50 LIST VOCAL BULARY (VOCAB) OF CHEMICHAL EDUCATION

NO	VOCABULARY	EXPLANATION
1	Acid	This is anything that gives off H+ ions in water. Acids have a pH less than 7 and are good at dissolving metals. They turn litmus paper red and phenolphthalein colorless.
2	Activated Complex	In a chemical reaction, the reagents have to join together into a great big blob before they can fall back  apart into the products. Thisgreat big blob is called the activated complex (a.k.a. transition state)
3	Actual Yield	When you do a chemical reaction, this is the amount of chemical that you actually make (i.e. The amount of stuff you can weigh).
4	Adsorption	When one substance collects of the surface of another one
5	Alloy	A mixture of two metals. Usually, you add very small amounts of a different element to make the metal stronger and harder.
6	Alpha Particle	A radioactive particle equivalent to a helium nucleus (2protons, 2 neutrons)
7	Amino Acid	The basic building blocks of proteins. They're called "amino acids" because they're both amines (they contain nitrogen) and acids (carboxylic acids, to be precise)
8	Atomic Mass Unit (A.M.U.)	This is the smallest unit of mass we use in chemistry, and is equivalent to 1/12 the mass of carbon-12. To all intents and purposes, protons and neutrons weigh 1 a.m.u.
9	Avogadro's Law	If you've got two gases under the same conditions of temperature, pressure, and volume, they've got the same number of particles (atoms or molecules). This law only works for ideal gases, none of which actually exist
10	Batter	This is when a bunch of voltaic cells are stuck together.
11	Beta Particle	A radioactive particle equivalent to an electron.
12	Bidentate Ligand	A ligand that can attach twice to a metal ion.
13	Binary Compound	A compound only having two elements
14	Binding Energy	The amount of energy that holds the neutrons and protons together in the nucleus of an atom. It's a lot of energy, which is why you don't see nuclei falling apart all over the place.
15	Buffer	A liquid that resists change in pH by the addition of acid or base. It consists of a weak acid and it's conjugate base (acetic acid and sodium acetate, for example).
16	Calorimetry	The study of heat flow. Usually you'd do calorimetry to find the heat of combustion of a compound or the heat of reaction of two compounds.
17	Carboxylic Acid	An organic molecule with a -COOH group on it. Acetic acid is the most famous one.
18	Catalyst	A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up by the reaction. Enzymes are catalysts because they allow the reactions that take place in the body to occur fast enough that we can live.
19	Chain Reaction	A reaction in which the products from one step provide the reagents for the next one. This is frequently referred to in nuclear fission (when large nuclei break apart to form smaller ones) and in free-radical reactions.
20	Chemical Equation	The recipe that describes what you need to do to make a reaction take place.
21	Chirality	When a molecule has a nonsuperimposable mirror image. To imagine this, put your hands together. Although they are mirror images, you can't put them right on top of each other so they are interchangeable. Well, normal people can't, anyway
22	Coagulation	When you destroy a colloid by letting the particles settle out.
23	Colligative Property	Any property of a solution that changes when the concentration changes. Examples are color, flavor, boiling point, melting point, and osmotic pressure.
24	Combustion	When a compound combines with oxygen gas to form water, heat, and carbon dioxide
25	Concentration	A measurement of the amount of stuff (solute) dissolved in a liquid (solvent). The most common concentration unit is molarity (M), which is equal to the number of moles of solute divided by the number of liters of solution.
27	Denature	When the 3-D structure of a protein breaks down due to heat (or pH, etc), it's said to be denatured. This means that it unravels because the intermolecular forces between atoms in the chain aren't strong enough to hold it together anymore.
28	Dipole-Dipole Force	When the positive end of a polar molecule becomes attracted to the negative end of another polar molecule.
29	Energy Level	A possible level of energy that an electron can have in an atom
30	Enthalpy	A measurement of the energy content of a system.
31	Entropy	A measurement of the randomness in a system.
32	Half-Reaction	The oxidation or reduction part of a redox reaction
33	Halogen	The elements in group 17. They're really reactive.
34	Homogeneous Mixture	A mixture that looks really "smooth" because everything is mixed up really well.
35	Heterogeneous Mixture	A mixture where the substances aren't equally distributed.
36	Hess's Law	The enthalpy change for a change is the same whether it takes place in one big step or in many small ones.
37	Heat	The kinetic energy of the particles in a system. The faster the particles move, the higher the heat.
38	Heat Of Reaction	The amount of heat absorbed or released in a reaction. Also called the "enthalpy of reaction"
39	Hydrogenation	When hydrogen is added to a carbon-carbon multiple bond.
40	Hydronium Ion	The H+ ion, made famous by acids.
41	Hydroxide Ion	The OH- ion, made famous by bases.
42	Ideal Gas Law	PV=nRT
43	Oxidation	The apparent charge on an atom.
44	Numberoxidation	When a substance loses electrons.
45	Period	A row (left to right) in the periodic table.
46	Polar Covalent Bond	A covalent bond where one atom tries to grab the electrons from the other one. This occurs because the electronegativities of the two atoms aren't the same.
47	Polymer	A molecule containing many repeating units. Plastics are polymers and are formed by free radical chain reactions.
48	Radioactive	When a substance has an unstable nucleus that can fall apart. it's referred to as radioactive.
49	Salt	An ionic compound.
50	Stoichiometry	The art of figuring how much stuff you'll make in a chemical reaction from the amount of each reagent you  start  with.