Substance Classification (ICAO) by DrGergens

Substance profiling is an extremely important skill for the chemist. Profiling individual atoms as being metal, nonmetal or semimetal is the first step in "substance classification."

In a broad sense, substances can be classified as being ionic, covalent, acid, organic, anion or cation.

ICAO for short (ionic, covalent, acid, organic, anion or cation)

Click on the image below to watch a video on identifying substance type.

As a chemist you need to keep in mind we need to organize, compartmentalize and profile each substance by substance type before we can begin to understand its basic physical properties and physical behavoir. So, when ever you are given a substance, any substance, always identify it as one of SIX possibe substance types: ionic, covalent, acid, organic, anion or cation (ICAO) as listed above.

For each substance below, identify its substance classification and click on the drop down box to check your answer:

 

 

 

 
When working with a substance in the laboratory or virtually working with a substance on paper when doing a chemistry problem or calculation, substance classification (ICAO) is always the first step.

Our attention should be focused substance identification, first by ICAO'ing on the substance to determine its substance classification. When ever you are given a substance, you must identify its substance type in order to understand later its physical physical properties and behavior.

A good illustration for this process of substance identification would be to consider our humanity. By making empirical observations about the human species, we can better understand human nature and the psychological characteristics that all normal humans have in common independently of the influence of culture. As a result, contemporary sciences like anthropology, sociology, and psychology begin to evolve as a means to better understanding the ways of thinking, feeling and acting, that humans tend to have.

Our human nature has important implications in ethics, politics, and theology. The same is true for substances. Substance nature has important implications on physical properties and behaviors. Basic physical properties and behaviors are the following: name, structure, polarity, melting and boiling points and solubility. You will be learning more about these physical properties and behaviors as our knowledge about chemistry expands.

  • correctly naming a substance, called "nomenclature" (click here). Colored regions are clickable.
  • drawing substance structure (click here)
  • predicting the physical properties associated with the profiled substance (click here)
    • polarity
    • physical state at room temperature
    • melting point
    • boiling point
    • solubility
  • understanding chemistry (click here)