Final answer:
Density is defined as mass per unit volume, often employed to identify substances. Organic compounds contain carbon and are associated with life, while inorganic compounds typically do not contain carbon and are found outside of biological contexts. Hardness is a measure of a material's resistance to deformation.
Step-by-step explanation:
When matching the vocabulary word with its definition, it's important to understand the context in which these terms are used. For density, this term refers to a physical property of matter, which is an object's mass divided by its volume. Density can be described as how compact or concentrated matter is within a given volume. It is a characteristic that helps identify substances and is measured in units such as grams per cubic centimeter for solids, and for liquids, grams per milliliter.
The term organic refers to compounds that generally contain carbon atoms and are found in living organisms. Organic chemistry is the study of these carbon-containing compounds, including not only simple molecules like methane (CH4) but also complex molecules such as proteins, which are composed of long chains of carbon-containing compounds.
Inorganic compounds, on the other hand, are generally not found within living organisms and do not contain carbon-hydrogen bonds. They include salts, metals, and minerals, for example. Understanding the composition and properties of both organic and inorganic compounds is essential in many fields of science and engineering.
The term hardness refers to the resistance of a material to deformation, especially by scratching, cutting, or bending. It is a measure of how well a substance can withstand mechanical action and is often used in materials science to describe minerals and metals.