State of Matter and Properties Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards based on lecture notes covering states of matter, classifications of matter, physical and chemical properties and changes, and the Law of Conservation of Mass.

Matter

Anything that occupies space and has mass.

Four States of Matter

Solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

Solid

A state of matter that has definite shape and volume, high density, is almost incompressible, and does not depend on the shape of the container (examples: ice cubes, magnesium).

Crystalline Solid

A major type of solid featuring a lattice of regular, ordered molecules, atoms, or ions.

Amorphous Solid

A major type of solid featuring a lattice that lacks any ordered arrangement and is arranged haphazardly, made by cooling a super hot liquid too quickly to form regular crystals.

Liquid

A state of matter that flows, has a fixed volume, takes the shape of its container, is less dense than solids, and is almost incompressible (examples: water, milk, coffee).

Gas

A state of matter that takes both the shape and volume of its container, expands to fill any space, is easily compressed, and consists of substances that are gases at room temperature (examples: nitrogen, oxygen, carbon dioxide).

Vapour

Substances in a gaseous state that are either solid or liquid at room temperature (example: steam); cannot be used interchangeably with gas.

Plasma

An unstable mixture of gaseous positive ions and electrons that exists only at temperatures over $100\text{ million}\,^\circ\text{C}$, making up $99\%$ of the visible universe but is the least common on Earth (examples: northern lights, fluorescent lights, stars).

Mass

A measure of the amount of matter in an object.

Weight

The force that gravity exerts on an object, which can change as the gravitational force changes.

Law of Conservation of Mass

States that in a chemical reaction, mass is neither created nor destroyed, meaning there is no detectable change in total matter during chemical or physical changes, and mass of products equals mass of reactants (example: $10\,\text{g}$ of ice yields $10\,\text{g}$ of water).

Pure Substance

A type of matter that has a constant composition and can be categorized into elements or compounds.

Element

A pure substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances (examples: $\text{Al}$, $\text{Fe}$, $\text{Ca}$).

Compound

A pure substance made up of $2$ or more elements that can be broken down by chemical changes.

Mixture

Composed of $2$ or more types of matter present in varying amounts that can be separated by physical changes.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture whose composition varies from point to point (examples: Italian dressing, chocolate chip cookies).

Homogeneous Mixture

Also known as a solution; a mixture with a uniform composition that appears usually the same throughout (example: Gatorade).

Atom

The smallest particle of an element that has the properties of that element and can be combined chemically.

Molecule

Consists of $2$ or more atoms joined by strong chemical bonds that move as a unit (examples: $\text{O}_2$, $\text{SO}_3$, $\text{NaCl}$).

Physical Property

A characteristic of matter that is not associated with a change in its chemical composition (examples: density, hardness, boiling point, malleability).

Physical Change

A change of state or amount of matter that does not change the chemical identities of the substance (examples: melting, evaporating, cutting).

Chemical Property

The ability or inability of matter to change from one type of matter to another (examples: acidity, flammability).

Chemical Change

A change that produces one or more types of matter different from the original (examples: rust, combustion, baking).