CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

beta radiation    →   beta zračenje

Streams of beta particles are known as beta ray or beta radiation. Beta rays may cause skin burns and are harmful within the body. A thin sheet of metal can afford protection to the skin.

beta particle    →   beta-čestica

Beta particle is a charged particle emitted from a radioactive atomic nucleus either natural or manufactured. The energies of beta particles range from 0 MeV to 4 MeV. They carry a single charge; if this is negative, the particle is identical with an electron; if positive, it is a positron.

An unstable atomic nucleus changes into a nucleus of the same mass number but different proton number with the emission of an electron and an antineutrino (or a positron and a neutrino)

beta-glucan    →   beta-glukan

Beta-glucans are are naturally occurring polysaccharides that contain only glucose as structural components, and are linked with β-glycosidic bonds. They is the most known powerful immune stimulant. The most active forms of β-glucans are those comprising D-glucose units with β(1→3) links and with short side-chains of D-glucose attached at the β(1→6) position. These are referred to as beta-1,3/1,6 glucan. They are a major component of soluble dietary fiber, which can be found in cereal grains (oats, barley, wheat), yeast, and certain mushrooms (shiitake, maitake).

accelerator    →   akcelerator

Accelerator is a device (machine) used for acceleration of charged particles (protons, deuterons, α-particles). Particles are accelerated under the influence of an electric field and with the help of a magnetic field are kept inside a certain space. When the particles reach enough acceleration (that is sufficient energy), they are directed on a target we wish to bomb. Best known types cyclotron, synchrotron, betatron.

Accelerator is a substance that increases the rate of chemical reaction, i.e. a catalyst.

agarose    →   agaroza

Agarose is a polysaccharide obtained from agar that is used for a variety of life science applications especially in gel electrophoresis. The structure of agarose consists of alternating (1→3)-linked β-D-galactopyranose and (1→4)-linked 3,6-anhydro-α-L-galactopyranose.

amino acids    →   aminokiseline

Amino acids are compounds containing both a carboxylic acid group (-COOH) and an amino group (-NH₂ ). The most important are the α-amino acids, in which the -NH₂ group in attached to the C atom adjacent to the -COOH group. In the β-amino acids, there is an intervening carbon atom.

anomer    →   anomer

Anomers are diastereoisomers of cyclic forms of sugars or similar molecules differing in the configuration at the anomeric carbon (C-1 atom of an aldose or the C-2 atom of a 2-ketose). The cyclic forms of carbohydrates can exist in two forms, α- and β- based on the position of the substituent at the anomeric center. Anomer are designated α if the configuration at the anomeric carbon is the same as that at the reference asymmetric carbon in a Fischer projection. If the configuration differs the anomer is designated β. For example, α-D-glucopyranose and β-D-glucopyranose, the two cyclic forms of glucose, are anomers.

base-centered monoclinic lattice    →   bazno centrirana monoklinska rešetka

Base-centered or side-centered or end-centered monoclinic lattice (monoclinic-C), like all lattices, has lattice points at the eight corners of the unit cell plus additional points at the centers of two parallel sides of the unit cell. It has unit cell vectors a≠b≠c, and interaxial angles α=γ=90°≠β.

Bravais lattice    →   Bravaisova rešetka

Bravais lattice is a set of points constructed by translating a single point in discrete steps by a set of basis vectors. The French crystallographer Auguste Bravais (1811-1863) established that in three-dimensional space only fourteen different lattices may be constructed. All crystalline materials recognised till now fit in one of these arrangements. The fourteen three-dimensional lattices, classified by crystal system, are shown to the bottom.

Crystal system	Bravais lattices
cubic a=b=c α=β=γ=90°
	simple cubic	body-centered cubic	face-centered cubic
tetragonal a=b≠c α=β=γ=90°
	simple tetragonal	body-centered tetragonal
orthorhombic a≠b≠c α=β=γ=90°
	simple orthorhombic	base-centered orthorhombic	body-centered orthorhombic	face-centered orthorhombic
monoclinic a≠b≠c α=γ=90°≠β
	simple monoclinic	base-centered monoclinic
hexagonal a=b≠c α=β=90° γ=120°
	hexagonal
rhombohedral a=b=c α=β=γ≠90°
	rhombohedral
triclinic a≠b≠c α≠β≠γ≠90°
	triclinic

invertase    →   invertaza

Invertase (sucrase, saccharase, beta-fructofuranosidase) is an enzyme present in yeast and in the intestinal juice of animals that catalyze the hydrolysis of table sugar (sucrose, saccharose) to the simple sugars, glucose and fructose. This equimolar mixture of glucose and fructose is called invert sugar.