Particle Nature of Matter Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering the particle nature of matter, states of matter, fundamental forces, properties, and classifications including pure substances, mixtures, and solutions.

Chemistry

The branch of science that deals with the identification of the substances of which matter is composed; the investigation of their properties and how they interact, combine, and change; and the use of these processes to form new substances.

Matter

Anything that occupies space and has mass, from everyday objects to distant stars.

Particle Theory of Matter

A scientific model explaining what matter is made of and how it behaves: all matter is made of tiny particles, and the way these particles move and interact explains the properties of solids, liquids, and gases.

Postulate 1: Spaces between particles

A postulate of the Particle Theory stating that there are spaces between particles, which makes gases compressible and allows them to expand to fill a container.

Postulate 2: Particle Attraction

A postulate stating that particles attract each other; in solids, they are strongly attracted and vibrate in place, while in gases, the attraction is weak.

Postulate 3: Identical Particles

A postulate stating that all particles of the same substance are identical.

Postulate 4: Tiny Particles

A postulate stating that all matter is made of extremely tiny particles, much smaller than cells.

Postulate 5: Particle Motion

A postulate stating that particles are always moving; as temperature increases, kinetic energy increases and particles move faster.

Plasma

A super energetic and charged state of matter consisting of ions and electrons, found in lightning, stars, and neon signs.

Pure Substance

A substance made of just one kind of particle; they are mostly homogeneous and contain only one type of atom or molecule.

Elementary Particles

The tiniest known components of the universe, the material that even atoms are composed of.

Gravity

A fundamental force that pulls matter together, such as the interaction between Earth and the Moon.

Electromagnetism

A fundamental force that powers light, electricity, and magnetism.

Strong Nuclear Force

A fundamental force of the universe that holds atomic nuclei together.

Weak Nuclear Force

A fundamental force of the universe responsible for radioactive decay.

Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC)

A state of matter that occurs when a gas of bosons is cooled to temperatures very close to absolute zero, forming a single quantum entity.

Neutron-degenerate matter

A state of matter where neutrons are packed together at extremely high densities far exceeding normal matter, achieved under immense gravitational pressure.

Quark-gluon plasma (QGP)

A state of matter where quarks and gluons become deconfined and move freely; occurs at extremely high temperatures and densities, such as shortly after the Big Bang.

Shape

The form or outline that a substance takes.

Volume

The amount of space a substance occupies.

Density

The mass per unit volume of a substance.

Compressibility

The ability of a substance to decrease in volume when pressure is applied.

Diffusibility

The ability of particles to spread out and mix with other substances.

Physical Properties

Properties that can be observed or measured without changing the substance, such as water remaining water even when frozen into ice.

Intensive Properties

Properties that do not depend on the amount of matter, such as color, odor, density, hardness, and melting or boiling points.

Extensive Properties

Properties that depend on the amount of matter, such as weight, volume, length, mass, and surface area.

Chemical Properties

Properties that describe how a substance's composition changes during interaction or energy transfer; observed only during a chemical change.

Reactive

A term describing a substance that easily undergoes chemical change.

Inert

A term describing a substance that does not readily react with other substances.

Unstable

A term describing a substance that is likely to change or break down spontaneously.

Combustible

A term describing a substance that reacts with oxygen and can catch fire and burn easily.

Chemical Changes

Reactions that alter the identity of a substance, resulting in a different composition, such as iron reacting with air and moisture to form rust.

Atom

The basic unit of matter and the smallest unit of an element that retains all the chemical properties of that element.

Elements

Substances composed of only one type of atom that cannot be broken down by physical or chemical means, including metals, non-metals, and metalloids.

Compounds

Two or more elements chemically combined in a fixed ratio, which can only be separated by chemical methods; examples include $H_2O$ and $NaCl$.

Organic Compounds

Compounds primarily made of carbon atoms, often bonded with hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, or sulfur; they usually contain covalent bonding and are found in biological systems.

Biomolecules

A classification of organic compounds including carbohydrates, lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids.

Hydrocarbons

Organic compounds made of only carbon and hydrogen, such as alkanes, alkenes, and alkynes.

Inorganic Compounds

Chemical substances that are generally not classified as organic and usually do not contain carbon-hydrogen ($C-H$) bonds.

Mixtures

Combinations of two or more substances that are physically combined but not chemically bonded, allowing them to be separated by physical methods.

Homogeneous Mixtures

Mixtures that are uniform throughout and look like a single substance because particles are too small to see and do not settle.

Heterogeneous Mixtures

Mixtures that are not uniform, where different parts can be seen or detected and may separate over time.

True Solution

A homogeneous mixture whose solute particles are very small and do not scatter light.

Colloid

A homogeneous mixture with intermediate-sized particles that do not settle but do scatter light.

Solvent

The component of a solution present in the largest amount, which determines the physical state and acts as the dissolving medium.

Solute

The component of a solution present in a smaller amount that gets dissolved.

Molarity

Also known as molar concentration; the number of moles of solute dissolved per liter of solution.

Aqueous Solution

A solution in which water acts as the solvent.

Unsaturated Solution

A solution containing less solute than it can hold at a given temperature, allowing more to be dissolved.

Saturated Solution

A solution that has dissolved the maximum amount of solute possible at a specific temperature.

Supersaturated Solution

An unstable solution containing more solute than a saturated solution can hold at a given temperature, making it prone to crystallization.

Tonicity

The relative concentration of solutes in two solutions separated by a semi-permeable membrane.

Isotonic Solution

A solution with the same solute concentration inside and outside a cell, resulting in no net movement of water.

Hypotonic Solution

A solution with lower solute concentration than the cell's interior, causing water to move into the cell and making it swell.

Hypertonic Solution

A solution with higher solute concentration than the cell's interior, causing water to move out and the cell to shrink or crenate.

Tyndall effect

The scattering of light by colloid particles, a property not found in true solutions.

Suspension

A cloudy heterogeneous mixture where solid particles are large enough to settle over time and can be filtered out.

Mechanical Mixture

A solid-solid heterogeneous mixture where different components are clearly visible and can be physically separated, such as trail mix or concrete mix.

Immiscible liquid mixtures

Liquids that do not mix to form a uniform solution and instead form distinct layers due to different polarities or densities.