Edexcel GCSE Chemistry key terms

Coal, crude-oil products or natural gas formed from ancient biological material and used as non-renewable fuels.

A mixture of hydrocarbons with a similar range of boiling points, separated from crude oil by fractional distillation.

A separation process in which a mixture is vaporised and its components condense at different temperatures because they have different boiling points.

A tall industrial vessel that is hot at the bottom and progressively cooler towards the top, allowing different fractions to condense at different levels.

Particles that are able to move or be released from a product, making exposure more likely.

The physical change from a liquid state to a solid state.

A substance burned to release energy for heating, transport or electricity generation.

A device that converts chemical energy into electrical energy while fuel and oxygen are supplied to it.

A carbon structure made of a hollow sphere or tube.

An atom or group of atoms in an organic molecule that is responsible for its characteristic chemical reactions.

Coating iron or steel with zinc; the zinc forms a barrier and can also provide sacrificial protection.

An unfilled position in an arrangement of known elements, suggesting that an element had not yet been discovered.

A state of matter in which particles are widely spaced and move rapidly in different directions.

A chemical reaction in which the substances being compared are gases under the stated conditions.

An algebraic formula that represents every member of a homologous series using a variable such as $n$ for the number of carbon atoms.

A structure containing a very large network of atoms joined by covalent bonds.

A substance containing a very large, continuous network of atoms joined by covalent bonds.

A regular, repeating three-dimensional arrangement of oppositely charged ions held together by electrostatic attraction.

A very large repeating structure containing many particles rather than separate molecules.

A wooden splint whose flame has been blown out but whose tip is still hot and glowing.

A sugar made during photosynthesis, in which some of the absorbed light energy is stored chemically.

The change in the vertical value divided by the change in the horizontal value on a graph.

A one-atom-thick sheet of carbon atoms joined in a hexagonal network.

The natural process in which atmospheric gases absorb thermal infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and release energy, keeping the surface and lower atmosphere warmer than they would otherwise be.

A gas that absorbs heat radiated from Earth and releases energy, helping to keep the planet warm.

A vertical column of elements in the periodic table. Elements in the same group have similar chemical properties.

A vertical column containing elements whose atoms have full outer electron shells.