Inorganic Chemistry Final Exam

Acid

Any of a class of compounds whose aqueous solutions react with and dissolve certain metals to form salts and react with bases to form salts.

Acid anhydride / Acidic oxide

An acid with one or more molecules of water removed; for example, SO₃ is the acid anhydride of H₂SO₄, sulfuric acid. Nonmetal oxides are ______.

Activation energy

The energy, in excess over the ground state, that must be added to an atomic or molecular system to allow a particular process to take place.

Allotrope

An element or other substance that has two or more different forms of structures that are most frequently stable in different temperature ranges, such as different crystalline forms of carbon as charcoal or diamond. Ex: O₂ and O₃

Alloy

Any of a large number of substances having metallic properties and consisting of two or more elements; with few exceptions, the components are usually metallic elements.

Ambident

A reagent or substance that can have two or more attacking sites

Amorphous

Pertaining to a solid that is noncrystalline, having neither definite form nor structure.

Amphiprotic / Amphoteric

Having both acidic and basic characteristics.

Anion

An ion that is negatively charged.

Aprotic solvent

A solvent that does not yield or accept a proton.

Base

Any chemical species, ionic or molecular, capable of accepting or receiving a proton (hydrogen ion) from another substance; the other substance acts as an acid in giving of the proton.

Basic anhydride / Basic oxide

A metallic oxide that is a base or that forms a hydroxide when combined with water.

Beneficiation

Improving the chemical or physical properties of an ore so that the metal can be recovered at a profit. Also known as mineral dressing.

Bond energy

The heat of formulation of a molecule from its constituent atoms. [Note: Usually tabulated as positive numbers, which represent the energy required to dissociate (break apart) a gaseous diatomic molecule into its constituent gaseous atoms, or a corresponding fraction for a larger molecule composed of two elements.]

Born-Haber cycle

A sequence of chemical and physical processes by means of which the cohesive energy of an ionic crystal can be deduced from experimental quantities; it leads from an initial state in which a crystal is at zero pressure and 0°K to a final state that is an infinitely dilute gas of its constituent ions, also at zero pressure and 0°K.

∆H = (atom. NRG) + (ion. NRG) + (atom. NRG) + (EA) - (U lattice NRG)

Bridging ligand

A ligand in which an atom or molecular species that is able to exist independently is simultaneously bonded to two or more atoms.

Catalyst

Substance that alters the velocity of a chemical reaction and may be recovered essentially unaltered in form and amount at the end of the reaction.

Catenation

The property of an element to link itself to form molecules, as with carbon.

Chalcogen

One of the elements that form Group 16/VIA of the periodic table; included are oxygen, sulfur, selenium, tellurium, and polonium.

Close packed

Referring to a crystal structure in which the lattice points are centers of spheres of equal radius arranged so that the volume of the interstices between the spheres is minimal.

Conductor

A wire, cable, or other body or medium that is suitable for carrying electric current.

Coordinate covalent bond

A chemical bond between two atoms in which a shared pair of electrons forms the bond, the pair having been supplied by one of the two atoms.

Corrosion

Gradual destruction of a metal or alloy due to chemical processes such as oxidation or the action of a chemical agent.

Covalent bond

A bond in which each atom of a bound pair contributes one electron to form a pair of electrons.

Covalent radius

The effective radius of an atom in a covalent bond.

Crystal defect

Any departure from crystal symmetry caused by free surfaces, disorder, impurities, vacancies, and interstitials, dislocations, lattice vibrations, and grain boundaries. Also known as lattice defect.

Deliquescence

The absorption of atmospheric water vapor by a crystalline solid until the crystal eventually dissolves into a saturated solution.

Desiccant

A soluble or insoluble chemical substance that has such a great affinity for water that it will abstract water from a great many fluid materials.

Displacement reaction

A chemical reaction in which an atom, radical, or molecule displaces and sets free an element of a compound.

Disproportionation

The changing of a substance, usually by simultaneous oxidation and reduction, into two or more dissimilar substances. 1 atom both oxidizes and reduces into 2 separate atoms.

Electrolysis

A method by which chemical reactions are carried out by passage of electric current through a solution of an electrolyte or through a molten salt.

Electromotive force (emf)

1. The difference in electric potential that exists between two dissimilar electrodes immersed in the same electrolyte or otherwise connected by ionic conductors. 2. The resultant of the relative electrode potential of the two dissimilar electrodes at which electrochemical reactions occur.

Electron affinity / Electron gain enthalpy

The work needed in removing an electron from a negative ion, thus restoring the neutrality of an atom or molecule. It increases right and up the periodic table. The atom with the lowest ______ is the central atom.

