CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

environment protection    →   zaštita okoliša

From Environment protection law of the Republic of Croatia: By protection of the environment, the following is ensured: complete preservation of environment quality, natural community preservation, rational usage of natural resources and energy in the most favourable way concerning the environment as a basic condition of healthy and sustainable development.

bronze    →   bronca

Bronze is an alloy made primarily of copper and tin. It may contain as much as 25 % tin. Bronzes with 10 % or more tin are harder, stronger, and resistant to corrosion. As bronze weathers, a brown or green film forms on the surface. This film inhibits corrosion. Silicon or aluminium is often added to bronze to improve resistance to corrosion. Phosphorus, lead, zinc, and other metals may be added for special purposes. The alloy is hard and easily cast and is extensively used in bearings, valves and other machine parts.

Bronze was one of the first alloys developed by ancient metal workers. The Bronze Age occurred in Europe around 2200 to 700 BC. Bronze was used for weapons such as spearheads, swords, and knives. Since ancient times, bronze has been the most popular metal for casting statues and other art objects.

The term bronze has been adopted commercially for many copper-rich alloys that contain little or no tin but are similar in colour to bronze, including aluminium bronze, manganese bronze, and silicon bronze. Aluminium bronze is used to make tools and, because it will not spark when struck. Manganese bronze is actually a brass that contains manganese. It is often used to make ship propellers because it is strong and resists corrosion by sea water.

carboxylic acids    →   karboksilne kiseline

Carboxylic acids are organic compounds characterized by the presence of one or more RC(=O)OH groups (the carboxyl group). In the systematic chemical nomenclature carboxylic acids names end in the suffix -oic (e.g. ethanoic acids, CH₃COOH). The carbon of the terminal group being counted as part of the chain. They are generally weak acids. Carboxylic acids include a large and important class of fatty acids and may be either saturated or unsaturated. There are also some natural aromatic carboxylic acids (benzoic, salicylic).

chain reaction    →   lančana reakcija

Chain reaction is a reaction done in three steps: initiation in which usually radicals are made which react with other molecules in stage of propagation and, when all reactants are spent, it ends by termination when all available radicals are completely spent.

Nuclear chain reaction refers to a process in which neutrons released in fission produce an additional fission in at least one further nucleus. Nuclear power plants operate by precisely controlling the rate at which nuclear reactions occur. On the other hand, nuclear weapons are specifically engineered to produce a reaction that is so fast and intense it cannot be controlled after it has started.

ferric    →   feri

Ferric is the term or prefix used to denote compounds of iron in which iron is in the trivalent, Fe(III), state, for example, ferric chloride, FeCl₃.

ferrous    →   fero

Ferrous is the term or prefix used to denote compounds of iron in which iron is in the divalent, Fe(II), state, for example, ferrous sulfate, FeSO₄.

glass transition temperature    →   temperatura staklastog prijelaza

Glass transition temperature (T_g) is the temperature at which an amorphous polymer is transformed, in a reversible way, from a viscous or rubbery condition to a hard and relatively brittle one.

carbohydrate    →   ugljikohidrat

Carbohydrates (often called carbs for short) are polyhydroxy aldehydes or ketones, or substances that yield such compounds on hydrolysis. They are also known as saccharides, a term derived from the Latin word saccharum for sugar. Carbohydrates are the most abundant class of compounds in the biological world, making up more than 50 % of the dry weight of the Earth’s biomass. Every type of food we eat can have its energy traced back to a plant. Plants use carbon dioxide and water to make glucose, a simple sugar, in photosynthesis. Other carbohydrates such as cellulose and starch are made from the glucose. Light from the sun is absorbed by chlorophyll and this is converted to the energy necessary to biosynthesize carbohydrates

The term carbohydrate was applied originally to monosaccharides, in recognition of the fact that their empirical composition can be expressed as C_x(H₂O)_y. Later structural studies revealed that these compounds were not hydrates but the term carbohydrate persists.

Carbohydrates are generally classed as either simple or complex. Simple sugars, or monosaccharides, are carbohydrates that can’t be converted into smaller subunits by hydrolysis. Complex carbohydrates are made of two (disaccharides) or more (oligosaccharides, polysaccharides) simple sugars linked together by acetal (glycosidic) bonds and can be split into the former by hydrolysis.

complexometry    →   kompleksometrija

Complexometry is a volumetric analytic method which is based on titration of metal ion solutions with a substance that, combined with metal ions yields complex compounds, e.g. EDTA. The stoichiometric ratio of EDTA-metal in complexometric analyses is always 1:1, whatever the valency of the metal

humidity    →   vlažnost

Humidity is a general term used to describe the amount of water vapor found in the atmosphere.