Tuesday, September 4, 2012

An Early Overview of (some) Chemistry

           An Early Overview of (some) Chemistry!

             "Chemistry is the study of the properties and behavior of matter ." In my opinion, this means that chemistry is a science where we learn about what stuff is made up of. Stuff=Matter. And in Chemistry we study matter to learn more about it and what makes water, water and air, air, etc., etc.
Chemistry is based on the composition, structure, and properties of matter and the changes that matter undergoes.
Solid, liquid, and Gas are important words when it comes to chemistry. They are the basic forms of matter here on earth.
Solids hold their shape and have a fixed volume.
Liquids conform to the shape of the container they are in, they have a free surface and have a fixed volume.
Gases will also conform to the shape of the container, but they also take on the volume of the container as well.

"Vocabulary Words" -The following are some basic words and their definitions that are important to chemistry:

Mass: The measure of the amount of matter in an object. Measured in the SI unit: Kilogram
Matter: All the physical "stuff" in our universe. Anything that has mass and occupies space.
Air is matter because it takes up space and has mass.
Compound: Pure substance containing more than one different element. The elements combined in a compound are combined in a  definite ratio.
Element: The purest/simplest form of a substance is an element. There are 117 known elements. 94 of them occur naturally.
Atom: The smallest particle of an element is an atom.
Solution: A homogeneous mixture that combines a solute and a solvent.
-Solute: The solid part that dissolves.
-Solvent: The liquid that does the dissolving, water is a very common solvent.
Molecule: A substance of two or more atoms in a definite arrangement held together by chemical bonds
                -A diatomic molecule contains only two atoms.
                -A polyatomic molecule contains more than two atoms.
Substance:A matter of a particular kind with it's own unique blend.
A salad is a good example of a mixture.
Mixture: Consists of two or more different substances physically combined.
Two Types of Mixtures:
-Heterogeneous means "different". You can see the different parts of the mixture easily. An example would be oil and water, or a slice of supreme pizza.
-Homogeneous means "the same". You cannot see the different parts of a mixture. An example would be some Dr. Pepper, or a glass of orange juice.
Colloidal Suspension: If the particles are spread evenly throughout the mixture but are not quite but almost visible, a colloidal suspension exists.
Properties:
-A physical change changes appearance, caused by a release or input of energy.
Physical properties can be judged on size, odor, color, mass, hardness, shape, density, and texture.
-A chemical change is a reaction that transforms a substance into a new substance. (Ex: Match burning, explosion, rust)
Density: Measure of the concentration of matter in an object.



This is the Periodic Table, it shows all of the known elements.














*Periodic Table picture from modelscience.com

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