Chapter 11: Chemical Changes

This set of vocabulary flashcards covers the fundamental concepts of chemical and physical changes, the law of conservation of mass, and specific types of chemical reactions based on the Chapter 11 handout.

Physical changes

Changes that are reversible and do not involve the formation of new substances, such as dissolving sugar or salt in water, evaporation, freezing, and boiling.

Chemical changes

Changes that are irreversible and result from chemical interactions (matter interacting with heat, light, or electricity, or two kinds of matter interacting), resulting in the formation of new substances.

Word equations

A way to represent chemical changes using terms where reactants are shown on the left and products are shown on the right of an arrow.

Reactants

The substances present at the start of a chemical reaction, located on the left of the arrow in a word equation.

Products

The substances present at the end of a chemical reaction, located on the right of the arrow in a word equation.

Conditions

External factors such as heat, light, and pressure that are required for a chemical reaction to take place.

Arrow (in a chemical equation)

A symbol that represents the order and direction of the chemical reaction.

Atom rearrangement

A process during a chemical reaction where atoms of the reactants rearrange themselves and combine chemically to form products without being created or destroyed.

Conservation of Mass

A principle stating that in a chemical reaction, the mass of the products is equal to the mass of the reactants because atoms are neither created nor destroyed.

Combustion

A type of chemical change where a substance, such as carbon, burns in oxygen to form new products like carbon dioxide, illustrated by the equation: $carbon + oxygen \rightarrow carbon dioxide$.

Thermal decomposition

A chemical change that matter undergoes specifically upon being heated.

Oxidation

A type of chemical change involving interactions with oxygen, with examples including rusting and cellular respiration.

Neutralisation

The chemical reaction that occurs specifically when mixing acids and alkalis.

Electroplating

A chemical change that occurs through the use of an electric current.

Photosynthesis

A chemical change that occurs upon exposure to light, represented by the equation: $carbon dioxide + water \xrightarrow{light} glucose + oxygen$.