General Inorganic Chemistry I (CHM 101) Lecture Notes

Vocabulary review flashcards covering key inorganic chemistry principles, chemical reactions, gas laws, atomic structure, periodic properties, chemical bonding, kinetics, element groups, transition metals, and nuclear chemistry.

Plasma State

The state of matter in which particles move the fastest.

Homogeneous Mixture

A mixture that possesses a completely uniform composition and appearance throughout.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture having a non-uniform composition whose different constituent components can be visibly distinguished (e.g., sand and water).

Atomicity

The total number of atoms present in one molecule of an element.

Law of Multiple Proportions

The chemical law obeyed when two elements combine together to form more than one compound.

Chemical Equation

A symbolic representation of chemical reactions in which the reactants and products are expressed in terms of their respective chemical formulae.

Single Displacement Reaction

A type of chemical reaction in which a free element displaces and replaces another element within a compound.

Endothermic Reaction

A chemical reaction that absorbs energy, usually in the form of heat from the surroundings, resulting in a decrease in the temperature of the surroundings.

Exothermic Reaction

A chemical reaction that releases energy, typically in the form of heat or light into the surroundings, causing the temperature of the surroundings to increase.

Kinetic Theory of Matter

The theory stating that all matter is composed of tiny particles (atoms, molecules, or ions) in constant, random motion, and the amount of kinetic energy they possess determines the state of matter.

Sublimation

The phase change in which a substance transitions directly from the solid state to the gas phase without passing through the liquid phase.

Condensation

The phase change that occurs when a gas cools down or is compressed, causing its molecules to slow down and move closer together to form a liquid.

Graham's Law of Diffusion

A gas law stating that the rate of diffusion of a gas is inversely proportional to the square root of its molecular mass ($\frac{\text{Rate}_1}{\text{Rate}_2} = \sqrt{\frac{M_2}{M_1}}$).

Bohr's Model (Planetary Model)

An atomic model depicting electrons orbiting a central nucleus in specific, quantized circular paths or energy levels, analogous to how planets orbit the Sun.

Principal Quantum Number ($n$)

The quantum number that describes the main energy level or shell of an electron, with higher integers indicating greater distance from the nucleus and higher energy.

Azimuthal Quantum Number ($l$)

The quantum number that defines the angular momentum, shape of an electron's orbital, and the subshell ($s$, $p$, $d$, or $f$).

Magnetic Quantum Number ($m_l$)

The quantum number that describes the spatial orientation of an orbital in space, specifying which orbital within a subshell an electron occupies.

Spin Quantum Number ($m_s$)

The quantum number that describes the intrinsic angular momentum or spin orientation of an electron, taking values of either $+\frac{1}{2}$ (spin-up) or $-\frac{1}{2}$ (spin-down).

Aufbau's Principle

The principle stating that electrons sequentially fill into the lowest available energy orbitals first before filling higher-energy orbitals during the building up of an atom's electron configuration.

Periodicity

The tendency of chemical elements to exhibit recurring physical and chemical properties when arranged by atomic number, resulting from similar outer electronic configurations.

Ionization Energy

The minimum energy required to remove one electron from an isolated gaseous atom.

Fajans' Rule

A principle indicating that a small, highly charged cation has high polarizing power and readily polarizes large, easily distorted anions, leading to significant electron sharing and covalent character.

$\sigma$ (Bonding) Molecular Orbital

A molecular orbital characterized by having lower energy than the parent atomic orbitals and increased electron density concentrated between the two nuclei.

$\sigma^*$ (Antibonding) Molecular Orbital

A molecular orbital characterized by having higher energy than the parent atomic orbitals and decreased electron density between the two nuclei.

London Dispersion Forces

Weak intermolecular forces arising from temporary dipoles created by the fluctuating motion of electrons in non-polar molecules and atoms.

Coordinate Covalent Bond (Dative Bond)

A covalent linkage in which both shared electrons in the bond pair are donated by the same atom (the donor possessing a lone pair of electrons).

