Microsoft Word Basic Chemistry Vocabulary List doc

activation energy
: The minimum amount of energy needed for a chemical 
reaction to take place. For some reactions this is very small (it only takes a 
spark to make gasoline burn). For others, it's very high (when you burn 
magnesium, you need to hold it over a Bunsen burner for a minute or so).
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activity series
: This is when you arrange elements in the order of how much 
they tend to react with water and acids.
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actual yield
: When you do a chemical reaction, this is the amount of chemical 
that you actually make (i.e. The amount of stuff you can weigh).
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addition reaction
: A reaction where atoms add to a carbon-carbon multiple 
bond. 
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adsorption
: When one substance collects of the surface of another one.
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alcohol
: An organic molecule containing an -OH group
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aldehyde
: An organic molecule containing a -COH group
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alkali metals
: Group I in the periodic table.
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alkaline earth metals
: Group II in the periodic table.
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alkane
: An organic molecule which contains only single carbon-carbon 
bonds.
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alkene
: An organic molecule containing at least one C=C bond
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alkyne
: An organic molecule containing at least one C-C triple bond.

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allotropes
: When you have different forms of an element in the same state.
The relationship that white phosphorus and red phosphorus have to each 
other is that they're allotropes.
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alloy
: A mixture of two metals. Usually, you add very small amounts of a 
different element to make the metal stronger and harder.
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alpha particle
: A radioactive particle equivalent to a helium nucleus (2 
protons, 2 neutrons)
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amine
: An organic molecule which consists of an ammonia molecule where 
one or more of the hydrogen atoms has been replaced by organic groups.
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amino acid
: The basic building blocks of proteins. They're called "amino 
acids" because they're both amines (they contain nitrogen) and acids 
(carboxylic acids, to be precise)
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