A

• Absolute Temperature - temperature measured from absolute zero, where all motion stops.
• Atmosphere (atm) - the amount of pressure exerted by the earth's atmosphere at sea level. Approximately 15 psi, 760 mm Hg, 760 torr, or 101.3 kPa.

B

C

D

• Diffusion - when particles move from an area of high to lower concentration
• Directly Proportional - a relationship in which one variable goes up if the other goes up, and down if the other goes down.

E

• Effusion - when gas molecules escape from their container through tiny holes in the container.
• Elastic - in terms of collisions, one in which no energy is lost
• Equilibrium - A dynamic state in which two opposing processes take place at the same time and the same rate.

F

• Force - a push or pull

G

• Gas - the state of matter characterized by neither a definite shape nore volume.

H

• Hypothesis - 1) an educated guess, 2) a scientific theory unproven by experimentation, 3) (common) a theory (but not that in science!)

I

• Inversely Proportional - a relationship in which one variable goes up as the other goes down

J

K

• Kelvin - 1) Temperature on the Kelvin scale which is numerically 273 degrees higher than that of the Celcius scale. 2) Scale based on absolute temperature
• Kinetic Energy - 1) energy of motion, 2) the energy that a moving object has, 3) the quantity of energy equal to half mass times velocity squared
• Kinetic Theory - A basic set of assumptions for gases and gas behavior. The five assumptions are:
  1. Gases are made of molecules in constant, random movement. Gases like Argon have 1-atom molecules.
  2. The large portion of the volume of a gas is empty space. The volume of all gas molecules, in comparison, is negligible.
  3. The molecules show no forces of attraction or repulsion.
  4. No energy is lost in collision of molecules; the impacts are completely elastic.
  5. The temperature of a gas is the average kinetic energy of all of the molecules.

L

M

• Means and Extremes - a term used in relation to proportions. In proportion W/X=Y/Z, W and Z are extremes and X and Y means. According to rules of proportions, a proportion is true if the product of the means equals the product of the extremes. Also, in a proportion, the means or extremes can be switched (eg. W/X=Y/Z becomes Z/X=Y/W).
• Mole - a quantity equal to 6.023 x 10²³
• Molecule - the smallest particle of a substance that still retains all of the properties of that substance (assuming a 1-atom particle, like Ar, is a molecule).

N

O

P

• Pressure - the amount of force exerted on an object

Q

R

S

• Standard Temperature and Pressure (STP) - 1) a standard for measuring properties of gases, 2) A state of pressure equal to 1 atmosphere (760 mm Hg/101.3 kPa) and at 273 K (water's freezing point).
• Surface Area - the amount of two dimensional space on the face of an object

T

• Temperature - 1) A measure of the ability of a system to transfer heat to, or acquire heat from, other systems. 2) The average molecular kinetic energy of a substance

U

V

• Volume - the amount of three-dimensional space an object occupies

W

X

Y

Z

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