General Chemistry: Essential Ideas, Classification of Matter, and Measurement Principles

Vocabulary flashcards covering key definitions, principles, and concepts from General Chemistry Chapter 1 lecture notes.

Chemistry

The study of the composition, properties, and interactions of matter.

Element

A pure substance made of one type of atom that cannot be separated into other substances or broken down by chemical means.

Compound

A pure substance composed of two or more elements chemically bonded in a fixed ratio that can be broken down into simpler substances by chemical changes.

Law of Constant Composition

The principle stating that the composition of a compound is always the same in any sample of that compound.

Intensive Property

A property of a substance that does not depend on the amount of matter present, such as temperature or density.

Extensive Property

A property of a substance that depends on the amount of matter present, such as mass, volume, or heat content.

Homogeneous Mixture

A mixture composed of two or more substances in variable proportions that exhibits a uniform composition throughout and appears visually the same.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture with a composition that varies from point to point and is non-uniform throughout.

Physical Change

A change in the state or properties of matter without any accompanying change in its chemical composition.

Chemical Change

A change that produces one or more new types of matter with a different chemical composition.

Physical Property

A characteristic of matter that is not associated with a change in its chemical composition, such as density, color, or melting point.

Chemical Property

A characteristic related to the change of one type of matter into another type, or the inability to change, such as flammability, toxicity, or reactivity.

Hypothesis

A tentative, proposed explanation or testable prediction of observations.

Scientific Theory

A well-substantiated, comprehensive, testable explanation of a particular aspect of nature based on continued observation and experimentation.

Law of Science

A statement that summarizes a vast number of experimental observations and describes or predicts some facet of the natural world.

Solid

A rigid state of matter that possesses a definite shape and a fixed volume.

Liquid

A state of matter that flows, takes the shape of its container, forms a horizontal surface, and has a definite volume.

Gas

A state of matter that takes both the shape and volume of its container, expanding to fill it.

Plasma

A gaseous state of matter containing an appreciable amount of electrically charged particles, exhibiting unique properties distinct from ordinary gases.

Macroscopic Domain

The realm of chemistry dealing with objects and phenomena large enough to be sensed directly by human sight or touch.

Microscopic Domain

The realm of chemistry dealing with entities that are visible only through a microscope or specialized imaging, such as atoms and molecules.

Symbolic Domain

The specialized language used to represent components of the macroscopic and microscopic domains, such as chemical symbols, formulas, and equations.

Mass

A measure of the amount of matter in an object.

Weight

The force that gravity exerts on an object.

Law of Conservation of Matter

The law stating that there is no detectable change in the total quantity of matter present when matter converts from one type to another during physical or chemical changes.

Atom

The smallest particle of an element that has the properties of that element and can enter into a chemical combination.

Molecule

An entity composed of two or more atoms connected together by strong forces known as chemical bonds.

NFPA Hazard Diamond

A hazard diamond created by the National Fire Protection Agency that summarizes the major health, fire, reactivity, and specific hazards of a chemical substance.