CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

Lyman series    →   Lymanova serija

Lyman series is the series of lines in the spectrum of the hydrogen atom which corresponds to transitions between the ground state (principal quantum number n = 1) and successive excited states.

lysine    →   lizin

Lysine is an electrically charged amino acids with basic side chains. Lysine is a base, as are arginine and histidine. The amino group is highly reactive and often participates in reactions at the active centers of enzymes. Lysine plays an important role in coordinating negatively charged ligands. It is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it, so it must be ingested.

• Abbreviations: Lys, K
• IUPAC name: 2,6-diaminohexanoic acid
• Molecular formula: C₆H₁₄N₂O₂
• Molecular weight: 146.19 g/mol

macromolecule    →   makromolekule

Macromolecule is a molecule of high relative molecular mass (molecular weight), the structure of which essentially comprises the multiple repetitions of units derived, actually or conceptually, from molecules of low relative molecular mass. The types of macromolecules are natural and synthetic polymers, carbohydrates, lipids, proteins etc. Cellulose is a polysaccharide that is made up of hundreds, even thousands of glucose molecules strung together.

measuring cylinder    →   menzura

Measuring cylinders (graduated cylinders) are graduated glass cylinders with a capacity from 2 mL to 2 L. They are used when reagent solutions for volume measuring are prepared when accuracy is not of great relevance. The larger the measuring cylinder, the bigger the measuring error.

meniscus    →   meniskus

Meniscus is the concave curve of a liquid surface in a graduate or narrow tube. Caused by surface tension. Position of eye at all volumetric vessels must be at the same level as the meniscus to avoid a parallax error.

meta position    →   meta položaj

Meta position in organic chemistry is the one in which there are two same functional groups tied to a ring of benzene in position 1 and 3. The abbreviation m- is used, for example, m-Hydroquinone is 1,3-dihydroxybenzene.

methionine    →   metionin

Methionine is neutral amino acids with polar side chains. It is one of the two sulfur-containing amino acids. Methionine is a fairly hydrophobic amino acid and typically found buried within the interior of a protein. It can form stacking interactions with the aromatic moieties of tryptophan, phenylalanine, and tyrosine. It is an essential amino acid, which means that humans cannot synthesize it, so it must be ingested.

• Abbreviations: Met, M
• IUPAC name: 2-amino-4-methylsulfanylbutanoic acid
• Molecular formula: C₅H₁₁NO₂S
• Molecular weight: 149.21 g/mol

methyl orange    →   metil oranž

Methyl orange is an acid-base indicator, in acid it turns red and in a base it turns yellow.

metre    →   metar

Metre (m) is the SI base unit of length.

The meter is the length of the path travelled by light in vacuum during a time interval of 1/299 792 458 s.

This definition, adopted by the General Conference on Weights and Measure in October 1983, replaced the 1967 definition based on the krypton lamp.

mineral    →   mineral

Minerals are compounds in which metals can be found in nature. Metals in nature can appear as: