CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

autocatalysis    →   autokataliza

Autocatalysis is a reaction in which its product can act as a catalyst. Oxalate oxidation with permanganate in an acid solution is a slow reaction

Mn²⁺-ions catalyse this reaction. When enough Mn²⁺-ions are created, the reaction occurs instantly.

automatic burette    →   automatska bireta

Automatic burette is used for series of tests. It is connected with a bottle which contains the titration solution. The air is pumped into the bottle by a small rubber air pump, created the pressure in the bottle which the rises the solution to the top of burette. When the the burette is full, the valve is released, the pressure in the bottle falls and the burette automatically sets itself to zero. Work with automatic burettes is by far faster and the consumption of standard solution is smaller.

condensational polymerisation    →   kondenzacijska polimerizacija

Condensational polymerisation is a reaction of polymerisation in which monomers together create a polymer by losing small molecules like water.

crystallography    →   kristalografija

Crystallography is a science that studies structure, shapes, crystalline properties and laws of their creation.

dry ice    →   suhi led

Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide (CO₂). It is called dry ice because it sublimates, i.e. it transits to vapour without a prior transition to liquid state. It is a convenient refrigerant because it sublimes at -78 °C.

benzene    →   benzen

Benzene is a colourless liquid hydrocarbon, C₆H₆, b.p. 80 °C. It is now made from petroleum by catalytic reforming (formerly obtained from coal tar). Benzene is the archetypal aromatic compound. It has an unsaturated molecule, yet will not readily undergo addition reactions. On the other hand, it does undergo substitution reactions in which hydrogen atoms are replaced by other atoms or groups.

In 1865, Friedrich August Kekulé purposed the benzene molecule structure as a hexagonal ring which consists of six carbon atoms with alternate carbon-carbon single and carbon-carbon double bond. But such a structure should be highly reactive, and so didn't account for the unreactive nature of benzene. We now know that the best representation for the structure of benzene is indeed, hexagonal, with each C-C bond distance being identical and intermediate between those for a single and double bond. The π-orbitals from each neighbouring carbon atom overlap to form a delocalised molecular orbital which extends around the ring, giving added stability and with it, decreased reactivity. That is the reason the structural formula of benzene represents as a hexagon with a circle in the center which represents the delocalized electrons.

fcc    →   fcc

fcc is abbreviation for face-centered cubic lattice.

first law of thermo-dynamics    →   prvi zakon termodinamike

First law of thermo-dynamics is: Energy can be neither created nor destroyed, but can cross from one shape to another.

flotation    →   flotacija

Flotation is a procedure in which hydrophobic solid substances are separated from hydrophilic one using bubbles of air. If air is blow through a suspension, in which substances promoting easier creation of foam are added, bubbles of air are created which stick to the hydrophobic matter and carry it out to the surface.

holography    →   holografija

Holography is a technique for creating a three-dimensional image of an object by recording the interference pattern between a light beam diffracted from the object and a reference beam. The image can be reconstructed from this pattern by a suitable optical system.