Comprehensive Review: Chemistry Fundamentals, Atomic Theory, and Digital Media Literacy

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering Grade 9 chemistry units (matter, atomic theory, subatomic structure, periodic trends, ionic and covalent bonding) and digital media literacy concepts.

Digital Literacy

The ability to effectively and responsibly use digital tools and platforms.

Digital Communication

The exchange of information using digital technology.

Traditional Media

Conventional communication mediums that include newspapers, books, magazines, television, and radio.

Digital Media

Modern computerized media formats, including websites, social media, podcasts, and streaming services.

Media Bias

Favoring a specific viewpoint rather than remaining neutral in reporting or commentary.

Bias by Omission

A form of media bias that occurs when important facts or viewpoints are deliberately left out of a story.

Commentary

Opinion-based media content rather than purely factual reporting.

Journalistic Integrity

Ethical principles and standards that guide journalists to report information accurately and fairly.

Fact-Checking

The process of verifying information for accuracy before accepting or sharing it to prevent the spread of misinformation.

Satire

A form of humor that exaggerates reality to critique social, cultural, or political issues.

Misinformation

False, inaccurate, or misleading information spread regardless of intent.

Echo Chamber

An environment or media bubble where a person's existing beliefs are continually reinforced and differing viewpoints are excluded.

Polarization

The increased division and divergence of viewpoints between opposing groups.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

Computer systems or machines performing tasks that normally require human intelligence.

Machine Learning (ML)

A subset of artificial intelligence where systems learn patterns from data and improve their performance over time.

Deepfake

An AI-generated fake video, audio recording, or image manipulated to convincingly appear genuine.

Matter

Anything that has mass and takes up space (volume).

Particle Theory of Matter (PTM)

A fundamental scientific model stating five principles: all matter is made of tiny particles; all particles of one substance are the same; there are spaces between particles; particles are constantly moving; and particles are attracted to each other.

Pure Substance

A class of matter that consists of only one type of particle, categorized into elements or compounds.

Mixture

A physical combination of matter made of at least two different kinds of particles.

Homogeneous Mixture (Solution)

A mixture containing two or more substances that has only one visible phase or part throughout (e.g., black coffee, milk).

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture that contains two or more visibly distinct parts or phases (e.g., granola bar, salad, hummus, rocky road ice cream).

Element

A pure substance made of only one kind of atom that cannot be broken down into simpler substances by chemical means.

Compound

A pure substance formed when two or more different kinds of atoms are chemically combined in fixed ratios, exhibiting properties different from its constituent elements.

Physical Property

A characteristic of a substance that can be observed or measured without changing the chemical identity or composition of the substance.

Qualitative Physical Property

A physical property observed and described using the five senses without a numerical measurement (e.g., colour, texture, physical state).

Quantitative Physical Property

A physical property that is measured and expressed with a numerical value and appropriate unit (e.g., mass, volume, density, boiling point).

Viscosity

A physical property defining a fluid's internal resistance to flow.

Malleability

The physical ability of a substance to be hammered, rolled, or bent into different shapes without shattering.

Ductility

The physical ability of a solid material to be pulled or drawn into a thin wire.

Hardness

A measure of how easily a substance resists being scratched or dented, often rated on the Mohs scale from 1 (chalk) to 10 (diamond).

Chemical Property

A characteristic describing a substance's ability to react chemically and transform into one or more new substances (e.g., reactivity with water, oxygen, acids, or combustibility).

Physical Change

A change affecting the physical form, size, or state of matter without altering its chemical composition, typically reversible.

Chemical Change

A process where one or more substances undergo a chemical reaction to form entirely new substances with different properties, typically irreversible.

Precipitate

An insoluble solid that forms out of a liquid solution during a chemical reaction between two solutions.

Changes of State

Reversible physical changes between solid, liquid, and gas phases, including melting, freezing, evaporation, condensation, sublimation, and deposition.

Atom

The smallest unit of an element that retains all the chemical and physical properties of that element.