Electronegative

Pertaining to an atom or group of atoms that has a relatively great tendency to attract to itself electrons [in a molecule].

Enthalpy (∆H)

The sum of the internal energy of a system plus the product of the system's volume multiplied by the pressure exerted on the system by its surroundings. Also known as heat content, sensible heat, and total heat. Spontaneous when exothermic/negative.

Entropy (∆ S)

1. Measure of the disorder of a system, equal to the Boltzman constant times the natural logarithm of the number of microscopic states corresponding to the thermodynamic state of the system. 2. Function of the state of thermodynamic system whose changed in any differential reversible process is equal to the heat absorbed by the system from its surroundings divided by the absolute temperature of the system. Spontaneous when more disordered/positive.

Equilibrium constant

A constant at a given temperature such that when a reversible chemical reaction cC + dD ⇌ gG + hH has reached an equilibrium, the value of this constant K° is equal to (G)^g (H)^h / (C)^c (D)^d

Explosion

A chemical reaction or change of state that is effected in an exceedingly short space of time with the generation of a high temperature and generally a large quantity of gas.

Fischer-Tropsch process

A catalytic process to synthesize hydrocarbons and their oxygen derivatives by the controlled reaction of hydrogen and carbon monoxide.

n CO + (2n+1) H₂ → CnH₂n+₂ + n H₂O

Gibbs free energy (∆ G)

The thermodynamic function G = H - TS, where H is enthalpy, T absolute temperature, and S entropy. Spontaneous when negative.

Glass

A hard, amorphous, inorganic, usually transparent, brittle substance made by fusing silicates, sometimes borates and phosphates, with certain basic oxides and then rapidly cooling to prevent crystallization.

Group

A family of elements wither similar chemical properties.

Halogen

Any of the elements of Group 17, consisting of flourine, chlorine, bromine, iodine, and astatine.

Hexagonal close packing

Close-packed crystal structure characterized by the regular alteration of two layers; the atoms in each layer lie at the vertices of a series of equilateral triangles, and the atoms in one layer lie directly above the centers of the triangles in neighboring layers. ABA packing

Homogeneous catalysis

Catalysts occurring within a single phase, usually a gas or liquid

Hydration energy / Heat of hydration

The increase in enthalpy accompanying the formation of 1 mole of a hydrate from the anhydrous form of the compound and from water at constant pressure.

Hydrolysis

In aqueous solutions of electrolytes, the reactions of cations with water to produce a weak base or of anions to produce a weak acid.

Hydrothermal synthesis

Mineral synthesis in the presence of heated water.

Intercalation

A layer located between layers of different character.

Ionic bonding

A type of chemical bonding in which one or more electrons are transferred completely from one atom to another, thus converting neutral atoms into electrically charged ions; these ions are approximately spherical and attract one another because of their opposite charge.

Isoelectronic

Pertaining to atoms having the same number of electrons outside the nucleus of atoms.

Isomorphous / Isomorphic minerals

Any two or more crystalline mineral compounds having different chemical compositions but identical structure, such as the garnet series or the feldspar group.

Lattice energy

1. The energy required to separate ions in an ionic crystal an infinite distance from each other. 2. The energy released when ions come together from infinite separation to form an ionic crystal.

Layer structure

A crystalline structure found in substances such as graphites and clays in which the atoms are largely concentrated in a set of parallel planes, with the regions between the planes comparatively vacant.

Madelung constant

A dimensionless constant that determines the electrostatic energy of a three-dimensional periodic crystal lattice consisting of a large number of positive and negative point charges when the number and magnitude of the charges and the nearest-neighbor distance between them is specified.

Metallic bond

The type of chemical bond that is present in all metals, and may be thought of as resulting from a sea of valence electrons that are free to move throughout the metal lattice.

Molecular orbital

A wave function describing an electron in a molecule.

Native

Pertaining to an element found in nature in a nongaseous state.

Oxidation-reduction reaction

An oxidizing chemical charge, where an element's positive valence is increased (electron loss), accompanied by a simultaneous reduction of an associated element (electron gain).

Oxidation state/number

The number of electrons to be added to (or subtracted from) an atom in a combined state to convert it to elemental form.

Oxidizing agent

Compound that gives up oxygen easily, removes hydrogen from another compound, or attracts negative electrons.

Period

A family of elements with consecutive atomic numbers in the periodic table and with closely related properties.

