Chem Review Flashcards
The smallest, most fundamental material components of the human body are
basic chemical elements
Human chemistry includes
organic molecules (carbon-based) and biochemicals (those produced by the body).
Matter
anything that takes up space and has mass.
amount of matter composing an object; remains constant
— differs from the term “weight”; weight varies with the force of gravity (eg. you weigh almost nothing on the moon but your mass remains the same)
Element
is a pure substance that is distinguished from all other matter by the fact that it cannot be created or broken down by ordinary chemical means
Humans are made of what elements
65% O 18% C 10% H 3% N 4% other
Compound
is a substance composed of two or more elements joined by chemical bonds.
Atom
smallest quantity of an element that retains the unique properties of that element
“are the smallest stable units of matter”
An atom of hydrogen is a unit of hydrogen—the smallest amount of hydrogen that can exist
Atoms are made up of even smaller subatomic particles, three types
proton = a unit of energy that carries a positive charge neutron = are particles that have no electrical charge electron = are particles that have a negative charge
What determines the structure of a given object or being
the way atoms combine and interact
Atoms are composed of _____ that determine the structure of an object
subatomic particles
subatomic particle features
- Protons + Neutrons = mass to the atom,
- # protons determines the element.
- Electrons that “spin” around the nucleus at close to the speed of light
- Elections = protons.
- An electron has about 1/2000th the mass of a proton or neutron.
Atomic Number
the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom, identifies the element. Because an atom usually
has the same number of electrons as protons, the atomic number identifies the usual number of electrons as well.
mass number
is the sum of the number of protons and neutrons in its nucleus
Atoms normally contain _________ protons and electrons
equal numbers
How many elements exist naturally
92
isotope
is one of the different forms of an element, distinguished from one another by different numbers of neutrons. (elements whose atoms nuclei contain the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons)
An isotope that contains more than the usual number of neutrons
Heavy Isotrope. These tend to be unstable, and unstable isotopes are radioactive
radioactive isotope
•an isotope whose nucleus readily decays, giving off subatomic particles and electromagnetic energy
•Different radioactive isotopes (also
called radioisotopes) differ in their half-life, the time it takes for half of any size sample of an isotope to decay.
charge of an atom
are electrically neutral # protons = # electrons (positive charge cancels the negative charge and total charge is zero)
electron shell
is a layer of electrons that encircle the nucleus at a distinct energy level.
• electron shells hold eight
electrons except the first shell, which can only hold two
valence shell
•is an atom’s outermost electron shell
•If the valence shell is full, the atom is stable;
meaning its electrons are unlikely to be pulled away from the nucleus by the electrical charge of other atoms.
•If the valence shell is not full, the atom is reactive; meaning it will tend to react with other atoms in ways that make the valence shell full
octet rule
•All atoms (except hydrogen and helium with their single electron shells) are most stable when there are exactly eight
•an atom will give up, gain, or share electrons with another atom so that it ends up with eight electrons in its own valence shell electrons in their valence shell.
•If the valence shell is full, the atom is stable;
meaning its electrons are unlikely to be pulled away from the nucleus by the electrical charge of other atoms.
•If the valence shell is not full, the atom is reactive; meaning it will tend to react with other atoms in ways that make the valence shell full
radioactive isotopes can be used as
“tracers” that are injected into the body to observe an organ’s function; a scanner is used to detect the emitted radiation to determine if function is normal
Carbon 14
it is a radioactive isotope that decomposes towards a more stable form
- – the half-life of a radioisotope is the amount of time it takes for one-half (50%) of the atoms to decay (lose their activity)
- – C14 has a long half-life of 5730 years and is used for dating archeological finds
elements in a column of the table
have the same physical and chemical properties
rows in periodic table indicate
the number of electron shells in each atom