Vocabulary Unit 2-3 Physical Science

Pure Substance

Matter that always has exactly the same compositon; an element or compound.

Element

A substance that cannot be broken down into simpler substances.

Atom

The smallest particle of an element.

Compound

A substance that is made from two or more simpler substances and can be broken down into those simpler substances.

Heterogeneous Mixture

A type of mixture in which the parts of the mixture are noticeably different from one another.

Solution

A mixture that forms when substances dissolve and form a homogenous mixture.

Physical Property

Any characteristic of a material that can be observed or measured without changing the composition of the substance in the material.

Viscosity

The tendency of a liquid to keep from flowing; resistance to flowing.

Conductivity

A material's ability to allow heat or electric charges to flow.

Malleability

The ability of a solid to be hammered without shattering.

Melting Point

The temperature at which a substance changes from solid to liquid.

Boiling Point

The temperature at which a substance boils; the temperature at which vapor pressure is equal to atmospheric pressure.

Filitrartion

A process that sperates materials based on the size of their particles.

Distillation

A process that seperates the substances in a solution based on their boiling point.

Physical change

A change that occurs when some properties of a material change, but the substances in the material stay the same.

Solid

The state matter in which materials have a definite shape and definite volume.

Liquid

The state of matter in which a material has a definite volume but not a definite shape.

Gas

The state of matter in which a maerial has neither a definite shaper nor a definiite volume.

Kinetic Energy

The energy an object has due to its motion.

Pressure

The result of a force distributed over an area.

Absolute Zero

A temerature of 0 kevins.

Charlie's Law

The direct proprtion of the volume of a gas to its temperature(in kelvins) if the pressure and the number of particles of the gas are constant.

Boyle's Law

The inverse variation of the volume of a gas with its pressure if the temperature and the number of particles are constant.

Phase Change

A reversible physical change that occurs when a substance changes from one state of matter to another.

Endothermic

A description of a change in which a system absorbs energy from its surroundings.

Heat of Fusion

The energy a substance must absorb in order to change from a solid to a liquid.

Exothermic

A description of a change in which a system releases energy to its surroundings.

Vaporization

The phase change in which a substance changes from a liquid into a gas.

Heat of Vaporization

The energy of a substance must absorb in order to change from a liquid to a gas.

Evaporation

The process that changes a substance from a liquid to a gas at temperature below the substance's boiling point.

Vapor Pressure

The pressure caused by the collisions of particles in a vapor with the walls of a contanier.

Condensation

The phase change in which a substance changes from a gas or vapor to a liquid.

Sublimation

The phase change in which a substance changes from a solid to a gas or vapor without chaging to a liquid first.

Deposition

The phase change in which a gas or vapor changes directly into a solid without first changing into a liquid.