A list of important vocab words from AP Chemistry.
7957997401 | Nomenclature | Set of naming rules for chemicals | 0 | |
7958053835 | Law of Conservation of Mass | The scientific law that states mass is neither created nor destroyed during a reaction. The law that dictates we must balance chemical equations. | 1 | |
7958066327 | mole | A unit equal to Avogadro's number of things; 6.022 x 10^23 atoms or molecules are in a mole. Defined as the number of atoms in a 12g sample of C-12. | 2 | |
7958080867 | molar mass | The mass of a mole of a chemical; obtained by adding up the masses of the atoms in a formula using the information on the periodic table; has unit grams per mole (g/mol) | 3 | |
7958098051 | coefficient | A number used to balance a chemical equation; written in front of a chemical formula and acting as a multiplier; typically whole number values | 4 | |
7958112491 | qualitative | An observation or description that uses adjectives; typically made with our senses. | 5 | |
7958120359 | quantitative | An observation or description that is measured using a tool; reported using a number and a unit | 6 | |
7958133213 | polyatomic ions | Ions that are comprised of more than one atom bonded (usually covalently) to one another and functioning as an ionic unit | 7 | |
7958151929 | density | A characteristic physical property of matter defined as the mass of matter per unit volume; typically has units g/mL or g/cm^3 | 8 | |
7958165622 | Mass Spectrometry | An experimental technique to measure isotopes and/or fragments of molecules by observing their deflection in an applied magnetic field after the sample is ionized. | 9 | |
7958196987 | isotopes | Atoms of an element that have different mass numbers while having the same atomic number; different numbers of neutrons, but same number of protons | 10 | |
7958209740 | mass number | the sum of protons and neutrons in the nucleus of an atom; this will vary from isotope to isotope | 11 | |
7958215119 | atomic mass | the weighted average of the masses of all atoms in a sample of an element; typically reported in the unit amu and tabulated on the periodic table | 12 | |
7958228100 | atomic number | the number of protons in an atom; defines the identity of an element; elements on the periodic table are arranged horizontally by increasing atomic number | 13 | |
7958242927 | ionic bond | Electrostatic force of attraction between oppositely charged ions; often between a metal and a nonmetal, or between a metal and a polyatomic ion; electron(s) is transferred from one atom to another to form cation/anion pair | 14 | |
7958255189 | covalent bond | Bond formed when atoms share electrons; typically formed between two nonmetals | 15 | |
7958274788 | polar covalent bond | A bond formed (typically between two nonmetals) where the atoms have moderately different electronegativities | 16 | |
7958287085 | nonpolar covalent bond | A bond formed between two nonmetals with identical or almost identical electronegativities | 17 | |
7958293889 | electronegativity | The periodic trend describing an atoms tendency to attract shared electrons toward itself; the "greediness" for electrons that can result in polar bonds | 18 | |
7958311159 | ionization energy | The energy input required to remove an electron from an atom to form a cation | 19 | |
7958324218 | atomic radius | The "size" of an atom defined as half of the distance between nuclei in a molecule consisting of identical atoms | 20 | |
7958385579 | transition metal | A metal in groups 3-12 on the periodic table; variously called "d block" metals | 21 | |
7958392621 | lanthanide | A metal in the 4f portion of the periodic table; relatively rare | 22 | |
7958404642 | actinide | A metal in the 5f portion of the periodic table; radioactive and mostly human-made | 23 | |
7958411481 | alkali metal | A metal in Group 1 of the periodic table; very reactive due to low ionization energies; chemistry dictated by s1 electron configuration and tendency to make +1 cation | 24 | |
7958421871 | alkaline earth metal | A metal in Group 2 of the periodic table; moderately reactive due to low ionization energies; chemistry dictated by s2 electron configuration and tendency to make +2 cation | 25 | |
7958439563 | metalloid | Elements on the "stairstep/zig-zag" on the periodic table; properties are intermediate between metals and nonmetals | 26 | |
7958448695 | nonmetal | Elements above the "stairstep/zig-zag" plus hydrogen on the periodic table; tend to form covalent bonds to each other | 27 | |
7958456641 | metal | Elements below the "stairstep/zig-zag" on the periodic table; tend to form metallic bonds to each other and form cations when reacting with nonmetals | 28 | |
7958473692 | percent error | the percent difference between the known value of a substance and its measured value | ![]() | 29 |
7958487191 | empirical formula | The simplest whole number ratio of atoms in a chemical formula. | 30 | |
7958496398 | molecular formula | The exact formula of a compound, giving the number and identity of each atom in the chemical; a whole number multiple of the empirical formula | 31 | |
7958597965 | formula unit | The smallest repeating unit of an ionic compound | 32 | |
7958622945 | molarity | A description of a solution's concentration in units of moles of solute per liter of solution; symbolized as M. | 33 | |
