College Physics - Chemical Foundation of Life

These flashcards cover key vocabulary and concepts related to the chemical foundation of life from the lecture notes.

Atom

The smallest unit of matter that retains all chemical properties of an element.

Element

A unique form of matter with specific chemical and physical properties that cannot be broken down into smaller substances.

Proton

A positively charged sub-atomic particle located in the nucleus of an atom.

Neutron

A sub-atomic particle with no charge located in the nucleus of an atom.

Electron

A negatively charged sub-atomic particle that orbits the nucleus of an atom.

Atomic Number

The number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, which defines the element.

Atomic Mass

The mass of an atom, approximately equal to the number of protons and neutrons.

Isotope

Forms of an element with different numbers of neutrons and thus different mass numbers.

Valence shell

The outermost shell of an atom that determines its chemical reactivity.

Chemical bond

The attractive force that links atoms together to form molecules.

Covalent bond

A type of chemical bond where atoms share electrons.

Ionic bond

A type of chemical bond formed through the transfer of electrons from one atom to another.

Hydrogen bond

A weak bond between a hydrogen atom and an electronegative atom.

Van der Waals interactions

Weak attractions between molecules or parts of molecules.

Reactants

Substances used at the beginning of a chemical reaction.

Products

Substances formed at the end of a chemical reaction.