General Chemistry: Laws of Chemical Combination, Atomic Structure, and Nomenclature

Flashcards covering chemical combination laws, atomic structure history, subatomic particles, isotopes, ions, and chemical nomenclature rules for binary covalent compounds and acids.

Law of Conservation of Mass

A chemical principle stating that matter is neither created nor destroyed during chemical reactions, demonstrated quantitatively by Antoine Lavoisier using the reaction of phosphorus with oxygen.

Law of Definite Proportions

A chemical principle stating that any given compound is always composed of definite proportions by mass of its constituent elements.

Law of Multiple Proportions

A law stating that when two or more compounds are composed of the same elements, the ratio of the masses of one element that combine with a given mass of another element is a small, whole-number ratio.

Dalton's Atomic Theory

A theory stating that matter consists of indivisible atoms, all atoms of a given element share identical mass, atoms combine in small whole-number ratios to form compounds, and chemical reactions rearrange atoms without creating or destroying them.

Cathode-Ray Tube

A device consisting of two metal plates sealed inside an evacuated glass tube; J. J. Thomson applied high electrical voltage to it to emit cathode rays (electron beams).

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle distributed around the nucleus with a charge-to-mass ratio of $-1.76 \times 10^8\,\text{C/g}$, a fundamental charge of $-1.6022 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$ (relative charge $-1$), and a mass of $9.10938 \times 10^{-28}\,\text{g}$.

Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment

An experiment performed in 1909 by Robert Millikan using charged oil drops suspended in an electric field to determine the fundamental charge of a single electron ($-1.60 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$).

Plum-Pudding Model

J. J. Thomson's early model of the atom that proposed negatively charged electrons were embedded throughout a larger sphere of positive charge with evenly distributed mass.

Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

An experiment conducted by Ernest Rutherford, Geiger, and Marsden firing alpha particles at thin gold foil, demonstrating that the atom contains a small, dense, positively charged nucleus.

Nucleus

The small, dense central region of an atom that contains virtually all of its mass and all of its positive charge, composed of protons and neutrons.

Proton

A positively charged subatomic particle found in the nucleus with a charge unit of $+1$ ($+1.6022 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$) and a mass of $1.67262 \times 10^{-24}\,\text{g}$ ($1.0073\,\text{amu}$).

Neutron

An electronically neutral subatomic particle located in the nucleus, slightly larger than a proton, with a mass of $1.67493 \times 10^{-24}\,\text{g}$ ($1.0086\,\text{amu}$), discovered by James Chadwick in 1932.

Ionizable Hydrogen Atoms

Hydrogen atoms in an acid, written at the beginning of its chemical formula, that are released as $\text{H}^+$ ions when dissolved in water.

Monoprotic Acid

An acid containing only one ionizable hydrogen atom per molecule, such as $\text{HCl}$, that releases a single $\text{H}^+$ ion in water.

Polyprotic Acid

An acid containing more than one ionizable hydrogen atom per molecule, such as $\text{H}_2\text{SO}_3$, capable of releasing multiple $\text{H}^+$ ions sequentially in water.

Binary Acid

An acid composed of hydrogen and a nonmetal from group 16 or 17, named using the prefix hydro-, the element root, and the suffix -ic acid.

Oxyacid

An acid composed of hydrogen bonded to an oxoanion, named by converting the oxoanion's -ate ending to -ic acid or -ite ending to -ous acid while retaining per- or hypo- prefixes.

Binary Covalent Compound

A compound composed of two different nonmetal elements named using Greek prefixes to denote atom counts, with the second element ending in -ide.

Ammonia

The common non-acidic name for the binary hydrogen covalent compound $\text{NH}_3$.

Phosphine

The common non-acidic name for the binary hydrogen covalent compound $\text{PH}_3$.

Arsine

The common non-acidic name for the binary hydrogen covalent compound $\text{AsH}_3$.

Subatomic Particles

The constituent particles that make up an atom: protons, neutrons, and electrons.

Atomic Number ($Z$)

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

Mass Number ($A$)

The total number of protons and neutrons (collectively called nucleons) in an atom's nucleus.

