General Chemistry Lecture Review: Foundations, Atoms, and Chemical Bonds

Vocabulary flashcards covering foundational principles of matter, metric prefixes, energy, atomic structure, and chemical bonding from Chapters 1, 2, and 3.

Chemistry

The study of matter.

Chemical change

A process in which substances are used up and others are formed in their place.

Physical change

A change of state.

Matter

Anything with mass that takes up space and can change forms.

Hypothesis

A statement proposed without proof.

Theory

An explanation of how two things work together based off some experience.

Mass

The amount of matter in something.

Weight

The result from mass versus gravity.

Density

The ratio of mass to volume, calculated as $\frac{\text{mass}}{\text{volume}}$.

Specific gravity

A substance's density comparison to water.

Potential energy

Stored energy, which includes chemical energy and nuclear energy.

Kinetic energy

Energy in motion.

Milli-

Metric prefix equal to $10^{-3}$.

Micro-

Metric prefix equal to $10^{-6}$.

Nano-

Metric prefix equal to $10^{-9}$.

Pico-

Metric prefix equal to $10^{-12}$.

Mixtures

Combinations of homogeneous and heterogeneous substances that can physically be separated into pure substances.

Elements

Substances in their simplest form that cannot be divided or further purified chemically.

Compound

United elements combined in a fixed ratio.

Atomic number

The number of protons in an atom.

Mass number

The total number of protons plus neutrons in an atom.

Isotopes

Atoms with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons.

Metals

Elements that conduct electricity.

Nonmetals

Elements that do not conduct electricity.

Metalloids

Elements that have some properties of metals but do not conduct electricity.

Octet

A state of 8 valence electrons, with exceptions including phosphorus and sulfur.

Cation

A positively charged ion.

Anion

A negatively charged ion.

Monatomic anions

Negatively charged single-atom ions named by keeping the stem name of the element and adding "ide".

Ionic bond

The chemical attraction between a cation and an anion.

Covalent bond

A bond formed between 2 atoms that share electrons.

Electronegativity

The ability of an atom to pull electrons to itself.

Non-polar covalent bond

A covalent bond in which electrons are shared equally, typically with an electronegativity difference less than 1.9.

Polar covalent bond

A covalent bond where electron sharing is not equal, causing the more electronegative stronger atom to acquire a partial negative charge and the less electronegative weaker atom to acquire a partial positive charge.

Covalent compound

A compound usually formed between a nonmetal and a nonmetal.