Chemistry Fundamentals and Energy Flashcards

Flashcards covering matter classification, states of matter, physical/chemical changes, metric measurements, significant figures, scientific notation, density, and energy concepts of energy and specific heat based on Chapter 1 and Chapter 4 lecture notes.

Chemistry

The study of matter—its composition, properties, and transformations.

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up volume.

Solid State

A state of matter that has a definite volume, maintains its shape regardless of its container, and features particles lying close together in a regular three-dimensional array.

Liquid State

A state of matter that has a definite volume, takes the shape of its container, and features particles that are close together but can randomly slide past one another.

Gas State

A state of matter that has no definite shape or volume, where particles move randomly and are separated by a distance much larger than their size.

Physical Properties

Characteristics that can be observed or measured without changing the composition of the material, such as boiling point, melting point, solubility, color, odor, and state of matter.

Physical Change

A process that alters the material without changing its composition.

Chemical Properties

Characteristics that determine how a substance can be converted into another substance.

Chemical Change

A chemical reaction that converts one substance into another.

Pure Substance

Matter composed of only a single component (atom or molecule) with a constant composition that cannot be broken down by a physical change.

Mixture

Matter composed of more than one component that can have varying composition and be separated into components by physical changes.

Element

A pure substance that cannot be broken down by a chemical change.

Compound

A pure substance formed by chemically joining two or more elements.

Mass

A measure of the amount of matter in an object.

Weight

The force that matter feels due to gravity.

Giga- (G)

A metric prefix meaning billion, or $10^9$ in scientific notation.

Mega- (M)

A metric prefix meaning million, or $10^6$ in scientific notation.

Kilo- (k)

A metric prefix meaning thousand, or $10^3$ in scientific notation.

Deci- (d)

A metric prefix meaning tenth, or $10^{-1}$ in scientific notation.

Centi- (c)

A metric prefix meaning hundredth, or $10^{-2}$ in scientific notation.

Milli- (m)

A metric prefix meaning thousandth, or $10^{-3}$ in scientific notation.

Micro- (\mu)

A metric prefix meaning millionth, or $10^{-6}$ in scientific notation.

Nano- (n)

A metric prefix meaning billionth, or $10^{-9}$ in scientific notation.

Significant Figures

All the digits in a measured number including one estimated digit.

Scientific Notation

A system where a number is written as $y \times 10^x$, where $y$ is a coefficient between $1$ and $10$, and $x$ is an exponent.

Conversion Factor

A term that converts a quantity in one unit to a quantity in another unit, usually written as an equality expressed as a fraction.

Density

A physical property that relates the mass of a substance to its volume, calculated as $\text{density} = \frac{\text{mass (g)}}{\text{volume (mL or cc)}}$.

Specific Gravity

A unitless quantity that compares the density of a substance with the density of water at the same temperature.

Potential Energy

Stored energy.

Kinetic Energy

The energy of motion.

Law of Conservation of Energy

A law stating that the total energy in a system does not change and that energy cannot be created or destroyed.

Calorie (cal)

The amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of $1\,g$ of water by $1^\circ\text{C}$.

Joule (J)

A unit of energy where $1\,\text{cal} = 4.184\,\text{J}$.

Specific Heat

The amount of heat energy (cal or J) needed to raise the temperature of $1\,g$ of a substance by $1^\circ\text{C}$, calculated using the formula $\text{Specific heat} = \frac{\text{heat}}{\text{mass} \times \Delta T}$.