Nucleons

The collective term for the protons and neutrons located within the atomic nucleus.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that have identical atomic numbers ($Z$) but different mass numbers ($A$) due to varying numbers of neutrons.

Ion

A charged particle formed when an atom or group of atoms gains or loses electrons.

Cation

A positively charged ion produced when an atom loses one or more electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion produced when an atom gains one or more electrons.

Law of Conservation of Mass

A chemical law stating that matter is neither created nor destroyed during chemical reactions.

Antoine Lavoisier's Bell Jar Experiment

A quantitative experiment demonstrating that mass is conserved ($937.49\,g$ total mass before and after) when phosphorus reacts with oxygen in a sealed container under sunlight.

Law of Definite Proportions

A chemical law stating that any given compound is composed of definite proportions by mass of its elements.

Law of Multiple Proportions

A chemical law stating that for two or more compounds composed of the same elements, the ratio of the masses of one element that combine with a fixed mass of another is a small, whole-number ratio.

Dalton's Atomic Theory

A theory proposing that matter is made of indivisible atoms, atoms of an element have identical mass, atoms combine in small whole-number ratios to form compounds, and chemical reactions rearrange atoms.

Cathode-Ray Tube

A device consisting of two metal plates sealed inside an evacuated glass tube that emits electron beams when subjected to a strong electrical current.

Millikan Oil-Drop Experiment

An experiment conducted in 1909 by Robert Millikan that determined the fundamental charge of an electron by balancing gravity and electrical forces on charged oil droplets.

Plum-Pudding Model

J. J. Thomson's atomic model depicting negatively charged electrons suspended throughout a larger sphere of uniform positive charge.

Rutherford's Gold Foil Experiment

An experiment testing the plum-pudding model by firing alpha particles at thin gold foil; deflections demonstrated that positive charge and mass are concentrated in a tiny nucleus.

Ionizable Hydrogen Atoms

Hydrogen atoms in an acid that are released as $\text{H}^+$ ions when dissolved in water, written at the beginning of the chemical formula.

Monoprotic Acid

An acid that releases a single $\text{H}^+$ ion per molecule when dissolved in water, such as $\text{HCl}$.

Polyprotic Acid

An acid that contains and can release more than one ionizable $\text{H}^+$ ion per molecule, such as $\text{H}_2\text{SO}_3$.

Binary Acid

An acid composed of hydrogen and an element from group 16 or 17, named using the pattern hydro- + root + -ic acid.

Oxyacid

An acid containing hydrogen atoms bonded to an oxyanion, named by replacing the anion suffix -ate with -ic acid or -ite with -ous acid.

Binary Covalent Compound

A molecular compound composed of two different nonmetal elements, named using Greek prefixes to denote the number of atoms of each element.

Greek Prefixes in Covalent Nomenclature

Numerical prefixes used to indicate the number of atoms of each nonmetal in a binary covalent compound, where mon(o)- is omitted for the first element.

Ammonia

The common non-acid name for the binary hydrogen compound $\text{NH}_3$.

Phosphine

The common non-acid name for the binary hydrogen compound $\text{PH}_3$.

Arsine

The common non-acid name for the binary hydrogen compound $\text{AsH}_3$.

Proton

A positively charged subatomic particle located in the nucleus with a charge of $+1.6022 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$ ($+1$ unit charge) and a mass of $1.67262 \times 10^{-24}\,g$ ($1.0073\,\text{amu}$).

Neutron

An electronically neutral subatomic particle in the nucleus, discovered by James Chadwick in 1932, with a mass of $1.67493 \times 10^{-24}\,g$ ($1.0086\,\text{amu}$).

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle distributed around the nucleus with a charge of $-1.6022 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$ ($-1$ unit charge) and a mass of $9.10938 \times 10^{-28}\,g$ ($5.4858 \times 10^{-4}\,\text{amu}$).

Atomic Number ($Z$)

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which uniquely determines the element's identity and equals the electron count in neutral atoms.

Mass Number ($A$)

The total number of nucleons (protons plus neutrons) present within the nucleus of an atom.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that have the same atomic number ($Z$) but different mass numbers ($A$) due to varying numbers of neutrons.

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.