CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

histidine    →   histidin

Histidine is an electrically charged amino acids with basic side chains. It is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it, so it must be ingested. Histidine is perhaps the most common and versatile catalytic residue in proteins. The imidazole sidechain of histidine has a pKa of approximately 6.0. This means that, at physiologically relevant pH values, relatively small shifts in pH will change its average charge. The unprotonated imidazole is nucleophilic and can serve as a general base, while the protonated form can serve as a general acid. In addition, it is often a ligand for transition metal ions such as iron and zinc.

• Abbreviations: His, H
• IUPAC name: 2-amino-3-(1H-imidazol-5-yl)propanoic acid
• Molecular formula: C₆H₉N₃O₂
• Molecular weight: 155.15 g/mol

Hooke’s law    →   Hookeov zakon

Hooke’s law stating that the deformation of a body is proportional to the magnitude of the deforming force, provided that the body’s elastic limit (see elasticity) is not exceeded. If the elastic limit is not reached, the body will return to its original size once the force is removed. The law was discovered by English physicist Robert Hooke in 1676.

If a body on elastic spring is displaced from its equilibrium position (i.e. if the spring is stretched or compressed), a restitution force tries to return the body back in its equilibrium position. The magnitude of that force is proportional to the displacement of the body

Where F is the restitutional (elastic) force, x is the displacement of the body and k is the spring constant, which depends on dimensions, shape and material of the spring.

ideal gas law    →   jednadžba stanja idealnog plina

The generalized ideal gas law is derived from a combination of the laws of Boyle and Charles. Ideal gas law is the equation of state

which defines an ideal gas, where p is pressure, V molar volume, T temperature, and R the molar gas constant (8.314 JK^-1mol^-1).

inertial reference frames    →   inercijski referentni sustavi

When two frames of reference are moving relative to each other at constant velocity, they are said to be inertial reference frames. The observers from two such inertial frames measure, in general, different velocities of a moving particle. On the other hand, they measure the same acceleration for the particle. The laws of physics must have the same form in all inertial reference frames (the principle of invariance).

ion-product constant    →   ionski produkt vode

The ion-product constant. For the reaction:

the equilibrium expression would be:

Note that all pure liquid terms are omitted, hence H₂O does not appear in the denominator. At 25 °C

magnetic permeability    →   magnetska permeabilnost

Magnetic permeability (μ), also called permeability, is a constant of proportionality that exists between magnetic induction and magnetic field intensity. This constant is equal to approximately μ_o = 1.257×10^-6 H/m in a vacuum.

Magnetic permeability is often expressed in relative, rather than in absolute, terms. If μ represents the permeability of the substance in question, then the relative permeability, μ_r, is given by:

Newton’s gravitational law    →   Newtonov zakon gravitacije

Every object in the universe attracts every other object with a force (gravitational force F_G) directed along the line through centres of the two objects that is proportional to the product of their masses and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

m₁ and m₂ are masses of the two objects and r is the distance between them. G is universal constant of gravitation, which equals 6.67•10^-26 N m² kg^-2. Strictly speaking, this law applies only to objects that can be considered pointlike object. Otherwise, the force has to be found by integrating the forces between various mass elements.

It is more properly to express Newton’s gravitational law by vector equation:

in which r₁ and r₂ are position vectors of masses m₁ and m₂.

Gravitational forces act on distance. Newton’s gravitational law is derived from Kepler’s law for planetary motion, using a physical assumption considering Sun as the centre and the source of gravitational force.

Additionally, every object moves in the direction of the force acting on it, with acceleration that is inversely proportional to the mass of object. For bodies on the surface of Earth, the distance r in gravitational law formula is practically equal to the Earth radius, R_E. If the mass of the body on Earth surface is m and the mass of earth is M_E, the gravitational force acting on that body can be expressed as:

where g is gravitational acceleration which is, although dependent on geographical latitude, usually considered as constant equal to 9.81 m s^-2.

osmotic pressure    →   osmotski tlak

Osmotic pressure (Π) is the excess pressure necessary to maintain osmotic equilibrium between a solution and a pure solvent separated by a membrane permeable only to the solvent. In an ideal dilute solution

where c_B is the amount-of-substance concentration of the solute, R is the molar gas constant, and T the temperature.

Ostwald’s dilution law    →   Ostwaldov zakon razrjeđenja

Ostwald’s dilution law is a relation for the concentration dependence of the molar conductivity Λ of an electrolyte solution, viz.

where c is the solute concentration, K_c is the equilibrium constant for dissociation of the solute, and L₀ is the conductivity at cΛ = 0. The law was first put forward by the German chemist Wilhelm Ostwald (1853-1932).

resistivity    →   električna otpornost

Electrical resistivity, or specific resistance (ρ) is the electric field strength divided by the current density when there is no electromotive force in the conductor. Resistivity is an intrinsic property of a material. Materials with low resistivity are good conductors of electricity and materials with high resistivity are good insulators.

For a conductor of uniform cross section with area A and length L, and whose resistance is R, the resistivity is given by

The SI unit is Ω m.