Compounds and Bonding Vocabulary

Flashcards covering chemical bonding, compound classification, formulas, and nomenclature rules based on the lecture notes.

Compound

A substance with a fixed ratio of atoms held together in a defined spatial arrangement by chemical bonds, whose constituent elements do not retain their original properties and cannot be separated by physical methods.

Law of Multiple Proportions

The law formulated by John Dalton in 1803 stating that if two elements ($A$ and $B$) combine to form more than one compound, the masses of element $A$ that combine with a fixed mass of element $B$ are in the ratio of small whole numbers.

Molecular Compound

A compound composed of atoms held together by covalent bonds, typically formed between nonmetal elements.

Ionic Compound

A compound composed of positively and negatively charged ions held together by electrostatic attraction.

Cation

An ion with a positive charge.

Anion

An ion with a negative charge.

Metallic Bonding

The chemical attraction between positive metal cations and surrounding freely mobile electrons forming an "electron sea".

Molecular Formula

A chemical formula describing the exact number and type of atoms present in one molecule of a compound.

Empirical Formula

A chemical formula that gives the simplest whole-number ratio of elements in a compound.

Formula Unit

The smallest electrically neutral unit within the crystal lattice of an ionic compound.

Binary Molecular Compound

A compound consisting of two different nonmetal elements.

Binary Ionic Compound

A compound consisting of cations (usually metals) and anions (usually nonmetals) combined in a ratio that yields a net charge of zero.

Ferrous

The Latinized name for the iron cation with a lower valency of $+2$ ($Fe^{2+}$), also named iron(II).

Ferric

The Latinized name for the iron cation with a higher valency of $+3$ ($Fe^{3+}$), also named iron(III).

Cuprous

The Latinized name for the copper cation with a lower valency of $+1$ ($Cu^+$), also named copper(I).

Cupric

The Latinized name for the copper cation with a higher valency of $+2$ ($Cu^{2+}$), also named copper(II).

Plumbous

The Latinized name for the lead cation with a lower valency of $+2$ ($Pb^{2+}$), also named lead(II).

Plumbic

The Latinized name for the lead cation with a higher valency of $+4$ ($Pb^{4+}$), also named lead(IV).

Oxoanion

A polyatomic anion that contains oxygen attached to another element, using suffixes like -ate or -ite to indicate oxygen content.

Binary Acid

An acid containing hydrogen and a nonmetal atom (usually a halogen), named using the prefix "hydro-", the suffix "-ic", and the word "acid".

Oxoacid

An acid represented by the general formula $H_aX_bO_c$ containing hydrogen, oxygen, and another element, named based on its corresponding oxoanion.

Acid Salt

An ionic compound containing an anion with acidic hydrogens that can be released as $H^+$ when dissolved in water.