General Chemistry Concepts

General Chemistry Concepts

• Absorption: Energy is absorbed when an electron is energized.
• Metalloids: Elements on the stair-like line of the periodic table with properties between metals and nonmetals.
• Periodic Table: Elements arranged by increasing atomic weight, with periods not always the same length. Developed by Dmitri Mendeleev.
• Atomic Radius: The distance between an atom's nucleus and its outermost electron shell.
• Polymers: Large molecules formed by covalently bonding repeating smaller molecules.
• Series Number: The number of occupied shells or main energy levels of an atom.
• Chemical Bond: The attractive forces holding atoms together.
• Valence Shell: The outermost electron shell of an atom, and its theory developed by Gilbert N. Lewis.
• Sodium Electronic Configuration: 1s² 2s² 2p⁶ 3s¹
• Sigma Bond: Covalent bond in which electron density is concentrated most heavily between two atoms in a straight line.
• Electron Shells: An electron shell can accommodate a maximum of 18 electrons in the third shell.

Additional Concepts

• Repulsion: Force pushing objects apart due to similar electric or magnetic charges.
• Valence Electrons: Electrons that participate in forming chemical bonds.
• SPDF Notation: Commonly used to describe electron configuration.
• Electrovalent Bond: Transfer of electrons between a metal and a nonmetal forming charged atoms or ions.
• Aufbau Principle: Describes the order electrons fill energy levels and sublevels.
• Energy Levels: Amount of energy stored within atomic orbitals.
• Quanta (Photons): Small bundles of energy; light can be considered quanta. Developed by Max Planck.
• Azimuthal Quantum Number (l): Describes the total number of angular nodes in an atomic orbital.
• Nitrogen Family: Group of elements useful in living organisms in small amounts but deadly in large amounts.
• Anion: Negatively charged atom or ion, formed when a nonmetal accepts an electron.
• Hund's Rule: Orbitals in a sublevel are singly occupied before any are doubly occupied.
• Trigonal Planar: A molecular geometry with bond angles of 120°.
• Biomolecules: A group of natural polymers essential to life processes, as the building blocks for life.
• Gasoline: A mixture of alkanes; one component is octane (C₈H₁₈).
• Electronegativity: Ability of an atom to attract a shared pair of electrons in a molecule.
• Octet Rule: Atoms tend to gain, lose, or share electrons to achieve a full outer electron shell (8 electrons), or equivalent.
• Covalent Bond: Electrons are shared. Represented as a pair of dots, a line, or overlapping orbitals.
• Gold Leaf Experiment: Experiment showing that atoms contain a dense, positively charged nucleus surrounded by electrons, developed by Rutherford.
• Alkali Metal Family: Elements reacting with oxygen to form basic oxides.
• Cellulose: Structural component in plant cell walls.
• Valence Shell Electron Pair Repulsion (VSPER): Theory explaining molecular shapes.
• Aluminium Electronic Configuration: 1s²2s²2p⁶3s²3p¹
• Lone Pairs: Pairs of electrons not involved in bonding.
• Coordinate Covalent Bond: Covalent bond where the shared pair of electrons comes from one atom only.
• Lanthanides: Elements in the f-block of period six on the periodic table.
• Noble Gases: Very unreactive gases with full outer electron shells; examples include Helium.
• Ionization Energy: Energy needed to remove an electron from the ground state of a gaseous atom.
• Spin Quantum Number: Describes the direction an electron spins in relation to a magnetic field.
• Hydrocarbon: Organic compound with only hydrogen and carbon.
• Transition Elements: Elements mostly paramagnetic and forming paramagnetic compounds.
• Quanta: Small bundles of energy, proposed by Max Planck.
• Metallic Property: Tendency of an atom to lose electrons and become a positive ion.
• Periodic Table: Table to predict electronic arrangements of atoms from atomic numbers 1 to 118.
• F-Block: Elements in the periodic table that have their outer electrons in the f-orbitals; these include the lanthanides and actinides.
• Isomers: Compounds with the same molecular formula but different structural formulas.
• Excited States: Electron configurations with energy levels other than the lowest energy level.
• Sodium Chloride (NaCl): A salt that dissolves in water and conducts electricity when dissolved.

Bonding

• Normal Covalent Bond: A bond formed when each atom shares electrons to achieve a full valence shell.
• Coordinate or Dative Covalent Bond: A type of covalent bond in which the shared pair of electrons originates from only one atom.
• Electron Pair Repulsion: Bonding pairs of electrons repelling each other due to their negative charges.

Atomic Structure

• Bohr Model (Planetary Model): Electrons orbit the nucleus in specific energy levels like planets orbiting the sun, described by Bohr.
• Noble Gases: Stable elements; their electron configurations have full outermost shells.

Test your understanding of fundamental chemistry concepts including absorption, metalloids, and the periodic table. This quiz covers key terms like atomic radius, chemical bonds, and polymers. Deepen your knowledge of how elements interact at a molecular level.