Nagel 2026 Honors Chemistry Final Exam Review

Vocabulary practice and key chemical concepts from the final exam review including states of matter, properties, changes, electron configurations, and atomic data.

Matter

Anything that has mass and volume.

Mass

The amount of matter in an object.

Volume

The amount of space an object takes up.

Solid

A state of matter with a fixed shape and fixed volume; particles exhibit very little motion (vibration) and have very little space between them.

Liquid

A state of matter with a fixed volume but no fixed shape (takes the shape of the container); particles are condensed but have more space than solids and exhibit limited motion allowing them to move past each other.

Gas

A state of matter that takes the shape and fills the volume of its container; particles have lots of space and can move freely and quickly in all directions.

Physical Properties (Examples)

Blue color, density, solubility (dissolves), melting point, hardness, boiling point, luster, and odor.

Chemical Properties (Examples)

Flammability (burns), reacts with acid, supports combustion, sour taste, reacts with water, and reacts with air.

Physical Changes (Examples)

NaCl dissolving in water, cutting an apple, changing $H_2O$ to steam, alcohol evaporating, ice melting, sugar dissolving in water, inflating a tire, and a paper towel absorbing water.

Chemical Changes (Examples)

Ag (Silver) tarnishing, milk souring, baking soda reacting with vinegar, Fe (Iron) rusting, wood rotting, pancakes cooking, grass growing, and food being digested.

Nitrogen Electron Configuration

$1s^2 2s^2 2p^3$ or abbreviated as $[He] 2s^2 2p^3$.

Chlorine Electron Configuration

$1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2 3p^5$ or abbreviated as $[Ne] 3s^2 3p^5$.

Magnesium Electron Configuration

$1s^2 2s^2 2p^6 3s^2$ or abbreviated as $[Ne] 3s^2$.

Neon Electron Configuration

$1s^2 2s^2 2p^6$ or abbreviated as $[He] 2s^2 2p^6$.

Hyphen Notation

A method of designating isotopes by writing the element name followed by a hyphen and the mass number (e.g., uranium-235, boron-10).

Atomic Number

The number that identifies the element and is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus.

Mass Number

The sum of the number of protons and the number of neutrons in an atom.

Uranium-235 (Subatomic Composition)

Atomic number $92$, Mass number $235$, $92$ protons, $143$ neutrons, and $92$ electrons.

Bismuth-210 (Subatomic Composition)

Atomic number $83$, Mass number $210$, $83$ protons, $127$ neutrons, and $83$ electrons.

Radium-226 (Subatomic Composition)

Atomic number $88$, Mass number $226$, $88$ protons, $114$ neutrons, and $88$ electrons.