Ch. 1 & 2 Vocab

Question 1

the scientific study of life

Answer 1

biology

Question 2

new properties that arise with each step upward in the hierarchy of life, owing to the arrangement and interactions of parts as complexity increases

Answer 2

emergent properties

Question 3

a type of cell with a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclosed organelles

Answer 3

eukaryotic cell

Question 4

a type of cell lacking a membrane-enclosed nucleus and membrane-enclose organelles

Answer 4

prokaryotic cell

Question 5

a double-stranded, helical nucleic acid molecule, consisting of nucleotide monomers with a deoxyribose sugar and nitrogenous bases adenine, cytosine, guanine, and thymine; capable of being replicated and determining the inherited structure of a cell’s proteins

Answer 5

DNA

Question 6

discrete units of hereditary information consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA (or RNA, in some cases)

Answer 6

genes

Question 7

the genetic material of an organism or virus; the complete complement of an organism’s or virus’s genes along with its noncoding nucleic acid sequences

Answer 7

genome

Question 8

a process in which organisms with certain inherited characteristics are more likely to survive and reproduce than are organisms with other characteristics

Answer 8

natural selection

Question 9

recorded observations

Answer 9

data

Question 10

a type of logic in which generalizations are based on a large number of specific observations

Answer 10

inductive reasoning

Question 11

a tentative answer to a well-framed question, narrower in scope than a theory and subject to testing

Answer 11

hypothesis

Question 12

a type of logic in which specific results are predicted from a general premise

Answer 12

deductive reasoning

Question 13

an experiment in which an experimental group is compared with a control group that varies only in the factor being tested

Answer 13

controlled experiment

Question 14

an explanation that is broad in scope, generates new hypotheses, and is supported by a large body of evidence

Answer 14

theory

Question 15

representations of a theory or process

Answer 15

models

Question 16

the application of scientific knowledge for a specific purpose, often involving industry or commerce but also including uses in basic research

Answer 16

technology

Question 17

any substance that cannot be broken down to any other substance by chemical reactions

Answer 17

element

Question 18

a substance of two or more different elements combined in a fixed ratio

Answer 18

compound

Question 19

elements indispensable for life but required in extremely minute amounts

Answer 19

trace elements

Question 20

the smallest unit of matter that retains the properties of an element

Answer 20

atom

Question 21

subatomic particles having no electrical charge (neutral) with a mass of 1.7 x 10^-24 g, found in the nucleus of an atom

Answer 21

neutrons

Question 22

subatomic particles with a single positive electrical charge, with a mass of 1.7 x 10^-24g, found in the nucleus of an atom

Answer 22

protons

Question 23

subatomic particles with a single negative electrical charge and a mass about 1/2000 that of a neutron or proton; move around the nucleus of an atom

Answer 23

electrons

Question 24

the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in an atom’s nucleus

Answer 24

mass number

Question 25

the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, unique for each element and designated by a subscript to the left of the elemental symbol

Answer 25

atomic number

Question 26

one of several atomic forms of an element, each with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons, thus differing in atomic mass

Answer 26

isotopes

Question 27

an isotope that is unstable; the nucleus decays spontaneously, giving off detectable particles and energy

Answer 27

radioactive isotope

Question 28

electrons in the outermost electron shell

Answer 28

valence electrons

Question 29

the three-dimensional space where an electron is found 90% of the time

Answer 29

orbital

Question 30

a type of strong chemical bond in which two atoms share one or more pairs of valence electrons

Answer 30

covalent bonds

Question 31

a type of molecular notation in which the constituent atoms are joined by lines representing covalent bonds

Answer 31

structural formula

Question 32

a type of molecular notation representing the quantity of constituent atoms, but not the nature of the bonds that join them

Answer 32

molecular formula

Question 33

a covalent bond between atoms that differ in electronegativity; the shared electrons are pulled closer to the more electronegative atom, making it slightly negative and the other atom slightly positive

Answer 33

polar covalent bond

Question 34

a type of covalent bond in which electrons are shared equally between two atoms of similar electronegativity

Answer 34

nonpolar covalent bond

Question 35

starting material in a chemical reaction

Answer 35

reactants

Question 36

material resulting from a chemical reaction

Answer 36

products

Question 37

in a chemical reaction, the state in which the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the reverse reaction, so that the relative concentrations of the reactants and products do not change with time

Answer 37

chemical equilibrium

Question 38

two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds

Answer 38

molecule

Question 39

descent with modification; the idea that living species are descendants of ancestral species that were different from the present-day ones; also defined more narrowly as the change in the genetic composition of a population from generation to generation

Answer 39

evolution