In Chemistry there are many different characteristics that you have to know in order to understand the class. You have to know different terms and what they mean in order to understand what the questions are asking you to do.
1. What is matter? Anything that takes up space is matter.
2. What are forms of matter? The basic forms are solid, liquid, and gas and then there is also
plasma, Bose Einstein Condensation, and Fermionic Condensate
3. What is a substance? A matter of a particular type
A substance can be either a compound or an element
4. What is an element? The purest and simplest form of a substance
5. What is a compound? A compound is a substance that has more than one element in it's make up
6. What is a diatomic atom? They contain only two atoms
7. What is a polyatomic atom? Contains more than two atoms
8. What is a mixture? A mixture is when two different substance are physically combined
You will also need to know what the physical and chemical properties are of matter. These properties can be used to evaluate and determine what a substance exactly is. Knowing these properties can also help you separate them from other substances. A physical property is anything that is measurable. A chemical property is a property that can only be seen while the material is going through a chemical change.
9. What are the properties of matter? odor, color, mass, hardness, shape, density, texture, and size
To have a chemical change the matter has to change it's make up.
Science also uses a system of abbreviations in order to allow everyone to understand and reproduce the experiment. We also use scientific notation to do math. For example 5.09x10^5 means 509,000. So now you try one... 6.09x10^2=?????? If you answered 609 then you are correct.
Using this powerpoint slideshow thingy I was able to pull my examples and meanings from for this blog.
http://www.watchknowlearn.org/Video.aspx?VideoID=5236
