass number in subscript and the atomic number in superscript.
The atomic symbol, atomic number and mass number of the elements are listed in the periodic table.
Mass Number = no. of neutrons + protons/electrons.
Atomic number = no. of electrons/protons.
Mass number – Atomic number = no. of neutrons.
Example: Oxygen is represented as 16O. The atomic number is 8. The mass number is 16. From the atomic number, oxygen has 8 electrons. It also tells us that oxygen has 8 protons. From the mass number, it has 16 neutrons and protons. Since we know it has 8 protons (from the atomic number), we know that oxygen has 8 neutrons.
Overall, oxygen has 8 protons (8 positive charges), 8 electrons (8 negative charges) and 8 neutrons (neutral)… so overall charge of oxygen atom is neutral.
Carbon is written as 12C. Therefore, carbon has 6 protons, 6 electrons and 6 neutrons.
How to Draw an Atom:
Hydrogen is written as 1H. Therefore, hydrogen has 1 proton, 1 electron and 0 neutrons. It has 2 electrons in its valence (outer shell).
Carbon is written as 6C. Therefore, carbon has 6 protons (p+), 6 electrons (e-) and 6 neutrons (n).
There are two electrons in the first electronic shell, and the remaining four electrons go into the second electronic shell. This is the outer most shell which is known as the valence shell.
Oxygen is written as 8O. Therefore, oxygen has 8 protons, 8 electrons and 8 neutrons. It has 6 electrons in its valence (outer shell).
Fluorine is written as 9F. Therefore, fluorine has 9 protons, 9 electrons and 10 neutrons. It has 7 electrons in its valence (outer shell).
Isotopes
Some elements which have the same atomic number may differ in the number of neutrons in the nucleus (i.e. their mass number).
These atoms which have identical atomic numbers but different mass numbers are known as isotopes of the same element. In other words the nuclei have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.
Isotopes of the same element have the same chemical properties. The atomic weight of carbon (C) is actually 12.011. This is because there are traces of heavier carbon atoms found naturally 13C, 14C. These are termed isotopes of carbon as they have the same atomic number (6) but differ in their mass number (differ in the number of neutrons in the nucleas).
Isotope / 126C / 136C / 146CAbundance / 98.89% / 1.1% / trace
Periodic table:
In 1869 a Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev developed the first version of the periodic table. The modern version, which all chemists use today, arranges the elements by atomic number. Each entry lists the atomic number, atomic symbol and atomic weight of an element.
The basic structure of the periodic table is its division into rows and columns, or periods and groups.
A period consists of the elements in any one horizontal row of the periodic table.
Each time the outermost electron shell is filled and a further electron is then added a new period is begun.
The first period of elements only consists of hydrogen (H) and helium (He).
The second period has 8 elements, beginning with lithium (Li) and ending with neon (Ne).
The third period starts with sodium (Na) and ends with argon (Ar).
A group consists of the elements in any one column of the periodic table.
All the elements in a group have the same number of electrons in their outermost shell (valence shell).
Elements of the same group have similar chemical properties. Example: the elements in the Group I are called the Alkali metals and are all metals (with the exception of hydrogen which is a gas).
Group II = alkaline earth metals.
Group 17 = halogens.
Group 18 = Noble gases.
Group no. / Name / Valence electrons / Properties / Element exampleI / Alkali metals / 1 / Metals (except for H which is a gas);
Highly reactive / Na
II / alkaline earth metals / 2 / Similar to alkali metals – not as reactive. / Mg
17 / halogens / 7 / Variable physical properties - range from solid (I2) to liquid (Br2) to gaseous (F2 and Cl2); Particularly reactive with alkali metals. / Br
18 / Noble gases / 8 (full) / Non reactive due to full valence shell; Gases. / Xe
Metals, non-metals:
The elements of the periodic table are divided by a heavy staircase line into metals on the left and nonmetals on the right. A metal is a substance or mixture that has a characteristic luster, or shine and is generally a good conductor of heat and electricity.
A non-metal is an element that does not exhibit the characteristics of a metal. Most of the nonmetals are gases.
