Every field of study has technical terms that are used by people within that field. Newcomers to the field may not be familiar with the terminology used by others and may find themselves unsure of what certain words and terms mean. This is where a Glossary comes in handy. This Glossary is designed to help both students and teachers understand new or unfamiliar vocabulary or specialized terminology in this field of study.

Below are some ideas on how you could use the Glossary with students. Students could:

• Create new glossary entries for terms not on the list.
• Group glossary terms into categories and explain the reasons for their grouping of the terms.
• Create labeled drawings to illustrate different terms.
• Add to the definitions based on further research.
• Compare the definitions in this glossary to definitions in other web-based glossaries.
• How are they similar and different? Have them think about why this may be the case.

Allotrope: one form of an element that varies in its physical properties from other forms of the same element.

Atomic Number: the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom, which represents the positive electrical charge of the atom of a particular element. All the atoms of a given element have an identical number of protons.

Cation: a ion with a positive charge.

Chemical Bonds: the forces that hold atoms together in molecules. Covalent bonds occur when atoms share electrons. Ionic bonds result from the force of attraction between positive and negatively charged ions.

Eddy Currents: electric currents, similar to small whirlpools, with swirling-like properties and a vertical pull at the centre

Electron: subatomic particle with a negative (-1) charge that occurs outside the nucleus of an atom

Excimer: a molecule that is formed by two atoms or molecules and existing only in an excited state

Excitation: process whereby the energy absorbed by an atom causes the outermost electron to jump to a higher energy level

Ion: an atomic sized particle that has a net positive or negative charge

Ketone: an organic compound containing the carbonyl group bonded to two carbon atoms

Ligands: a neutral molecule or ion having a lone pair of electrons that can be used to form a bond to a metal ion

Metre: exactly 1,650,763.73 wavelengths of the orange-red spectral line of Krypton-86

Polarize: to give an atom or molecule a permanent charge distribution with one end positively charged and the other negatively charged

Proton: subatomic particle with a positive charge (+1) that occurs inside the nucleus of an atom

Relative Atomic Mass: average mass of the atoms of the isotopes of a given element as they occur naturally. The isotopes of a given element have atoms with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons

Valence Electrons: the electrons of an atom that participate in chemical bonding