Organic Chemistry - Y10Sem2

Energy

The capacity to do work, a property that must be transferred to an object in order to perform work on, or to heat, the object.

Fossil fuel

A natural fuel such as coal, oil or gas, found in geological formations, formed from the remains of living organisms over very long timescales.

Greenhouse effect

The process of planetary warming caused by certain gases in the planet’s atmosphere.

Organic chemistry

Chemistry based on the molecular compounds formed by the element carbon.

Viscosity

A measure of a substance’s resistance to flow, the “thickness” of a fluid.

Volatility

A measure of a substance’s ability to evaporate below it’s boiling point.

Flammability

A measure of a substance’s ability to ignite.

Homologous series

A group of compounds with the same functional group, capable of undergoing similar chemical reactions, differ only by the length of carbon chains.

Functional group

The group of atoms or bonds responsible for the characteristic chemical reactions of a homologous series of compounds.

Saturated hydrocarbons

Have only single bonds between carbon atoms.

Unsaturated hydrocarbons

Have double or triple bonds (pi bonds) between carbon atoms.

Isomers

Substances with the same molecular formulae but different arrangements of atoms in space.

Enthalpy change

The change in potential energy of a chemical system during a chemical reaction.

Exothermic

A process that releases energy, it converts enthalpy in a system into heat energy in the surroundings.

Endothermic

A process that takes in energy, it converts heat energy in the surroundings into enthalpy in the system.

System

The matter being studied, the atoms and molecules of the reaction.

Surroundings

The rest of the universe, apart from the system, exchanges energy with the system.

Activation energy

The minimum amount of energy required for a chemical reaction to occur.

Catalyst

A substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction, by reducing the activation energy for the reaction.