Bonding Structure and Properties


1) What is Particle Theory ?
Also known as the Particle Model.
All matter is made up of particles.
Matter can exist in 4 states: solid, liquid, gas or aqueous
Matter can change state.
This explains how particles are arranged in solids, liquids and gases and what properties they have
At a certain temperature the particles have enough energy to break the strong forces holding them together (melting, solid to liquid)
At a certain temperature the particles have enough energy to break the weak forces holding them close together (boiling, liquid to gas)


2) Can you give some physical properties of a Solid ?
It is a solid when the temperature of the material is lower than the melting point.
hard/strong, fixed shape, fixed volume, high density, low energy
cannot be compressed easily


3) Can you give some physical properties of a Liquid ?
It is a liquid when the temperature of the material is between the melting point and boiling point.
can flow/be poured, fixed volume, medium density
cannot be compressed easily
shape changes to fill bottom of a container


4) Can you give some physical properties of a Gas ?
It is a gas when the temperature of the material is greater than the boiling point.
does not keep the same shape or volume
can diffuse, low density, high energy
can be compressed
gases have the same shape and volume as the container they are in


5) What are Nanoparticles ?
These are microscopic particles that measure between 1 and 100 nanometres in size.


6) What is Graphene ?
This is a single layer of carbon atoms tightly packed into a two-dimensional honeycomb lattice.


7) What is Aqueous ?
This means dissolved in water, for example salt water or sugar water.
In equations this is represented with the symbol (aq)


8) What is a Dilute Aqueous solution ?
This is a mixture where a small amount of dissolved substance (the solute) is mixed into a large amount of water (the solvent).


9) What are the different ways that state can be changed ?
Melting - solid to liquid, increase in energy, particles break free from fixed position
Freezing - liquid to solid, decrease in energy
Boiling - liquid to gas, increase in energy, fill container (also includes Evaporation)
Condensation - gas to liquid, decrease in energy - happens at any temperature below the boiling point
Sublimation - solid to gas, particles break free from fixed position, increase in energy
Deposition - gas to solid, decrease in energy


10) Is Boiling and Evaporation the same thing and explain why ?
They are both processes that change a liquid to a gas but they are not the same thing.
Boiling is faster, only occurs are boiling temperature and occurs everywhere. The state slowly changes to gas creating bubbles that rise to the surface to escape.
Evaporation only occurs on the surface and can happen at any temperature.


11) Can you explain what causes pressure in a liquid ?
The liquid particles move and collide with each other and with the side of the container.
The average force of these particles (over the area of the sides of the container) is called the pressure.


12) What is a Monomer ?
Monomers are atoms or small molecules that bond together to form more complex structures such as polymers.
There are four main types of monomer, including sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and nucleotides.


13) What is a Polymer ?
Small molecules (called monomers) can be joined together in long chains
These chained molecules that have a repeating monomer is called a polymer.


14) What are Ionic Compounds ?
Ionic compounds are substances made from positive and negative ions that are held together by strong electrostatic forces called ionic bonds.


15) Can you describe the different types of structures and bonding ?
structure describes how those bonded atoms are arranged in space
bonding describes how atoms join together
The three primary types of strong chemical bonds are ionic, covalent, and metallic,


16) How many different types of Bonding are there ?
Ionic - when a metal and non metal react together
Covalent - when 2 non metals react together
Metallic - the name of the attraction force that holds atoms together in a metal


17) What is Ionic Bonding ?



18) What is Covalent Bonding ?



19) What is Metalic Bonding ?
Strong electrostatic attraction between metal ions (positive) and a sea of delocalised electrons (negative)


20) Can you describe the four type of structures ?
giant ionic lattices
simple molecules
giant covalent networks
metallic lattices


21) What is an Alloy ?
A mixture of metal with other elements


22) Why are alloys harder than pure metals ?
Different sizes atoms disrupt layers, making sliding harder


23) Why are metals malleable ?
Layers of positive ions can slide over each other without breaking bonds


24) What is Steel ?
Steel is an alloy of iron (Fe) and carbon containing less than 2% carbon (C) and 1% manganese (Mn) and small amounts of silicon, phosphorus, sulphur and oxygen.
Steel is the world's most important engineering and construction material.


25) Why is Steel harder than pure Iron ?
Steel contains atoms of other elements as well as iron.
These atoms have different sizes to iron atoms, so they distort the layers of atoms in the pure iron.
This means that a greater force is required for the layers to slide over each other in steel.


26) Why are pure metals soft ?
Layers can slide easily


27) Describe the structure of pure metals ?
Regular arrangement of identical atoms (shape + size) in layers




© 2026 Better Solutions Limited. All Rights Reserved. © 2026 Better Solutions Limited TopPrevNext