Arrhenius Acid

A substance that produces hydrogen ions ($H^+$) or hydronium ions ($H_3O^+$) when dissolved in water.

Brønsted-Lowry Acid and Base

A framework where an acid is defined as a proton donor and a base is defined as a proton acceptor.

Redox Reaction

A reaction involving the simultaneous transfer of electrons between chemical species, causing a change in oxidation states.

Limiting Reactant (Limiting Agent)

The substance in a chemical reaction that is totally consumed first, limiting the amount of product that can be formed.

Stoichiometric Coefficient

The numerical prefix placed before formulas in a balanced equation that represents the relative number of moles or molecules of each reactant and product, ensuring conservation of mass.

Rate of Reaction

The change in concentration of a reactant or product per unit time.

Molecularity of Reaction

A theoretical integer representing the number of molecules, atoms, or ions that must collide simultaneously for an elementary reaction step to occur.

Order of Reaction

An experimentally determined exponent to which the concentration of a reactant is raised in the rate law equation.

Activation Energy

The energy threshold that must be overcome for a reaction to occur, which a catalyst lowers by offering an alternative pathway.

Inert Pair Effect

The phenomenon in heavier $p$-block elements where the outermost $s$-electrons remain unshared or un-ionized due to poor nuclear shielding by inner filled $d$ and $f$ orbitals, favoring an oxidation state two units lower than the group valency.

Metalloid (Semi-metal)

An element that displays a combination of both metallic and non-metallic chemical and physical properties.

$d\text{-}d$ Transition

The excitation of an electron from a lower-energy $d$-orbital to a higher-energy $d$-orbital upon absorption of specific visible light wavelengths, imparting color to transition metal compounds.

Inner Transition Metals

The two series of elements located below the main body of the periodic table comprising the lanthanides (elements $57$–$71$) and actinides (elements $89$–$103$), defined by the filling of $f$-orbitals.

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element that share the same atomic number (number of protons) but have different mass numbers due to differing numbers of neutrons.

Mass Spectrometry

An analytical method that separates and detects isotopes by ionizing atoms, accelerating them through a magnetic field, and measuring their deflection based on their mass-to-charge ratio ($m/z$).

Scintillation Counter

An instrument that detects ionizing radiation when radioactive particles interact with a scintillating material to emit flashes of light, which are then converted into measurable electrical pulses by a photomultiplier tube (PMT).

Geiger-Müller Counter

A device that measures radioactivity by detecting ionization in a gas-filled tube, where accelerating electrons create an electrical avalanche between a cathode and central anode wire.

Alpha Decay ($\alpha$)

A mode of radioactive decay in which an unstable nucleus emits an alpha particle ($^4_2\text{He}$), causing the atomic number to decrease by $2$ and the mass number to decrease by $4$.

Beta Minus ($\beta^-$) Decay

A radioactive decay process where a neutron in the nucleus converts into a proton and emits an electron ($\beta^-$), increasing the atomic number by $1$ while leaving the mass number unchanged.

Beta Plus ($\beta^+$) Decay

A radioactive decay process where a proton in the nucleus converts into a neutron and emits a positron ($\beta^+$), decreasing the atomic number by $1$ while leaving the mass number unchanged.

Nuclear Binding Energy

The energy required to break a nucleus into its constituent individual protons and neutrons, directly proportional to the nuclear mass defect via Einstein's equation ($E = mc^2$).

Magic Numbers (Nuclear)

Specific counts of protons or neutrons ($2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, 126$) that impart exceptional nuclear stability to a nuclide due to completely filled nuclear shells.

Nuclear Fission

The nuclear process involving the splitting of a heavy, unstable nucleus into two or more lighter nuclei, releasing significant amounts of energy and producing long-lived radioactive waste.

Nuclear Fusion

The nuclear process combining two light nuclei into a heavier, more stable nucleus under conditions of extreme temperature and pressure, releasing extremely large quantities of energy.