Chapter 2.1 Atoms, Isotopes, Ions, and Molecules: The Building Blocks

Question 1

Fundamentally, what is life made up of?

Answer 1

Matter

Question 2

What is matter?

Answer 2

any substance that occupies space and has mass

Question 3

What are elements?

Answer 3

unique forms of matter with specific properties that cannot be broken down into smaller substances

Question 4

What are the four common elements in all living organisms?

Answer 4

Oxygen (O), Carbon (C), Hydrogen (H), and Nitrogen (N)

Question 5

What is an atom?

Answer 5

the smallest unit of matter that retains all of the element’s chemical properties

Question 6

What is an atom’s nucleus?

Answer 6

the atom’s center, and it contains protons and neutrons

Question 7

Where are an atom’s electrons?

Answer 7

around the nucleus

Question 8

What is the mass of 1 amu?

Answer 8

1.67 x 10^-24 grams

Question 9

What is the mass of protons and neutrons?

Answer 9

1 amu

Question 10

What is the charge of a proton?

Answer 10

positive

Question 11

What is the charge of a neutron?

Answer 11

neutral

Question 12

What is the mass of electrons?

Answer 12

9.11 X 10^-28 grams

Question 13

What is the charge of an electron?

Answer 13

negative

Question 14

What is an element’s atomic number equal to?

Answer 14

the number of protons

Question 15

What particle creates isotopes?

Answer 15

neutrons

Question 16

What contributes to an element’s mass?

Answer 16

the number of protons and neutrons

Question 17

What is atomic mass?

Answer 17

the mean of the mass number for an element’s naturally occurring isotopes

Question 18

What are radioactive isotopes called?

Answer 18

radioisotopes

Question 19

What is radioactive decay?

Answer 19

the energy loss that occurs when an unstable atom’s nucleus releases radiation

Question 20

Who created the periodic table of elements?

Answer 20

Dmitri Mendeleev

Question 21

When was the periodic table of elements created?

Answer 21

1869

Question 22

What are the three common states of physical matter?

Answer 22

solid, liquid, and gas

Question 23

What is chemical reactivity?

Answer 23

the ability to combine and chemically bond elements with each other

Question 24

What are molecules?

Answer 24

two or more atoms chemically bonded together

Question 25

What makes an atom electronically neutral?

Answer 25

the number of electrons is equal to the number of protons

Question 26

When an element’s atomic number is equal to its number of electrons, what is the charge of the atom?

Answer 26

neutral / no charge