Chemistry glossary

Chemistry has a extremely extensive vocabulary and a significant amount of jargon that are commonly used by chemists and chemistry literature. This is a list of chemical terms, including laboratory tools, glassware, and equipment.

Chemistry itself is a physical science concerned with the composition, structure, and properties of matter, as well as the changes it undergoes during chemical reactions. For more information on each, click the links provided or search Wikipedia, since many terms may need more in depth research.

A

 * Absolute zero - a theoretical condition where at 0 Kelvin where a system does not emit or absorb energy
 * Acid - a compound that, when dissolved in water, gives a pH of less than 7.0 or a compound that donates a hydrogen ion
 * Actinides -
 * Aeration - the mixing of air into a liquid or solid
 * Alkali metals - the metals of Group 1 on the periodic table
 * Alkaline earth metals - the metals of Group 2 on the periodic table
 * Allomer - a substance that has different composition than another, but has the same crystalline structure
 * Allotropy - elements that can have different structures (and therefore different forms), such as Carbon (diamonds, graphite, and fullerene)
 * Anion -
 * Atom - a chemical element in its smallest form, and is made up of neutrons and protons within the nucleus and electrons circling the nucleus
 * Atomic number - the number representing an element which corresponds with the number of protons within the nucleus

B

 * Base -
 * Biochemistry - the chemistry of organisms
 * Boiling -
 * Burette (also Buret) - glassware used to dispense specific amounts of liquid when precision is necessary (e.g. titration and resource dependent reactions)

C

 * Cation -
 * Centrifuge -
 * Chemical Law - certain rules that pertain to the laws of nature and chemistry - examples
 * Chemical reaction - the change of one or more substances into another or multiple substances
 * Compound - a substance that is made up of two or more chemically bonded elements
 * Covalent bond -
 * Crystal - a solid that is packed with ions, molecules or atoms in an orderly fashion
 * Cuvette - glassware used in spectroscopic experiments. It is usually made of plastic, glass or quartz and should be as clean and clear as possible

D

 * Dipole -
 * Dipole moment -

E

 * Earth metal -
 * Electron - a subatomic particle with a net charge that is negative
 * Element - an atom that is defined by its atomic number
 * Energy - A system's ability to do work
 * Entropy - the amount of energy not available for work in a closed thermodynamic system (usually symbolized as S)
 * Enzyme - a protein that speeds up (catalyses) a reaction
 * Eppendorf tube - generalized and trademarked term used for a type of tube; see microcentrifuge

G

 * Geochemistry - the chemistry of and chemical composition of the Earth

H

 * Halogens -

I

 * Inorganic compound - compounds that do not contain carbon, though there are exceptions (see main article)
 * Inorganic chemistry - a part of chemistry concerned with inorganic compounds
 * International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) -
 * Ion - a molecule that has gained or lost one or more electrons
 * Ionic bond -

K

 * Kinetic energy -

L

 * Lanthanides -
 * London dispersion forces -

M

 * Metal
 * Microcentrifuge - a small plastic container that is used to store small amounts of liquid
 * Mole - abbreviated mol - a measurement of an amount of substance; a single mole contains approximately 6.022×1023 units or entities
 * a mole of water contains 6.022×1023 H2O molecules
 * Molecule - a chemically bonded number of atoms that are electrically neutral

N

 * Neutron - a neutral unit or subatomic particle that has no net charge
 * Nucleus - the centre of an atom made up of neutrons and protons, with a net positive charge
 * Noble gases -
 * Non-metal -

O

 * Organic compound - compounds that contain carbon
 * Organic chemistry - a part of chemistry concerned with organic compounds

P

 * Plasma -
 * Poor metal -
 * Potential energy
 * Precipitate -
 * Proton - a positive unit or subatomic particle that has a positive charge
 * Protonation -

S

 * Salts - ionic compounds composed of anions and cations
 * Sol -
 * Solid -
 * Solute -
 * Solution - homogeneous mixture made up of multiple substances. It is made up of solutes and solvents.
 * Solvent -
 * Spectroscopy - study of radiation and matter, such as X-ray absorption and emission spectroscopy
 * State of matter - matter having a homogeneous, macroscopic phase; gas, plasma, liquid, and [[solid] are the most well known (in increasing concentration)
 * Substance - material with definite chemical composition

T

 * Transition metal - elements that have incomplete d sub-shells, but also may be referred to as the d-block elements

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