Question 1

What is matter?

Accepted Answer

Any substance with mass and volume

Question 2

What is density?

Accepted Answer

The mass of something divided by its volume

(piecrust has a density of )

Question 3

What are the three common states of matter?

Accepted Answer

Solids, liquids, and gases

Question 4

How do you calculate density?

Accepted Answer

Divide the mass of an object by its volume

Question 5

What is a solid?

Accepted Answer

A state of matter that is structurally rigid and has closely packed atoms

Question 6

What is a liquid?

Accepted Answer

A fundamental state of matter that can flow freely, but has a constant volume (like water)

Question 7

What is a gas?

Accepted Answer

A state of matter that has no fixed shape (unlike a solid) and no fixed volume (unlike a liquid)

Question 8

What is an atom?

Accepted Answer

The smallest particle of ordinary matter that forms a chemical element

(everything is composed of atoms)

Question 9

What are the three main subatomic particles?

Accepted Answer

Protons, neutrons, and electrons

(almost every atom contains these three subatomic particles)

Question 10

What are protons?

Accepted Answer

A type of subatomic particle that is positively charged and located in the atomic nucleus

Question 11

What are neutrons?

Accepted Answer

A type of subatomic particle that has no charge and is located in the atomic nucleus

Question 12

What are electrons?

Accepted Answer

A type of subatomic particle that is negatively charged and is located in the electron cloud

Question 13

What is the atomic nucleus?

Accepted Answer

A dense region in the center of atoms that contains neutrons and protons

Question 14

What is the electron cloud?

Accepted Answer

All the electrons that "orbit" the nucleus of an atom

Question 15

What is an atomic mass unit (amu)?

Accepted Answer

A unit used to measure the weights of single atoms

(since atoms are incredibly small, this unit is also incredibly small; a single atom of nitrogen weighs 14amu)

Question 16

What is an element?

Accepted Answer

A pure substance made entirely of atoms with the same atomic number

Cannot be broken into simpler substances by a chemical reaction

Question 17

What is an atom's mass number?

Accepted Answer

The total number of protons and neutrons in the atomic nucleus

(approximately equal to the atomic mass; oxygen has 8 protons and 8 neutrons, for a mass number of 16)

Question 18

What is atomic mass?

Accepted Answer

The mass of a single atom, expressed in atomic mass units

(approximately equal to the mass number)

Question 19

What is atomic number?

Accepted Answer

The number of protons in an atom

Determines the atom's properties, and which element it is

Question 20

What is the periodic table?

Accepted Answer

A table of all the chemical elements, displayed in rows and columns

Organized in order of atomic number

Question 21

What is an element's symbol?

Accepted Answer

An abbreviation for an element's name

(O for oxygen, He for helium, K for potassium)

Question 22

How do you read an element on the periodic table?

Accepted Answer

The number on the topic is the atomic number, the middle letter is the symbol, and the bottom is the atomic mass

Question 23

What are groups and periods on the periodic table?

Accepted Answer

Groups are vertical columns (similar properties)

Periods are horizontal rows

Question 24

What are metals?

Accepted Answer

Elements that tend to lose electrons to form cations

(usually found on the center and left of the periodic table; low ionization energy)

Question 25

What are nonmetals?

Accepted Answer

Elements that usually gain electrons to form anions

(located on the top right of the periodic table; high ionization energy; dull and will shatter)

Question 26

What are metalloids?

Accepted Answer

Elements with properties in between metals and nonmetals

(found between metals and non-metals on the periodic table)

Background, AP Chemistry Flashcards