Look Up a Word - Read the Definition!

• Absorb - to soak up a substance, usually a liquid
  
• Acid Rain - any precipitation with a lower pH level than normal
  
• Adhesion - the force inolved when two different substances are attracted
  
• Capillary Action - the movement of fluids flowing up a plant to the leaves through narrow tubes
  
• Cohesion - the force involved when two like sbstances are attracted
  
• Collodial mixture - a combination of two or more substances so that very small particles of each are suspended throughout the others (as in "milk"; "gelatin" or "varnish")
  
• Density - the mass of an object in relation to the volume (volume = amount of space it occupies)
  
• Dissolve - to make a solution by dissolving a substance into a liquid
  
• Emulsion - a combination of liquids in which droplets of one liquid are suspended throughout the other liquid
  
• Evaporation - the process by which a liquid changes into a gas
  
• Filter - to remove solid particles in a solution by passing through a screen or screens
  
• Freeze - to change a liquid into a solid
  
• Gas - a form of matter whose molecules are not connected to on another and move rapidly in space
  
• Immiscible - two liquids or a liquid and a gas that will NOT mix together
  
• Liquid - a form of matter whose molecles are in close proximity to each other and WILL change position relative to one another; a liquid will flow freely and take on the shape of its container
  
• Magnifier - a lens that causes objects to appear larger
  
• Melt - to change a solid into a liquid by heating it
  
• Meniscus - the water level in a graduated cylinder is always read from the bottom of the curve of the liquid (this bottom curve is called the meniscus)
  
• Miscible - two liquids or a liquid and a gas that can mix together
  
• Molecule - a tiny particle of matter composed of atoms
  
• Opaque - not allowing light or images to pass through
  
• Porous - having many holes (pores)
  
• Refraction - the bending of light, sound, or heat waves as they pass through one substance into another
  
• Solid - a form of matter whose molecules are in close contact with each other and will NOT change position relative to one another (they may vibrate); solid will retain its shape
  
• Solution - a mixture of one substance scattered through another substance, usually a liquid, which does not separate over time
  
• Solvent - the liquid in which a substance is dissolved
  
• Surface tension - the elastic skin created by the downward pull of molecules on the surface of the liquid
  
• Suspension - a mixture of one substance in another where particles of the first substance may be seen and will settle (separate into its own layer) over time
  
• Translucent - allowing light but NOT images to pass through
  
• Transparent - allowing both light AND images to pass through
  
• Viscosity - the internal friction of a liquid's molecules rubbing against each other (high viscosity liquids pour slowly)

Return to the "Big Picture"