Periodic table

A table of the elements, written in sequence in the order of atomic number and arranged in horizontal rows (periods) and vertical columns (groups) to illustrate the occurrence of similarities in the properties of the elements as a periodic function of the sequence.

Pi bonding

Covalent bonding in which the greatest overlap between atomic orbitals is along a plane perpendicular to the line joining the nuclei of the two atoms.

Polar covalent bond

A bond in which a pair of electrons is shared in common between two atoms, but the pair is held more closely by one of the atoms.

Polymorphism

The property of a chemical substance of crystallizing into two or more forms having different structures, such as diamond and graphite.

Radiochemistry

That area of chemistry concerned with the study of radioactive substances.

Radius ratio

The ratio of the radius of a cation to the radius of an anion [cat/an]; relative ionic radii are pertinent to crystal lattice structure, particularly the determination of coordination number. This can be used to rank compounds in order of melting points.

Redox system

A chemical system in which reduction and oxidation reactions occur.

Reducing agent

1. A material that adds hydrogen to an element or compound. 2. A material that adds an electron to an element or compound, that is, decreases the positiveness of its valence.

Reduction

Chemical reaction in which an element gains an electron (has a decrease in positive valence).

Refractory

A material of high melting point.

Resonance structure

Any of two or more structures of the same compound that have identical geometry but different arrangements of their paired electrons; none of the structures has physical reality or adequately accounts for the properties of the compound, which exists as an intermediate form.

Sedimentation

The act or process of accumulating sediment in layers.

Semiconductor

A solid crystalline material whose electrical conductivity is intermediate between that of a conductor and an insulator, ranging from about 10⁵ mho to 10⁻⁷ mho per meter, and is usually strongly temperature-dependent.

Sigma bond

The chemical bond resulting from the formation of a molecular orbital by the end-on overlap of atomic orbitals.

Sintering

Forming a coherent bonded mass by heating metal powders without melting; used mostly in powder metallurgy.

Slag

A nonmetallic product resulting from the interaction of flux and impurities in the smelting and refining of metals.

Solvolysis

A reaction in which a solvent reacts with the solute to form a new substance.

Spectrum

A display or plot of intensity of radiation (particles, photons, or acoustic radiation) as a function of mass, momentum, wavelength, frequency, or some related quantity.

Spin-orbit coupling

The interaction between a particle's spin (ms) and its orbital angular momentum (ml).

Steel

An iron-based alloy, malleable under proper conditions, containing up to about 2% carbon.

Sublimation

The process by which solids are transformed directly to the vapor state, or vice versa, without passing through the liquid phase.

Synthesis gas

A mixture of gases prepared as feedstock for a chemical reaction, for example, carbon monoxide and hydrogen to make hydrocarbons or organic chemicals, or hydrogen and nitrogen to make ammonia.

Valence

A positive number that characterizes the combining power of an element for other elements, as measured by the number of bonds to other atoms that one atom of the given elemental forms upon chemical combination; hydrogen is assigned ______ 1, and the ______ is the number of hydrogen atoms, or the equivalent, with which an atom of the given element combines.

Valence electron

An electron that belongs to the outermost shell of an atom. [Note: This definition is not satisfactory for d- or f-block elements.]

Water gas

A mixture of carbon monoxide and methane produced by passing steam through deep beds of incandescent coal; used for industrial heating and as a gas engine fuel.

Wave function / Schrodinger wave function

A function of the coordinates of the particles of a system and of time that is a solution of the Schrodinger equation and that determines the average result of every conceivable experiment on the system.

Weathering

Physical disintegration and chemical decomposition of earthly and rocky materials on exposure to atmospheric agents, producing an in-place mantle of waste.

Maximum coordination number

The number of spots around a central atom that can either bond or hold an unshared pair of electrons

Alkali metals

Group 1 metals

Alkaline earth metals

Group 2 metals

Paramagnetism

An external magnetic field is attracted to an unpaired electron, making the molecule heavier. Degree dependent on ligands.

Diamagnetism

An external magnetic field is repelled by paired electrons

Formal charge

The charge of an atom in a compound.

= (# of valence e⁻) - (½ # of bond e⁻) - (# of lone e⁻)

Periodic trend of radii size

Increases left and down the table

Effective nuclear charge (Z*)

The net positive charge that an electron experiences. Increases right across the table.

Z* = Z - ∑S (screening constants from Slater's Rules)

Latimer equation

Equation used to calculate heat of hydration. deltaH = 60900Z^2 / (r + 50) kJ/mol

Hydrated ion

M(H₂O)₆ⁿ⁺

Hydroxy cation

[M(H₂O)₅OH]ⁿ⁺