Scientific Method & Classification of Matter Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the Scientific Method and Classification of Matter lecture transcript.

Scientific Method

A systematic approach to solving problems.

Hypothesis

A tentative statement about the relationship between two or more variables that serves as a specific, testable prediction about what you expect to happen in a study.

Qualitative Data

Information gathered during an experiment that describes the quality of an object, such as its color, shape, and size.

Quantitative Data

Information gathered during an experiment that measures the amount of an object, such as weight or height.

Scientific Laws

Generalizations of observations, with examples including Conservation, Classical mechanics, Thermodynamics, Electromagnetism, Gas laws, Cosmic expansion, and Planetary motion.

Scientific Theories

Attempts to explain generalizations of observations, with examples including Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, Relativity, evolution, String Theory, Black holes, worm holes, Dark Matter, and Plate Tectonics.

Chemistry

The study of matter and the changes it undergoes.

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up space.

Atoms

The fundamental building blocks of matter.

Element

A substance that is made entirely of the same kind of atom.

Compound

A substance made of two or more different kinds of elements, such as water ($H_2O$), carbon dioxide ($CO_2$), methane ($CH_4$), or carbon monoxide ($CO$).

Molecule

A structure formed when two or more atoms form chemical bonds with each other. All compounds are molecules, but not all molecules are compounds.

Solid

A state of matter with a fixed volume and fixed shape that results from particle arrangement, where particles are kept in a rigid state and vibrate in place.

Liquid

A state of matter with a fixed volume but no fixed shape, where particles are not held together as strongly and can slip past one another to flow.

Gas

A state of matter with no fixed volume and no fixed shape, where particles are weakly attracted and move independently at high speeds to fill any container.

Fire

Simply defined as a chemical reaction in a mixture of incandescent gases, typically luminous with intense heat.

Plasma

Gases whose particles have broken down and are charged, such as the material making up the sun.

Colloids

Common materials with one substance evenly distributed within another substance at a very tiny scale.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture whose composition is not uniform throughout, such as colloids and suspensions (e.g., trail mix, pizza, salad dressing, oil and water, muddy water).

Homogeneous Mixture (Solution)

A mixture whose composition is uniform throughout (e.g., air, sea water, salt water, steel, brass, coffee, blood, wine).

Pure Substance

A form of matter that cannot be physically separated into other components.

Physical Properties

Properties that can be observed without changing a substance into another substance, such as boiling point, density, mass, and volume.

Chemical Properties

Properties that can only be observed when a substance is changed into another substance, such as flammability, corrosiveness, and reactivity with acid.

Physical Change

A change in which substances are not altered chemically and experience no change in identity, merely changing state, phase, temperature, volume, or being combined/separated.

Chemical Change

A change where a new chemical substance is formed, which normally cannot be easily reversed and where energy can be given off.

Intensive Properties

Properties of matter that are independent of the amount of the substance present, such as density, boiling point, and color.

Extensive Properties

Properties of matter that are dependent upon the amount of the substance present, such as mass, volume, and energy.

Distillation

A method that purifies liquids or separates liquid components of a homogeneous mixture by heating to vaporize the component with the lowest boiling point, then condensing and collecting the vapor as a liquid.

Filtration

A separation technique used to separate solid substances from liquids and solutions.

Chromatography

A technique that separates substances based on differences in solubility in a solvent, existing in liquid and gas forms.