General, Organic, and Biochemistry: Chapters 1–3 Vocabulary

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key definitions, measurement units, atomic structures, periodic trends, and chemical bonding principles from Chapters 1 through 3.

Intensive Property

A property of matter that does not depend on the size of the sample selected, such as color or density.

Extensive Property

A property of matter that depends directly on the size of the sample chosen, such as mass or volume.

Metric Base Units

The primary standard units in the metric system, which include the meter ($\text{m}$) for distance, liter ($\text{L}$) for volume, and gram ($\text{g}$) for mass.

SI Base Units

The base measurement units defined by the International System of Units, using the kilogram ($\text{kg}$) for mass and cubic meter ($\text{m}^3$) for volume.

Kilo-

A metric prefix abbreviation $k$ meaning $1000$ base units ($10^3$ base units).

Deci-

A metric prefix abbreviation $d$ meaning $\frac{1}{10}$ of the base unit ($10^{-1}$ base units).

Centi-

A metric prefix abbreviation $c$ meaning $\frac{1}{100}$ of the base unit ($10^{-2}$ base units).

Milli-

A metric prefix abbreviation $m$ meaning $\frac{1}{1000}$ of the base unit ($10^{-3}$ base units).

Micro-

A metric prefix abbreviation $\mu$ meaning $\frac{1}{1,000,000}$ of the base unit ($10^{-6}$ base units).

Mass

A measure of how strongly an object resists being moved when it is pushed.

Weight

A measure of how strongly an object is attracted by gravity.

Uncertain Digit

The final recorded digit of a measured number, which contains a degree of uncertainty.

Precision

The closeness of a measurement to other measurements of the same occurrence in a series of experiments.

Accuracy

The closeness of a measured value to the true value.

Standard

A sample of known measurement used to verify the accuracy of a measuring tool.

Scientific Notation

A method of writing numbers in the form $X.YZ \times 10^n$, where $X.YZ$ is the coefficient and $n$ is the positive or negative integer exponent.

Significant Figures

The digits in a measured quantity that carry meaning toward its precision, including all nonzero digits, captive zeros, and trailing zeros in decimal numbers.

Conversion Factor

A fraction or ratio derived from an equivalence between two different units used to convert measurements.

Compound Unit

A measurement unit composed of two or more units, such as miles per hour or $\text{mg/mL}$.

Density

The mass of an object divided by its volume, typically expressed in units of $\text{g/mL}$.

Specific Gravity

The ratio of the density of a substance to the density of water ($1\text{\thinspace g/mL}$), yielding a dimensionless numerical value.

Absolute Zero

The coldest possible temperature, corresponding to $0\text{\thinspace K}$ or $-273\text{\thinspace}^\text{o}\text{C}$.

Chemistry

The study of matter and its properties.

Matter

Anything that has mass and occupies space.

Mixture

A combination of matter that can contain varying proportions of its ingredients and tends to retain the properties of its components.

Homogeneous Mixture

A mixture that is uniform throughout and appears as a single substance, such as air.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture that consists of two or more distinct, visually separate components, such as dirt.

Chemical Substance

A form of matter that has only one fixed, constant composition.

Element

A pure chemical substance that cannot be made from or broken down into simpler substances.

Compound

A chemical substance made by chemically combining two or more different elements in fixed proportions.

Atom

The smallest possible piece of an element that retains its chemical identity.

Atomic Mass Unit (amu)

A unit of mass used to express atomic and molecular weights, where $1\text{\thinspace g} = 6.022 \times 10^{23}\text{\thinspace amu}$.

Proton

A subatomic particle located in the nucleus with a mass of $1\text{\thinspace amu}$ and an electrical charge of $+1$.

Neutron

A subatomic particle located in the nucleus with a mass of $1\text{\thinspace amu}$ and no electrical charge.

Electron

A subatomic particle occupying space around the nucleus with a mass of $\frac{1}{1800}\text{\thinspace amu}$ and an electrical charge of $-1$.

Nucleus

The dense central core of an atom containing its protons and neutrons.

Atomic Number

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which uniquely identifies an element.

Mass Number

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

Electron Shells

The energy levels around an atomic nucleus occupied by electrons.

Valence Electrons

The electrons located in the outermost occupied shell of an atom that determine its chemical reactivity and bonding behavior.

Lewis Structure

A representation of an atom or molecule that uses dots around element symbols to depict valence electrons.

Metals

Elements located on the left side of the periodic table that are typically shiny solids, conduct electricity well, and can be bent and shaped.

Nonmetals

Elements on the right side of the periodic table that generally do not conduct electricity and are brittle when solid.

Metalloids

Elements positioned along the metal/nonmetal border that display intermediate properties, acting as poor electrical conductors and brittle solids.

Periods

The horizontal rows of elements on the periodic table, numbered from top to bottom.

Groups

The vertical columns of elements on the periodic table containing elements with similar valence electron configurations and chemical behavior.

Representative Elements

The main-group elements in Groups 1A through 8A (Groups 1–2 and 13–18) of the periodic table.

Transition Elements

The elements located in Groups 3 through 12 (3B through 2B) of the periodic table.

Alkali Metals

The Group 1A (Group 1) elements on the periodic table, excluding hydrogen.

Alkaline Earth Metals

The Group 2A (Group 2) elements on the periodic table.

Halogens

The Group 7A (Group 17) elements on the periodic table.

Noble Gases

The Group 8A (Group 18) elements on the periodic table, which possess full valence shells and rarely form chemical compounds.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that have identical numbers of protons but different numbers of neutrons and different masses.

Atomic Weight

The average mass of an atom of an element, taking into account the natural relative abundances of its isotopes.

Avogadro's Number

The number of items in one mole, equal to $6.022 \times 10^{23}$.

Mole (mol)

A unit representing $6.022 \times 10^{23}$ atoms, molecules, or particles of a substance.

Formula Weight

The sum of the atomic weights of all atoms present in a chemical formula unit or molecule.

Molar Mass

The mass in grams of one mole of a chemical substance, expressed in $\text{g/mol}$.

Octet Rule

The principle stating that representative elements tend to react to form compounds in which each atom achieves 8 valence electrons.

Chemical Bond

An attractive force between two atoms that holds them together.

Covalent Bond

A chemical bond formed when two atoms share electrons.

Bonding Pair

A pair of valence electrons shared between two atoms to form a covalent bond.

Lone Pair

A pair of valence electrons that is not shared with another atom in a covalent bond.

Molecule

A neutral group of two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds.

Single Bond

A covalent bond formed by sharing 1 pair of electrons (2 total electrons).

Double Bond

A covalent bond formed when two atoms share 2 pairs of electrons (4 total electrons).

Triple Bond

A covalent bond formed when two atoms share 3 pairs of electrons (6 total electrons).

Electronegativity

A measure of an element's ability to attract shared electrons in a chemical bond.

Polar Covalent Bond

A covalent bond between different atoms in which electrons are shared unequally, creating partial electric charges.

Nonpolar Covalent Bond

A covalent bond between identical atoms in which bonding electrons are shared equally and no partial charges form.

Binary Covalent Compound

A covalent compound composed of exactly two different nonmetal elements.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when a neutral atom loses one or more electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when a neutral atom gains one or more electrons.

Ionic Bond

A chemical bond resulting from the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions without shared electrons.

Ionic Compound

A neutral chemical compound composed of cations and anions held together by ionic bonds.

Monatomic Ion

An ion consisting of a single atom carrying an electrical charge.

Polyatomic Ion

An ion composed of two or more covalently bonded atoms that collectively carry an overall electrical charge.