General Chemistry: Atoms, Molecules, and Fundamentals of Measurement

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering fundamental chemistry principles, atomic structure, periodic properties, measurement, precision, error, nomenclature, and chemical formulas based on lecture notes.

Chemical Properties

Characteristics a substance shows as it interacts with, or transforms into, other substances, such as flammability and corrosiveness.

Physical Change

A process in which a substance alters its physical form or state without changing its chemical composition.

Chemical Change

A process in which one or more substances are converted into different substances with entirely different chemical compositions.

Element

The simplest type of substance with unique physical and chemical properties, consisting of only one type of atom and incapable of being broken down by physical or chemical means.

Compound

A substance composed of two or more elements that are chemically combined in fixed proportions.

Mixture

A group of two or more elements and/or compounds that are physically intermingled without chemical combination.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A mixture containing one or more visible boundaries among its components, where the composition varies from one region to another.

Homogeneous Mixture (Solution)

A mixture with no visible boundaries that possesses a uniform composition throughout, where components are uniformly intermingled on a molecular level.

Aqueous Solution

A homogeneous mixture or solution in which water serves as the solvent.

Extensive Properties

Properties that depend directly on the amount of substance present, such as mass, volume, and surface area.

Intensive Properties

Properties that are independent of the amount of substance present, such as density, temperature, and melting point.

Precision

The degree of closeness among multiple measured values in a repeated series of measurements.

Accuracy

How close a measured value is to the actual or true value.

Systematic Error

An experimental error produced by the system that yields values consistently higher or consistently lower than the actual value.

Random Error

An inherent experimental error that produces values varying randomly above and below the actual value.

Atom

An electrically neutral, spherical entity composed of a positively charged central nucleus surrounded by one or more negatively charged electrons.

Proton

A positively charged subatomic particle located in the nucleus with a relative charge of $1+$ ($+1.60218 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$) and a relative mass of $1.00727\,\text{amu}$.

Neutron

An uncharged subatomic particle located in the nucleus with a relative charge of $0$ and a relative mass of $1.00866\,\text{amu}$.

Electron

A negatively charged subatomic particle located outside the nucleus with a relative charge of $1-$ ($-1.60218 \times 10^{-19}\,\text{C}$) and a relative mass of $0.00054858\,\text{amu}$.

Atomic Number (Z)

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

Mass Number (A)

The total number of protons ($Z$) and neutrons ($N$) in the nucleus of an atom ($A = Z + N$).

Isotopes

Atoms of the same element containing the same number of protons (same atomic number) but different numbers of neutrons (different mass numbers).

Mass Spectrometry

An instrumental method used to measure the relative masses and relative abundances of atomic-scale particles by separating charged ions based on their mass-to-charge ($m/e$) ratios.

Atomic Mass

The average mass of an element's naturally occurring isotopes, weighted according to their fractional relative abundances.

Ionic Compound

A compound formed by the complete transfer of electrons from the atoms of one element (typically a metal) to those of another (typically a nonmetal).

Covalent Bond

A chemical link formed when two nonmetal atoms share electrons to achieve stability.

Molecule

The basic structural unit of a molecular element or covalent compound, consisting of two or more atoms bound together by electron sharing.

Ion

A single atom or covalently bonded group of atoms that carries an overall positive or negative electrical charge.

Polyatomic Ion

A charged entity consisting of two or more atoms covalently bonded together that functions as a single charged unit.

Empirical Formula

The simplest chemical formula showing the lowest whole-number ratio of moles or atoms of each element in a compound.

Molecular Formula

A chemical formula showing the actual, exact number of atoms of each element present in a single molecule of a compound.

Structural Formula

A formula indicating the relative placement, arrangement, and chemical bonds between atoms within a molecule.

Hydrate

A crystalline compound containing a specific ratio of water molecules weakly bound within its crystal structure.

Binary Acid

An aqueous acid solution formed when a gaseous compound of hydrogen and a monatomic nonmetal anion dissolves in water.

Oxoacid

An acidic compound composed of hydrogen combined with an oxoanion containing oxygen and another central element.

Binary Covalent Compound

A molecular compound formed by the combination of two different nonmetal elements.

Hydrocarbon

An organic compound consisting exclusively of carbon and hydrogen atoms.

Alkane

The simplest class of hydrocarbon containing only single covalent bonds, named using a prefix for the carbon chain length followed by the suffix -ane.

Molecular Mass

The total sum of the atomic masses of all atoms indicated in the chemical formula of a molecular compound.