Acid: A liquid or solid with a pH of 0 to 7. 0 being a strong (harmful) acid and 7 being a weak/neutral substance.

 

Base: A liquid or solid with a pH of over 7 to 14. 7 being a weak (neutral) base and 14 being a strong (caustic) base.

 

Acid/Base reaction: As a general rule this reaction occurs by an acid "wanting" to rid itself of its hydrogens (stronger the acid, the more it wants to give away an H).

 

Valence shell: The outer most group of (8) electrons orbiting an atom. 

 

Electronegativity: The closer an atom is to completing its 8-electron valence shell (further right on the periodic table), the more likely it is to "hog" the electrons in a covalent bond or steal electrons to form an ionic bond.

*Electropositive is commonly used to describe electrons more likely to "give up" their electrons (further left on the periodic table).

 

Nucleophile: These are commonly electronegative (anions or partial negatively charged) atoms that are attracted to partially positive charged atoms.

 

Electrophile: There are cations or partial positively charged atoms that form bonds with anions or partial negatively charged atoms by "attacking" the electrons.

 

Covalent bond: Two atoms bonded by sharing one or more electrons in order to fill their valence shell.

*A double bond is formed when two atoms share two electrons, etc.

 

Partial charge: This is created by a more electronegative atom covalently bonded to a relatively "electropositive" atom. The electronegative atom will hold a partial negative charge because it is hogging the electrons and the electropositive atom will hold a partial positive charge as a result.

 

Resonance: This allows molecules to "share" double bonds or extra charges. Resonance renders the molecule more stable because it takes less energy to balance charge or to form double bonds.

 

Ionic bond: Two atoms "bonded" by one electronegative atom "stealing" an electron from an electropositive atom. This creates an anion and cation that "stick" together.

 

Anion: These are formed when an atom takes on an extra electron and therefore carries a fully negative charge.

 

Cation: These occur when an atom loses an electron and takes on a fully positive charge.

 

 

Polar or Hydrophilic: Polar molecules are those where there are a distinct partial positively charged atom and partial negatively charged atom in the structure creating a positive and negative "sides" (like a battery) also known as a dipole. 

*These molecules are described as hydrophilic because they are soluble in water.

 

 

Non-Polar or Hydrophobic: Non-polar molecules do not hold a charge disparity because the atoms' electronegativity is relatively "even".

*These molecules are hydrophobic because their lack of dipole inhibits them from dissolving in water.