General Chemistry Fundamentals Review

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering foundational chemistry topics including matter classification, measurements, atomic structure, stoichiometry, and historic atomic models.

Elements vs. Compounds vs. Mixtures

Elements consist of one type of atom, compounds consist of two or more elements chemically combined in fixed ratios, and mixtures are physical combinations of two or more substances that retain their distinct chemical identities.

Homogeneous vs. Heterogeneous Mixtures

Homogeneous mixtures have a uniform composition throughout, while heterogeneous mixtures have a non-uniform composition with visually distinguishable components.

Physical vs. Chemical Properties/Changes

Physical properties and changes do not alter the chemical identity of a substance, whereas chemical properties and changes describe or result in a substance altering its chemical composition.

Accuracy vs. Precision

Accuracy refers to how close a measured value is to the true or accepted value, whereas precision refers to how close repeated measurements are to one another.

Intensive vs. Extensive Properties

Intensive properties are independent of the amount of matter present, whereas extensive properties depend directly on the sample size or amount of matter.

Significant Figures

The digits in a measured quantity that contribute to its precision, including all certain digits plus one final estimated digit.

Metric Conversions + Dimensional Analysis

A problem-solving method that uses conversion factors and metric prefixes to convert units systematically by canceling units.

Density

An intensive physical property defined as the mass per unit volume of a substance, calculated as $D = \frac{m}{V}$.

Protons, Neutrons, Electrons

The three primary subatomic particles: positively charged protons ($p^+$) and neutral neutrons ($n^0$) located in the nucleus, and negatively charged electrons ($e^-$) found in the surrounding electron cloud.

Atomic Number & Mass Number

Atomic number ($Z$) is the total number of protons in an atom's nucleus, while mass number ($A$) is the total sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus.

Finding $p^+$, $n^0$, $e^-$ from an Isotope/Ion

Protons equal the atomic number ($Z$); neutrons equal mass number minus atomic number ($A - Z$); electrons equal protons minus the net ionic charge ($p^+ - \text{charge}$).

Isotopes + Average Atomic Mass

Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons; average atomic mass is the weighted average mass of all naturally occurring isotopes of an element.

Periodic Table Groups

Vertical columns on the periodic table containing elements that share similar chemical properties and identical counts of valence electrons.

Common Ion Charges

The predictable electrical charges acquired by main-group elements as they gain or lose valence electrons to achieve a stable noble gas configuration.

Moles, Molar Mass, Avogadro's Number

A mole is the SI unit for amount of substance; molar mass is the mass in grams per mole of a substance ($g\,mol^{-1}$); Avogadro's number ($6.022 \times 10^{23}$) is the number of representative particles in one mole.

Grams \leftrightarrow Moles \leftrightarrow Particles

Stoichiometric calculations converting mass to moles using molar mass, and moles to individual particles using Avogadro's number ($6.022 \times 10^{23}\,\text{particles/mol}$).

Dalton, Thomson, Rutherford

Key atomic theorists: Dalton proposed solid atom spheres and modern atomic theory; Thomson discovered the electron using cathode ray tubes (plum pudding model); Rutherford discovered the dense positive nucleus using the gold foil experiment.

Laws of Conservation, Definite Proportions, Multiple Proportions

Fundamental chemical laws: mass is conserved in chemical reactions (conservation); a given compound always contains elements in fixed mass ratios (definite proportions); when two elements form multiple compounds, the mass ratios of the second element combine in small whole numbers (multiple proportions).