Term | Definition |
malleable | able to be flattened (gold (Au) is the most) |
ionization energy | the amount of energy needed to remove an electron |
cation | an ion with a positive charge |
anion | an ion with a negative charge |
ion | a charged particle |
alkaline/alkali metal | a highly reactive metal; is never found naturally in its elemental state; its reactivity increases with the number of protons; has low electronegativity; is found in group 1 of the Periodic Table; has one valence electron; has lowest ionization energy |
alkaline/alkali earth metal | has less extreme properties than in group 1; is found in group 2 of the Periodic Table; has two valence electrons |
family/group | each vertical column of the Periodic Table |
Coulomb's law | states that opposite charges attract and like charges repel; force depends on number of charge and distance in charges |
periodic law | states that chemical and physical properties of elements follow a repeated pattern |
diatomic element | an element that appears naturally as two atoms joined; is too unstable to remain single (hydrogen, oxygen, fluorine, bromine, iodine, nitrogen, chlorine; remember scientist "Dr. HOFBrINCl") |
halogen | a highly reactive nonmetal; is found in group 17 of the Periodic Table; has seven valence electrons; is toxic; forms salt when combined with group 1; is also diatomic; has very high electronegativity and ionization energy |
period | each horizontal row of the Periodic Table |
ductile | able to form wire |
electronegativity | tendency of an atom to take another atom's electrons |
metalloid/semimetal | an element whose properties are intermediate between those of metals and solid nonmetals; is an electrical semiconductor; may be a nonmetal that can combine with a metal to form an alloy (boron, silicon, germanium, arsenic, antimony, tellurium) |
metal | has a low ionization energy; is ductile; is malleable; tends to have electrical and thermal conductivity; has luster; tends to form cations |
nonmetal | tends to be a gas, liquid, or network solid (forms repeating patterns of atoms); tends to gain electrons and form anions; if solid, tends to be brittle; is a poor conductor; lacks luster |
transition metal/transition element | can be found in groups 3 to 12 in the Periodic Table; can form more than one type of cation; forms a colored solution (copper, cobalt, niobium, manganese, iron, nickel) |
noble/inert/monatomic gas | an element occurring as a single atom; is completely nonreactive; its density increases with period on the Periodic Table |
ionic radius | the radius of an atom's ion |
atomic radius | a measure of the size of a chemical element's atoms, usually the mean or typical distance from the center of the nucleus to the boundary of the surrounding cloud of electrons |