Chemicals of Life – Inorganic Compounds Vocabulary

20 vocabulary flashcards reviewing key inorganic-compound concepts from Biology 1: water’s structure and properties, acids, bases, buffers, and mineral nutrients.

Water (H₂O)

The most abundant component of living organisms; a polar molecule made of two hydrogens and one oxygen whose hydrogen bonding drives many biological properties.

Polarity

Uneven distribution of electrical charge in a molecule, giving water a partial negative region near oxygen and partial positive regions near hydrogens.

Hydrogen Bond

A weak attraction between a partially positive hydrogen atom and a partially negative electronegative atom (e.g., oxygen), central to water’s behavior.

Cohesion

Attraction between water molecules due to hydrogen bonding, producing surface tension that lets insects walk on water.

Adhesion

Attraction between water molecules and other polar surfaces, making substances wet and aiding capillary rise.

Capillary Action

Upward movement of water in narrow tubes against gravity, resulting from combined cohesion and adhesion; enables water transport in plants.

Specific Heat

Amount of heat needed to raise 1 g of a substance by 1 °C; water’s high value (4.2 J g⁻¹ °C⁻¹) moderates temperature changes.

High Heat of Vaporization

Large energy (≈540 cal g⁻¹) required for water to vaporize because many hydrogen bonds must be broken.

Evaporative Cooling

Cooling that occurs as energetic water molecules escape as vapor, carrying heat away (e.g., sweating, panting).

Density Anomaly of Water

Property whereby water is most dense at 4 °C and expands upon freezing, causing ice to float and insulate aquatic life.

Hydration Shell

Sphere of water molecules that surrounds and isolates dissolved ions, stabilizing them in solution.

Aqueous Solution

A homogeneous mixture in which water acts as the solvent for dissolved solutes such as salts or sugars.

Acid

Substance that increases H⁺ concentration in solution; strong acids fully dissociate, while weak acids partially dissociate and can re-associate.

Base

Substance that decreases H⁺ concentration by accepting protons or releasing OH⁻ that combine with H⁺ to form water.

pH Scale

Logarithmic scale (0–14) expressing acidity or basicity: 7 = neutral,

Buffer

Mixture of a weak acid and its conjugate base that resists changes in pH by donating or accepting H⁺ ions.

Carbonic Acid–Bicarbonate Buffer System

Reversible equilibrium (H₂CO₃ ⇌ H⁺ + HCO₃⁻) that stabilizes blood and other biological fluid pH.

Mineral Salts

Essential inorganic ions required in small amounts for processes like bone formation, nerve impulse transmission, and muscle contraction.

Macromineral

Mineral needed in amounts >100 mg/day, e.g., calcium, phosphorus, magnesium.

Micromineral

Trace mineral required in amounts <100 mg/day, e.g., iodine, iron, zinc.