Chemistry Review

Flashcards covering key vocabulary from chemistry review quizzes.

Scientific Method

A systematic approach to understanding the natural world involving observation, hypothesis, experimentation, and conclusion.

Bias in Science

Distortion of questions, data collection, interpretation, or conclusions due to preconceived notions.

Truth in Science

Supported by strong, repeatable evidence and consistent with current observations and experiments; the best explanation based on available data.

Physical Transformation

Changes affecting form, state, or appearance, not the substance’s chemical identity (e.g., melting, boiling, freezing).

Chemical Transformation

Changes resulting in new substances with different properties from the originals (e.g., rusting, burning, cooking).

Significant Figures

Digits in a number that contribute to its precision; leading zeros are not significant.

Scientific Notation

A way of expressing numbers as a product of a number between 1 and 10 and a power of 10.

Dalton's Atomic Theory

Atoms combine in simple whole-number ratios to form compounds, and chemical reactions involve the rearrangement of atoms—not their creation or destruction.

Soluble

A substance that dissolves in a solvent.

Saturated Solution

A solution where no more solute can be dissolved; some solute remains undissolved.

Carboxyl Group

-COOH

Hydroxyl Group

-OH

Ionic Compounds

Compounds made of a metal and a nonmetal.

Covalent Compounds

Compounds made of two non-metals.

Electrolyte

Substance that conducts electricity when dissolved in water.

Non-electrolyte

Substance that does not conduct electricity when dissolved in water.

Polar Molecules

Molecules with an uneven distribution of charge, having positive and negative ends (e.g., water).

Non-polar Molecules

Molecules with a balanced distribution of charge, having no distinct positive or negative poles (e.g., oxygen, methane).

photon

The smallest particle of light.

Speed of Electromagnetic Radiation

3.00 × 10⁸ m/sec

S Orbital

Can hold 2 electrons

Lowest Orbital

Electrons go into this orbital first.

Hotter to Colder

Heat flows from this to this.

Matter and Energy

In an open system these can both be exchanged with the system and surroundings:

Joules and Calories conversion

1 calorie = 4.184 joules

Calorimeter

Used to measure the amount of heat (energy) released or absorbed during a chemical or physical change

Saturated and unsaturated fatty acids

These are sold at room temperature, while these are liquids:

Every lipid has a region and a region.

hydrophobic and a hydrophilic

In chemical terms Cis means and Trans means _.

Same side and opposite side

Fatty Acid and Triacylglycerol

A single long hydrocarbon chain with a carboxyl group.A triacylglycerol is made of three fatty acids attached to a glycerol backbone.

Energy storage

Lipids store more energy per gram than carbohydrates

Hydrophobic Interactions

Proteins with hydrophobic regions can embed in lipid membranes or bind to lipid molecules, especially in cell membranes where lipid bilayers interact with membrane proteins

There are two types of sugar named on where their reactive oxygen is they are called

Aldoses and ketoses

Simple Sugar and Complex Carbohydrate

Simple sugars (monosaccharides like glucose or disaccharides like sucrose) consist of one or two sugar units; Complex carbohydrates (like starch or cellulose) are long chains of sugar units (polysaccharides), often used for energy storage or structure.

Table sugar (sucrose) is made of two sugars

Glucose and fructose

Epimer/Isomer

Isomers are molecules with the same chemical formula but different structures. Epimers are a type of isomer that differ in the configuration at only one specific carbon atom (excluding the carbon in the carbonyl group). Different amount of carbon molecules in a carbohydrate.

Energy source and Structural support

Glucose is the primary fuel for cellular respiration; Cellulose provides structure in plant cell walls; chitin does so in fungal cell walls and insect exoskeletons.

Starch and Cellulose

Both are made of glucose, but: Starch has alpha-1,4 glycosidic bonds – humans can digest it; Cellulose has beta-1,4 glycosidic bonds – humans cannot digest it due to a lack of the enzyme needed to break those bonds