Chapter 1 Flashcards
what is chemistry the study of?
composition, properties, and interactions of matter
What is chemistry based on?
observations and experiminatation
What is a hypothesis?
A tentative explanation of observations that acts as a guide for gathering and checking information?
how do you test a hypothesis?
through experimentation
What are laws?
they summarize a vast number of experimental observations
What are theories?
well sustained, comprehensive, testable explanations of particular aspects of nature
what is the scientific method?
the path of discovery that leads from question and observation to law or hypothesis to theory combined with experimental verification of hypothesis
What is macroscopic?
What we can see
What is microscopic?
What we can’t see
What is symbolic domain?
contains the specialized language used to represent components of macroscopic and microscopic domains
What is matter?
anything that has mass
What are characteristics of solids?
rigid, and possess definite shape and volume
what are characteristics of liquids?
shape of the container but volume is definite
What are characteristics of gases?
No definite shape or volume
What are characteristics of plasma?
gaseous state of matter that contains appreciable numbers of electrically charged particles