7958638760 | Beer's Law | A law that gives the relationship between concentration and light absorbed during a spectroscopy experiment; the equation is A = abc | 34 | |
7958662542 | Photoelectron Spectroscopy | A spectroscopic technique that uses ionization to determine the shells/subshells electrons reside in; an experimental technique that gives evidence for the electronic structure of atoms and gives credence to electron configurations | 35 | |
7958713567 | electron configuration | the arrangement of electrons in the orbitals of an atom | 36 | |
7958771053 | electron affinity | The periodic trend of energy required to add an electron to an atom | 37 | |
7958784167 | electrolyte | A compound that forms ions when dissolved thus permitting electricity to pass through the solution | 38 | |
7958804196 | dipole | separation of charge in a molecule; represented by deltas (a.k.a. partial charges) | 39 | |
7958824439 | Coulomb's law | An equation that relates distance between charges and the size of the charges to the force of attraction/repulsion between those charges; F is proportional to (q1)(q2) / (r^2) | 40 | |
7958841608 | Lewis structure | A drawing of a molecule showing bonding electrons (as lines) and nonbonding electrons (as pairs of dots); may also represent molecular geometry | 41 | |
7958850928 | formal charge | the charge assigned to an atom in a molecule or polyatomic ion; calculated by subtracting bonds and lone pairs from the atom's valence number | 42 | |
7958868273 | intermolecular force | relatively weak forces between molecules and/or ions | 43 | |
7958874078 | intramolecular bond | any force that holds together the atoms making up a molecule or compound | 44 | |
7958877231 | metallic bond | a bond formed when many metal atoms share their pooled valence electrons | 45 | |
7958887387 | London dispersion force | The weak attractive force caused by temporary dipoles in nonpolar molecules. | 46 | |
7958890313 | Hydrogen bonding | unusually strong dipole forces found when H is bonded to N, O, or F | 47 | |
7958892782 | Dipole-Dipole forces | attractive forces between polar molecules | 48 | |
7958905134 | stoichiometry | the calculation of the quantities of reactants and products involved in a chemical reaction | 49 | |
7958908901 | mole ratio | the ratio of moles of one substance to the moles of another substance in a balanced equation; the ratio between coefficients in the equation | 50 | |
7958925526 | percent composition | the percent by mass of each element in a compound | 51 | |
7958927736 | theoretical yield | the maximum amount of product that can be produced from a given amount of reactant; determined using stoichiometric calculations from the limiting reactant | 52 | |
7958932630 | limiting reactant | the substance that is totally consumed when the chemical reaction is complete | 53 | |
7958936402 | excess reactant | the substance that is not used up completely in a reaction | 54 | |
7958940677 | actual yield | the measured amount of a product obtained from a reaction | 55 | |
7958940678 | percent yield | the ratio of the actual yield to the theoretical yield expressed as a percent | ![]() | 56 |
7958945047 | mass percent | the percent by mass of a component of a mixture or of a given element in a compound | 57 | |
7958952276 | phase notation | solid: s gas: g liquid: l aqueous: aq | 58 | |
7958958090 | titration | A solution of known concentration is used to determine the concentration of another solution; calculated using MaVa = MbVb at the equivalence point | 59 | |
7958958091 | dilution | Adding water to a solution in order to decrease the concentration; calculated using M1V1 = M2V2 | 60 | |
7958968039 | equivalence point | occurs when the moles of acid equal the moles of base in a solution | 61 | |
7958972080 | neutralization | the reaction of hydronium ions (acid) and hydroxide ions (base) to form water molecules | 62 | |
7958976551 | endpoint | the point in a titration at which the indicator changes color | 63 | |
7958986565 | precipitate | A solid that forms from a solution during a chemical reaction. | 64 | |
7958989520 | solubility rules | a set of rules used to predict whether an ionic compound will be soluble or insoluble in water | 65 | |
7958994482 | net ionic equation | an equation that shows only the species that actually change during the reaction; obtained by cancelling out spectator ions | 66 | |
7959003673 | total ionic equation | shows all soluble ionic substances dissociated into ions | 67 | |
7959006022 | chemical equation | a way to describe a chemical reaction using chemical formulas and other symbols | 68 | |
7959012107 | thermodynamics | the study of energy transformations that occur in a collection of matter | 69 | |
7959015077 | calorimetry | the science of measuring heat flow | 70 | |
7959019615 | specific heat capacity | the energy required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one degree Celsius | 71 | |
7959022967 | molar heat capacity | the energy required to raise the temperature of one mole of a substance by one degree Celsius | 72 | |
7959025031 | chemical potential energy | energy stored in chemical bonds | 73 | |
7959027408 | kinetic energy | energy of motion | 74 | |
7959031526 | temperature | A measure of the average kinetic energy of the particles of a substance. | 75 |