WORDS TO DESCRIBE CHEMICAL SPECIES AND CHEMICAL REACTIONS:  A PARTIAL LIST

I mentioned once in class that there are more new vocabulary words in General Chemistry than the first year of a foreign language.  You will have two list containing some of those words below.  For any chemical reaction, you should be able to use words from these lists to describe the reaction.

Chemical reactions can be described using many different terms, including:

• combination
• decomposition
• exchange
• displacement
• precipitation
• gas-forming
• neutralization
• acid/base
• oxidation/reduction
• redox
• charge transfer
• proton transfer
• electron transfer

Chemical species can be described in many ways including:

• pure element
• ionic compound
• molecular compound
• precipiate
• gas
• strong electrolyte
• weak electrolyte
• oxidizing agent
• reducing agent
• acid
• base
• cation
• anion