Properties of Matter and Energy Vocabulary Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes covering physical and chemical properties, extensive and intensive properties, physical and chemical changes, mass, and energy.

Properties

Characteristics that distinguish one substance from another.

Physical Property

A property a substance displays without undergoing a change in its atomic or molecular composition (e.g., odor, taste, color, appearance, melting point, boiling point, and density).

Chemical Property

A property a substance displays that involves a change in its atomic or molecular composition (e.g., corrosiveness, flammability, acidity, and toxicity).

Extensive Property

A property that depends on the amount of matter in a sample (e.g., mass and volume).

Intensive Property

A property that does not depend on the amount of matter in a sample, making it useful for identifying substances (e.g., temperature, density, color, and malleability).

Physical Change

A change in which the physical state or size of matter changes, but the chemical identity and composition of the matter remain the same.

Chemical Change

A change that alters the chemical composition of a substance by breaking and/or forming chemical bonds, resulting in products that are chemically different from the original substances.

Reactant

The starting material in a chemical change whose atoms rearrange to form products.

Product

The resulting material in a chemical change that has a different chemical composition from the reactants.

Mass

A measure of how much matter is in an object; it is directly proportional to weight but remains constant regardless of location.

Energy

The capacity to do work, existing in various forms such as heat, chemical, nuclear, mechanical, electrical, sound, and electromagnetic radiation.

Law of Conservation of Energy

A physical principle stating that energy cannot be created or destroyed, but can be converted from one form to another.