Group / 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / 10 / 11 / 12 / 13 / 14 / 15 / 16 / 17 / 18Period
1 / 1
H / 2
He
2 / 3
Li / 4
Be / 5
B / 6
C / 7
N / 8
O / 9
F / 10
Ne
3 / 11
Na / 12
Mg / 13
Al / 14
Si / 15
P / 16
S / 17
Cl / 18
Ar
4 / 19
K / 20
Ca / 21
Sc / 22
Ti / 23
V / 24
Cr / 25
Mn / 26
Fe / 27
Co / 28
Ni / 29
Cu / 30
Zn / 31
Ga / 32
Ge / 33
As / 34
Se / 35
Br / 36
Kr
5 / 37
Rb / 38
Sr / 39
Y / 40
Zr / 41
Nb / 42
Mo / 43
Tc / 44
Ru / 45
Rh / 46
Pd / 47
Ag / 48
Cd / 49
In / 50
Sn / 51
Sb / 52
Te / 53
I / 54
Xe
6 / 55
Cs / 56
Ba / * / 72
Hf / 73
Ta / 74
W / 75
Re / 76
Os / 77
Ir / 78
Pt / 79
Au / 80
Hg / 81
Tl / 82
Pb / 83
Bi / 84
Po / 85
At / 86
Rn
7 / 87
Fr / 88
Ra / ** / 104
Rf / 105
Db / 106
Sg / 107
Bh / 108
Hs / 109
Mt / 110
Ds / 111
Rg / 112
Uub / 113
Uut / 114
Uuq / 115
Uup / 116
Uuh / 117
Uus / 118
Uuo
* Lanthanides / 57
La / 58
Ce / 59
Pr / 60
Nd / 61
Pm / 62
Sm / 63
Eu / 64
Gd / 65
Tb / 66
Dy / 67
Ho / 68
Er / 69
Tm / 70
Yb / 71
Lu
** Actinides / 89
Ac / 90
Th / 91
Pa / 92
U / 93
Np / 94
Pu / 95
Am / 96
Cm / 97
Bk / 98
Cf / 99
Es / 100
Fm / 101
Md / 102
No / 103
Lr
Key
Metals / Metalloids / Nonmetals
Periodic table showing position of metals and nonmetals.
Chemical elements of the body and importance of these elements and their function:
Element% mass in bodyFunctionToxic effects
Oxygen (O)65Cellular respirationDamage to eyes,
nervous system and lungs at high pressure.
Carbon (C)18Component of organic Inhaled as
compounds. Particles - lung
disease. (carbon
monoxide poisoning)
Hydrogen (H)10Component of organicacidosis, burns.
compounds.
Nitrogen (N)3Component of proteins, harmful in oxide
Amino acids and cellform.
membranes.
Calcium (Ca)1.5Bone and teethNausea.
Phorphorus (P)1.0Call membranesLiver damage.
The human body also contains amounts of sulphur (S), sodium (Na), Chlorine (Cl), and trace amounts of Iron (Fe), Fluorine (F), Copper (Cu).
Elements of Biological Importance:
Oxygen (O):
It may seem obvious that people need to breathe oxygen to survive, but plants need this element too. Many people think plants "breathe" carbon dioxide and "exhale" oxygen. But in reality, plants also "breathe" oxygen at certain times. Without oxygen, plants could not survive. Without plants, we wouldn’t have food to eat.
It is also worth mentioning that water is a compound of hydrogen and oxygen (H2O) and that water is absolutely necessary for virtually all life as we know it. Water is incredibly important in our bodies. In fact, more than 50% of our bodies are made of water. It dissolves other life-supporting substances and transports them to fluids in and around our cells. It is also a place in which important reactions take place in our bodies. Many people consider water to be the "blood of life".
When you consider the full importance of oxygen, it becomes clear that this versatile element is the single most important substance to life.
Sodium (Na):
Since there no reserve store of sodium ions in the animal body, losses above the amount of intake come from the functional supply of cells and tissues. Salt (sodium chloride) is important in many ways. It is an essential part of the diet of both humans and animals and is a part of most animal fluids, such as blood, sweat, and tears. It aids digestion by providing chlorine for hydrochloric acid, a small but essential part of human digestive fluid. Persons with hypertensive heart disease often must restrict the amount of salt in their diet. 0.9% sodium chloride in water is called a physiological solution because it is isotonic with blood plasma. It is known medically as normal saline. Physiological solution is the mainstay of fluid replacement therapy that is widely used in medicine in prevention or treatment of dehydration.
Calcium (Ca):
Approximately 99% of total body calcium is in the skeleton and teeth and 1% in blood and soft tissues. Calcium has four major biological functions:
- structural as stores in the skeleton
- electrophysiological - carries charge during an action potential across membranes
- intracellular regulator, and 4) as a cofactor for extracellular enzymes and regulatory proteins.
Calcium builds and maintains bones and teeth; regulates heart rhythm; eases insomnia; helps regulate the passage of nutrients in & out of the cell walls; assists in normal blood clotting; helps maintain proper nerve and muscle function; lowers blood pressure; important to normal kidney function and in current medical research reduces the incidence of colon cancer, and reduces blood cholesterol levels. Calcium deficiency may result in arm and leg muscles spasms, softening of bones, back and leg cramps, brittle bones, rickets, poor growth, osteoporosis (a deterioration of the bones), tooth decay, depression.
Phosphorus (P):
Phosphorous is one of the most abundant minerals in the human body, second only to calcium. This essential mineral is required for the healthy formation of bones and teeth, and is necessary for our bodies to process many of the foods that we eat. It is also a part of the body's energy storage system, and helps with maintaining healthy blood sugar levels. Phosphorus is also found in substantial amounts in the nervous system. The regular contractions of the heart are dependant upon phosphorus, as are normal cell growth and repair.
Since phosphorus is found in almost all plant and animal food sources, a deficiency of this mineral is rarely seen. However, phosphorus deficiency can and does occur, particularly in people who take certain types of antacids for many years. Since phosphorus is important in maintaining the bodys energy system and proper blood sugar levels, it should seem logical that not getting enough of this mineral will affect the energy level in the entire body. Indeed, feeling easily fatigued, weak and having a decreased attention span can be symptoms of mild phosphate deficiency.