Introduction to Chemistry Flashcards

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering basic chemistry concepts, atomic theory history, subatomic particles, isotopes, chemical bonding, and nomenclature based on the lecture transcript.

Chemistry

The study of matter and its properties, the changes that matter undergoes, and the energy associated with those changes.

Matter

Anything that has mass and volume.

Element

The simplest type of matter with unique physical and chemical properties that consists of only one kind of atom and cannot be broken down by physical or chemical methods.

Compound

A type of matter composed of two or more different elements that are chemically bound together in fixed parts by mass.

Mixture

A group of two or more substances (elements and/or compounds) that are physically intermingled and can vary in their parts by mass.

Homogeneous mixture

A mixture that is the same throughout the solution.

Heterogeneous mixture

A mixture where the composition is not uniform.

Democritus

Known as the "Father of the Atom," this 5th Century BC philosopher proposed that matter is made of indivisible particles called "atomos."

John Dalton

Known as the "Father of the Modern Atom," he proposed the Solid Sphere or Billiard Ball Model in 1803.

Law of Definite Proportions

The principle that compounds result from the combination of two or more different types of atoms in certain whole number proportions.

Law of Conservation of Matter

The principle that in a simple chemical reaction, atoms rearrange to form new compounds but are not created, destroyed, nor changed into atoms of another element.

Sir Joseph John Thomson

The scientist who discovered electrons using a cathode ray tube and proposed the Plum-Pudding Model in 1904.

Ernest Rutherford

Conducted the Gold Foil Experiment to determine the existence of the nucleus and proposed the Nuclear Model in 1911.

Niels Bohr

Proposed the Planetary Model in 1913, which suggests electrons move around the nucleus in fixed, circular orbits.

Erwin Schrödinger

Developed the Quantum Mechanical Model in 1926, describing electrons as part of a "cloud" around the nucleus rather than set paths.

R. Millikan

Observed the mass and charge of an electron through the Oil-drop experiment.

Proton

A positively-charged subatomic particle first observed by Eugene Goldstein and discovered through the splitting of the atom by Ernest Rutherford.

Neutron

A subatomic particle discovered by James Chadwick that has no charge and virtually the same mass as a proton.

Atomic number ($Z$)

The number of protons in the nucleus of each of an element's atoms.

Mass number ($A$)

The total number of neutrons and protons present in the nucleus of an atom of an element.

Isotopes

Atoms of an element that have different numbers of neutrons and therefore different mass numbers.

Atomic mass unit ($amu$)

A unit of relative mass equal to $\frac{1}{12}$ the mass of a carbon-12 atom; also known as the dalton ($Da$).

Atomic weight

The average of the masses of an element's naturally occurring isotopes weighted according to their abundances.

Ionic bonding

A process involving the transfer of electrons from a metal atom (cation) to a nonmetal atom (anion) to form neutral compounds.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when a metal atom loses electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when nonmetal atoms gain electrons.

Covalent bond

A bond formed when electrons are shared between atoms.

Nonpolar covalent bond

A bond formed whenever two atoms of the same element bond together.

Polar covalent bond

A bond formed when electrons are unequally shared between two atoms.

Molecular formula

A formula showing the exact number of atoms of each element in the smallest unit of a substance.

Empirical formula

A formula showing the simplest whole-number ratio of the atoms present in a given molecule.

Structural formula

A formula showing the number of atoms, the bonds between them, and the relative placement and connections of atoms in the molecule.

Stock System

A nomenclature system for Type II binary ionic compounds where a Roman numeral indicates the charge of the cation.

Classical System

A nomenclature system where the ion with the higher charge ends in -ic and the lower charge ends in -ous.

Hydrates

Ionic compounds that have a specific number of water molecules associated with each formula unit.

Binary acids

Solutions formed when certain gaseous compounds dissolve in water, named with the prefix hydro-, the nonmetal root, and the suffix -ic.

Oxoacids

Acids based on oxoanions where the suffix -ate becomes -ic and -ite becomes -ous.

Catenate

Carbon's outstanding ability to form chains of atoms, allowing it to form stable chain, ring, and branched compounds.