CHM 104: Introductory Inorganic Chemistry - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering core introductory inorganic chemistry concepts from CHM 104, including atomic structure, periodic trends, chemical bonding, molecular geometry, stoichiometry, redox chemistry, and coordination compounds.

Inorganic Chemistry

The branch of chemistry that studies the composition, structure, properties, and reactions of elements and compounds outside the main field of organic chemistry.

Atomic Number

The quantity that equals the number of protons in an atom's nucleus and identifies the element.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that contain different numbers of neutrons in their nuclei.

Valence Electrons

Electrons in the outermost energy level that largely determine bonding behaviour and chemical reactivity.

Electron Configuration

The description of the distribution of electrons among shells, subshells, and orbitals in an atom or ion, such as $1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^1$ for sodium.

Aufbau Principle

A fundamental rule used along with the Pauli exclusion principle and Hund's rule to establish the ground-state arrangement of electrons in an atom or ion.

Periodic Table

An arrangement of elements in order of increasing atomic number that places elements with related valence-electron arrangements in groups.

Periods

Horizontal rows in the periodic table that indicate the principal energy levels being occupied by electrons.

Groups

Vertical columns in the periodic table that reveal recurring patterns in valency and chemical behaviour.

Atomic Radius

A periodic property that generally decreases across a period due to increased effective nuclear attraction, and increases down a group as additional electron shells are added.

Ionization Energy

A periodic property that generally increases across a period and decreases down a group based on nuclear attraction and electron shielding.

Electronegativity

A measure of an atom's attraction for shared electrons in a chemical bond, which generally increases toward the upper-right of the periodic table.

Ionic Bonding

A type of chemical bonding resulting from electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions, commonly following electron transfer between atoms.

Covalent Bonding

A type of chemical bonding involving the sharing of electron pairs, which may be non-polar or polar depending on the electronegativity difference between bonded atoms.

Metallic Bonding

A type of chemical bonding involving delocalized electrons surrounding metal centres, which accounts for properties like conductivity, malleability, and ductility.

Lewis Structures

Diagrams that represent valence electrons, bonding pairs, and lone pairs to provide a simple model of chemical bonding.

Octet Rule

The rule stating that many main-group atoms tend to achieve eight valence electrons, though hydrogen follows a duet arrangement.

VSEPR Theory

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion theory, which predicts molecular shape by arranging electron domains around a central atom to minimize repulsions.

Mole

A chemical counting unit containing approximately $6.022 \times 10^{23}$ specified particles such as atoms, molecules, or ions.

Molar Mass

A physical property connecting measurable mass in grams with the amount of substance, enabling conversion between laboratory quantities and particle numbers.

Stoichiometry

The branch of chemistry that uses balanced chemical equations to establish quantitative relationships between reactants and products.

Arrhenius Acid

A chemical species that increases the hydrogen-ion concentration in aqueous solution.

Arrhenius Base

A chemical species that increases the hydroxide-ion concentration in aqueous solution.

Brønsted–Lowry Model

An acid–base theory that defines acids as proton donors and bases as proton acceptors.

pH Scale

A convenient numerical scale that measures acidity and basicity in aqueous systems, with lower values indicating greater acidity.

Oxidation

A chemical process involving the loss of electrons or an increase in oxidation number.

Reduction

A chemical process involving the gain of electrons or a decrease in oxidation number.

Oxidizing Agent

A reactant that causes another species to be oxidized and is itself reduced during a reaction.

Reducing Agent

A reactant that causes another species to be reduced and is itself oxidized during a reaction.

Alkali Metals

Group 1 elements possessing one principal valence electron that commonly form $+1$ ions through the loss of that electron.

Alkaline Earth Metals

Group 2 elements that generally form $+2$ ions and display systematic differences in reactivity compared to alkali metals.

Coordination Compounds

Complexes containing a central metal atom or ion surrounded by ligands that donate electron pairs through coordinate bonding.

Ligands

Molecules or ions that donate electron pairs to a central metal atom or ion through coordinate bonding, classified as monodentate, bidentate, or polydentate.

Coordination Number

The total number of donor atoms directly attached to the central metal atom or ion in a coordination compound.

Bioinorganic Chemistry

A branch of inorganic chemistry that examines essential metal ions and inorganic species involved in enzymes, oxygen transport, and other biological functions.