CHM 1045 General Chemistry I Course Vocabulary

Vocabulary terms encompassing chemical theories, mathematical concepts, and university policies as outlined in the GEN CHEMISTRY I (CHM 1045) syllabus.

Intensive properties

Properties that are independent of the amount of substance present.

Extensive properties

Properties that depend on the amount of substance present.

Dimensional analysis

A technique used for the conversion of units in solving chemical problems.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons.

Avogadro’s number

The number of particles in one mole of a substance, which is exactly $6.022 \times 10^{23}$.

Molar mass

The mass in grams of one mole of a substance, typically expressed in units of $g\,mol^{-1}$.

Empirical formula

The simplest whole-number ratio of atoms of each element present in a compound.

Molar concentration

A measure of concentration defined as the number of moles of solute per volume of solution, also referred to as molarity.

Electrolytes

Substances that dissolve in water to form a solution that conducts electricity; they can be categorized as weak or strong.

Precipitation reactions

Chemical reactions that involve the formation of an insoluble product, represented through molecular, complete ionic, or net ionic equations.

Limiting reactant

The reactant that is completely consumed in a chemical reaction and limits the amount of product formed.

Theoretical yield

The maximum amount of product that can be generated from a given amount of reactant according to stoichiometric calculations.

State function

A property of a system whose value depends only on the current state of the system and not on the path taken to get there, such as internal energy ($E$).

Specific heat capacity

The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by $1\,^{\circ}C$.

Hess’ law

A principle stating that the total enthalpy change for a chemical reaction is the same regardless of the number of steps the reaction takes.

Standard enthalpy of formation

The change in enthalpy that occurs when one mole of a compound is formed from its constituent elements in their standard states.

Bohr’s model

A model used to explain atomic emission by proposing that electrons occupy specific orbits or energy levels around the nucleus.

De Broglie’s wavelength

A concept describing the wave nature of matter, suggesting that all moving particles have an associated wavelength.

Pauli’s principle

An exclusion principle stating that no two electrons in an atom can share the same four quantum numbers.

Hund’s rule

A rule stating that for a given electron subshell, the lowest energy is attained when the number of electrons with the same spin is maximized.

Electronegativity

A measure of the ability of an atom to attract bonding electrons to itself within a chemical bond.

Dipole moment

A quantitative measure of the polarity of a bond or molecule based on the distance between charges.

VSEPR theory

Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion theory used to predict the three-dimensional geometry of molecules based on electron-pair repulsions.

Hybridization

The mixing of atomic orbitals (such as $sp$, $sp^2$, $sp^3$, $sp^3d$, or $sp^3d^2$) to form new hybrid orbitals for bonding.

WF Grade

A grade assigned at Florida A&M University to students who stop submitting assignments or exams before the withdrawal deadline without officially withdrawing.

CeDAR

The Center for Disability Access & Resources at FAMU, which utilizes the AIM portal for students to register for accommodations.

Publish

In the context of class recordings, this means to share, transmit, circulate, distribute, or provide access to a recording to another person or platform regardless of format.