Skip to Main Content

CHE 121: General Chemistry - Inorganic

Terms and Definitions

Inorganic Chemistry - The chemical reactions and properties of all the elements in the periodic table and their compounds, with the exception of the element carbon.

Katz, Joseph J. (2014). Inorganic chemistry. In AccessScience. McGraw-Hill Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.345300

Acid and Base - Acids and bases are among the most important chemicals of commerce. The inorganic acids are often known as mineral acids, and among the most important are sulfuric, H2SO4; phosphoric, H3PO4; nitric, HNO3; and hydrochloric, HCl (sometimes called muriatic). Among the many important organic acids are acetic, CH3COOH, and oxalic, H2C2O4, acids, and phenol, C6H5OH. The important inorganic bases are ammonia, NH3; sodium hydroxide or soda, NaOH; potassium hydroxide, KOH; calcium hydroxide or lime, Ca(OH)2; and sodium carbonate, Na2CO3. There are also many organic bases, mostly derivatives of ammonia. Examples are pyridine, C5H5N, and ethylamine, C2H5NH2.

Long, Franklin A. and Boyd, Richard H. (2014). Acid and base. In AccessScience. McGraw-Hill Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.004400

Hydrogen Bond - The interaction which occurs when a hydrogen atom, covalently bonded to an electronegative atom (as in A H), interacts with another atom to form the aggregate A H Y. The shortest and strongest bond is indicated as A H, while the secondary and weaker interaction is written as H Y. Thus A H is a proton donor, while (Y) is a proton acceptor which often contains lone pair electrons and can act as a base.

Williams, Jack M. (2014). Hydrogen bond. In AccessScience. McGraw-Hill Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.328800