Glossary of Chemistry Terms - M

M

• Metal - Chemical element that is a good conductor of both electricity and heat and forms cations and ionic bonds with non-metals.
• melting - The phase change from a solid to a liquid
• metalloid - A substance possessing both the properties of metals and non-metals
• methylene blue - a heterocyclic aromatic chemical compound with the molecular formula C₁₆H₁₈N₃SCl
• microcentrifuge - a small plastic container that is used to store small amounts of liquid
• mole - abbreviated mol - a measurement of an amount of substance; a single mole contains approximately 6.022×1023 units or entities
  • a mole of water contains 6.022×1023 H₂O molecules
• molecule - a chemically bonded number of atoms that are electrically neutral
• molecular orbital - region where an electron can be found in a molecule (as opposed to an atom)