Democritus's Atomic Theory

An early philosophical view proposing that matter is composed of indestructible particles called atoms, each having a unique shape and size moving through empty space.

Aristotle's Four-Element Theory

The ancient Greek philosophy denying the existence of indivisible atoms, proposing instead that all matter is continuous and composed of varying proportions of fire, air, earth, and water.

Kanada's Atomic Theory

An ancient Indian atomic theory proposing that atoms are spherical, indivisible, and in constant motion, combining to form matter across earth, water, air, and light.

Solid Sphere Model

John Dalton's early 19th-century (1803) atomic model stating that all matter consists of indivisible, indestructible solid atoms that combine in fixed ratios.

Plum Pudding Model

J.J. Thomson's 1897/1904 atomic model proposing that negatively charged electrons are embedded throughout a uniform sphere of positive charge.

Gold Foil Experiment

Ernest Rutherford's 1911 experiment where alpha particles fired at a thin gold sheet mostly passed through while some were deflected, proving the existence of a dense, positively charged nucleus.

Planetary Model

Niels Bohr's 1913 model describing electrons orbiting the central nucleus in fixed, quantized circular paths called electron shells or energy levels.

Quantum Mechanical Model

Erwin Schrödinger's 1920s atomic model treating electrons as having both particle and wave characteristics, existing in an electron cloud of probability around the nucleus.

Proton

A positively charged subatomic particle with a relative charge of $+1$ and a relative mass of $1$, located inside the nucleus.

Neutron

An electrically neutral subatomic particle with a charge of $0$ and a relative mass of $1$, located in the nucleus to reduce repulsion between protons; discovered by James Chadwick in 1932.

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle with a relative charge of $-1$ and negligible mass, found orbiting outside the nucleus in electron shells.

Atomic Number

The number of protons in an atom's nucleus, which defines the chemical identity of the element ($\text{Atomic Number} = \text{\# of protons}$).

Mass Number

The total integer count of protons and neutrons in an atom's nucleus ($\text{Mass Number} = \text{protons} + \text{neutrons}$).

Standard Atomic Notation

A standardized scientific format ($^A_Z X$) showing an element's symbol ($X$) with its mass number ($A$) as a top-left superscript and atomic number ($Z$) as a bottom-left subscript.

Isotope

Atoms of the same chemical element that have the identical number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, resulting in different mass numbers (e.g., Carbon-12, Carbon-13, Carbon-14).

Valence Shell

The outermost electron shell of an atom that contains valence electrons capable of forming chemical bonds.

Octet Rule

The chemical principle that atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons in order to achieve a full, stable outer shell of 8 valence electrons.

Duet Rule

The electron configuration rule governing the first electron shell, which achieves chemical stability with a maximum of 2 electrons (e.g., Helium, Hydrogen, Lithium ions).

Ion

An atom or group of bonded atoms that has gained or lost one or more valence electrons, acquiring a net electrical charge.

Cation

A positively charged ion formed when an atom (usually a metal) loses valence electrons, resulting in more protons than electrons.

Anion

A negatively charged ion formed when an atom (usually a non-metal) gains valence electrons, resulting in more electrons than protons.

Ionic Bond

A chemical bond formed by the electrostatic attraction between oppositely charged ions following the complete transfer of valence electrons from a metal to a non-metal.

Covalent Bond

A chemical bond formed when two non-metal atoms share one or more pairs of valence electrons to achieve full electron shells.

Atomic Radius

The distance measured from the center of an atom's nucleus to its outermost electron shell, increasing as additional electron shells are added.

Reactivity

A chemical property describing the ease and tendency of an element to gain, lose, or share electrons and undergo chemical reactions.

Greek Prefixes (Covalent Nomenclature)

Numerical prefixes (mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, hexa-, hepta-, octa-, nona-, deca-) used in covalent compound nomenclature to specify the number of atoms of each non-metal present.

Reactants

The starting chemical substances consumed during a chemical reaction, written on the left side of a chemical equation before the reaction arrow.

Products

The new chemical substances formed as a result of a chemical reaction, written on the right side of a chemical equation following the reaction arrow.