Chapter 1-2: Water Properties, Carbon, and Isomers

Vocabulary flashcards covering emergent properties of water, solution chemistry, acids and bases, carbon bonding, and structural isomers based on the lecture transcript.

Emergent Property

A characteristic or property that forms due to separate parts coming together, resulting in new properties not observed in the individual parts alone.

Cohesion

The phenomenon where water molecules stick to each other as a direct result of hydrogen bonding.

Surface Tension

A measure of how difficult it is to stretch or break the surface of a liquid, which is high in water due to cohesion.

Adhesion

The phenomenon where water molecules stick to a different surface or substance, such as plant cell walls.

Kinetic Energy

The energy associated with the motion of atoms and molecules.

Potential Energy

Stored energy that results from the position or structure of matter.

Temperature

A measure of the average kinetic energy of the molecules in a body of matter.

Specific Heat

The amount of heat that must be absorbed or lost for $1\,g$ of a substance to change its temperature by $1^\circ\text{C}$.

Evaporative Cooling

The process in which the surface of an object becomes cooler during vaporization, as liquid water carries heat away upon changing into gas.

Solvent

The dissolving agent in a solution.

Solute

The substance that is dissolved in a solution.

Solution

A liquid mixture that is completely homogeneous.

Aqueous Solution

A solution in which water is the solvent.

Hydration Shell

The sphere of water molecules that forms around each dissolved ion in an aqueous solution.

Hydrophilic

Having an affinity for water; characteristic of ionic and polar covalent substances that mix with or dissolve in water.

Hydrophobic

Lacking an affinity for water; characteristic of nonpolar substances (such as oils) that do not mix with water.

Molarity

The concentration of a solute measured as the amount of solute per given volume of solution.

Hydrogen Ion ($H^+$)

A single proton with a charge of $+1$ formed when a hydrogen atom in a water molecule leaves its electron behind.

Hydroxide Ion ($OH^-$)

A water molecule that has lost a proton, carrying a charge of $-1$.

Acid

A substance that increases the $H^+$ concentration of a solution; acts as a proton donor.

Base

A substance that reduces the $H^+$ concentration of a solution; acts as a proton acceptor.

Neutral Solution

A solution containing equal concentrations of $H^+$ and $OH^-$ ions, possessing a pH of $7$.

Buffer

A substance that minimizes changes in pH by containing both an acid and a base component to balance hydrogen ion concentration.

Organic Molecule

A chemical compound that contains both carbon and hydrogen.

Valence

The bonding capacity of an atom, equal to the number of unpaired electrons in its outermost shell (carbon has a valence of $4$).

Hydrocarbon

An organic molecule consisting entirely of carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Isomers

Compounds that have the exact same molecular formula but differ in structural arrangement and chemical properties.

Structural Isomers

Isomers that differ in the covalent arrangement of their carbon skeleton atoms.

Cis-Trans Isomers

Geometric isomers that differ in spatial arrangements around an inflexible double bond; 'cis' places groups on the same side, while 'trans' places them on opposite sides.

Enantiomers

Isomers that are mirror images of each other.