General Chemistry Lectures/Biotechnology

These flashcards cover key concepts in general chemistry and biotechnology, focusing on definitions and important theories.

Chemical substance

A pure material made up of only one type of atom or molecule.

Mixture

A combination of two or more substances that retain their individual properties.

Atom

The smallest unit of a chemical element, consisting of a nucleus and electrons.

Isotope

Atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons.

Avogadro's number

6.022 x 10^23, the number of atoms or molecules in one mole of a substance.

Quantum mechanics

A fundamental theory in physics describing the behavior of energy and matter at atomic and subatomic levels.

Chemical bond

An attraction between atoms that allows the formation of chemical substances.

Lewis structure

A diagram that shows the bonding between atoms and the lone pairs of electrons in a molecule.

Molecular orbital theory

A theory that describes the behavior of electrons in molecules as opposed to individual atoms.

Strong hydrogen bond

A strong type of dipole-dipole attraction between a hydrogen atom covalently bonded to a highly electronegative atom.

Phase state

The distinct physical forms of matter, primarily solid, liquid, gas, and plasma.

Concentration equilibrium constant

A value that expresses the ratio of the concentrations of products to reactants at equilibrium.

Thermodynamics

The branch of physics concerned with heat and temperature and their relation to energy and work.

pH

A measure of the acidity or basicity of a solution.

Chemical kinetics

The study of rates of chemical processes.

Nuclear force

The force that holds protons and neutrons together in the atomic nucleus.

Debroglie wavelength

The wavelength associated with a moving particle, indicative of its wave-particle duality.

Entropy

A measure of the disorder or randomness in a system, often associated with the second law of thermodynamics.

Ideal gas law

The equation of state for an ideal gas, where PV=nRT.

Dalton's law of partial pressures

The total pressure of a mixture of gases is equal to the sum of the partial pressures of the individual gases.

Quantum number

A number that describes the energy levels of an electron in an atom.