General Chemistry Fundamentals and Atomic Theory

Vocabulary flashcards covering core topics in general chemistry including disciplines, classification of matter, properties, measurement rules, atomic models, subatomic particles, isotopes, molecular representations, and chemical nomenclature.

Analytical Chemistry

Analysis of matter to determine its composition and the quantity of each kind of matter present.

Biochemistry

The study of living matter (cells, tissues, etc.) at the molecular level and the processes associated with life.

Inorganic Chemistry

The study of matter that consists of all elements other than carbon and hydrogen and their combinations.

Organic Chemistry

The study of matter composed primarily of carbon and hydrogen.

Physical Chemistry

The discipline that attempts to explain the way in which matter behaves.

Matter

Anything that has mass and occupies space; physical material of the Universe.

Pure Substance

A form of matter that has distinct physical and chemical properties and a fixed composition regardless of source.

Mixture

Matter composed of two or more substances physically combined, whose composition and properties vary with source.

Homogeneous Mixture

A mixture that is uniform throughout the sample; also referred to as a solution.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture with varying composition, properties, and appearance throughout.

Physical Property

A property of matter that can be measured without changing the identity of the matter.

Chemical Property

A property of matter that describes the potential of chemical reactions, such as flammability, toxicity, acidity, heat of combustion, and reactivity.

Filtration

A separation method used to separate pure substances from mixtures based on physical properties, such as filtering insoluble solids like sand from liquid water.

Distillation

A separation technique that separates components of a mixture based on differences in boiling points.

Chromatography

A method of separating mixtures consisting of a stationary phase (solid) and a mobile phase (liquid or gas), where molecules travel different distances based on the strength of their interactions.

Precision

Refers to how reproducible a measurement is when the same sample is measured multiple times.

Accuracy

Refers to how close experimental results are to the "true" value for the quantity being measured.

Significant Figures

All digits of a measured value, including the final uncertain or estimated digit.

Law of Conservation of Matter

Formulated by Antoine Lavoisier in 1785, stating that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction, meaning the total mass of products always equals the total mass of reactants.

Law of Definite Proportions

Formulated by Joseph Proust in 1799, stating that all samples of a pure compound contain the same elements in the same proportion by mass.

Law of Multiple Proportions

Formulated by John Dalton in the early 1800s, stating that elements might combine in more than one proportion, with each set representing a different compound.

Dalton's Atomic Theory

Proposed in 1808 by John Dalton, stating that all matter is composed of indivisible atoms, atoms of an element are identical, compounds form in simple whole-number ratios, and chemical reactions involve atom rearrangements.

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle with a charge of $-1.602 \times 10^{-19}\,C$ ($-1$) and a mass of $9.11 \times 10^{-31}\,kg$ ($0.00055\,amu$), occupying space outside the nucleus.

Proton

A positively charged subatomic particle found in the nucleus with a charge of $+1$ and a mass of $1.67 \times 10^{-27}\,kg$ ($1.00727\,amu$).

Neutron

A neutral subatomic particle in the nucleus discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, with a charge of $0$ and a mass of $1.67 \times 10^{-27}\,kg$ ($1.00866\,amu$).

Gold Foil Experiment

An experiment conducted by Ernest Rutherford in 1911 that demonstrated atoms are mostly empty space with almost all mass and positive charge concentrated in a tiny nucleus.

Bohr Model

An atomic model proposed by Niels Bohr in 1913 that explained the line spectrum of hydrogen by depicting concentric shells of electrons surrounding a positively charged nucleus.

Isotope

Atoms of the same element that contain a different number of neutrons, resulting in different mass numbers and atomic masses.

Molecular Formula

A representation using chemical symbols to indicate the types of atoms followed by subscripts showing the exact number of atoms of each type in a molecule.

Structural Formula

An expanded representation of a molecule where covalent bonds connecting atoms are illustrated with lines and nonbonding valence electrons are shown as dots.

Condensed Structural Formula

A representation that shows the order in which atoms are connected in a molecule without explicitly drawing all the individual covalent bonds.

Empirical Formula

A formula indicating the relative number and type of all atoms in a compound expressed in the simplest whole-number ratio.

Binary Molecule

A molecule composed of two different nonmetal elements.

Ionic Compound

A neutral species formed by electrostatic attraction between cations and anions, arranged in a three-dimensional repeating crystal lattice.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when an element or group of atoms loses one or more electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when an element or group of atoms gains one or more electrons.

Polyatomic Anion

An anion composed of two or more atoms covalently bonded together that carry a net negative charge.

Binary Acid

An acid composed of hydrogen and one other nonmetallic element, named using the prefix "hydro-" and replacing "-ide" with "-ic acid".

Oxyacid

An acid consisting of hydrogen atom(s) combined with an oxygen-containing polyatomic anion.