AS-Level Chemistry Definitions

Here is a list of all the definitions you have to know for A2 Chemistry paper 2. You will do well to  memorise all of them.

  1. Acid - proton donor
  2. Activation energy - min. energy required for a collision to be effective
  3. Addition polymer - Polymer formed from monomers with a C=C bond.
  4. Atomic radius - Half the distance btw the centres of a pair of atoms.
  5. Base - proton acceptor
  6. Bond energy - Energy required to break 1 mol of a covalent bond in the gaseous state.
  7. Bond length - Distance btw the centres of two nuclei of covalently bonded atoms.
  8. Carbocation - An organic ion in which one of the carbon atoms has a positive charge.
  9. Chiral centre - Atom that is bonded to 4 different groups.
  10. Covalent bonding - Chemical bond formed by the electrostatic attraction btw the nuclei of two atoms and the shared pair of electrons.
  11. Dative bond - Covalent bond in which both e- in the bond originate from one atom in the bond.
  12. Disproportionation - Redox reaction in which the oxidation no. of some atoms of an element increase and others of the same element decrease.
  13. Dynamic equilibrium - A situation where the concentration of products & reactants remain the same because the rates of forward and backward reactions are equal when temperature and pressure are constant.
  14. Electronegativity - The ability of an atom to attract the shared pair of e- towards itself.
  15. Enthalpy change of first IE - Enthalpy change when 1 mole of electrons is removed from 1 mole of atoms in the gaseous state.
  16. Giant structure - A structure in which the atoms form an extended geometrical arrangement.
  17. Free radical - Chemical species with unpaired electrons
  18. Ionic bond - Electrostatic attraction btw +vely charged ions and -vely charged ions.
  19. Lone pair - A pair of electrons in the outer shell of an atom that are not involved in bonding.
  20. Metallic bond - Electrostatic attraction btw positive metal ions and delocalised electrons.
  21. Nucleon number - Total number of p & n in the nucleus of an atom.
  22. Nucleophile - Electron pair donor
  23. Planar - Molecule where all atoms are in the same plane.
  24. Polar - Molecule with asymmetric charge distribution.
  25. Standard Enthalpy Change of Combustion - 1 mol burnt completely in oxygen in standard states.
  26. Standard Enthalpy Change of Formation - 1 mol formed from constituent elements
  27. Standard Enthalpy Change of Neutralisation - 1 mol of water formed from acid and alkali.
  28. Optical isomerism / Stereoisomerism - Same structural formulae but diff arrangement of atoms in space.