CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

neutral substance    →   neutralna tvar

Neutral substance is a substance that shows no acid or base properties, has an equal number of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions and does not change the colour of litmus-paper.

optically active matter    →   optički aktivna tvar

Optically active matter, by polarized light passing through it, turns the flat of polarized light leftwards or rightwards.

solute    →   otopljena tvar

Solute is a substance that has been dissolved or could be dissolved in another substance (solvent).

surfactant    →   površinski aktivna tvar

Surfactants are substances which diminish the surface tension of liquids.

amphoteric    →   amfoternost

Amphoteric is capable of acting either as an acid or base.

abundance of substances    →   rasprostranjenost tvari

Abundance of substances is the ratio of the total mass of a specified element in the Earth’s crust to the total mass of the Earth’s crust. It is often expressed as a percentage.

carcinogen    →   kancerogene tvari

Carcinogen is any substance that can cause or contribute to the production of cancer.

abrasive    →   abraziv

Abrasive is a very hard, brittle, heat-resistant substance that is used to grind the edges or rough surfaces of an object. Boron carbide, diamond, and corundum are abrasive.

absorbance    →   apsorbancija

Absorbance (A) is a logarithm of the ratio of incident radiant power (P_o) to transmitted radiant power (P) through a sample (excluding the effects on cell walls).

The absorption of light by a substance in a solution can be described mathematically by the Beer-Lambert law

where A is the absorbance at a given wavelength of light, ε is the molar absorbtivity or extinction coefficient (L mol^-1 cm^-1), unique to each molecule and varying with wavelength, b is the length of light path through the sample (cm), and c is the concentration of the compound in solution (mol L^-1).

absorbed dose    →   apsorbirana doza

For any ionising radiation, absorbed dose (D) is the mean energy imparted to an element of irradiated matter divided by the mass of that element.