CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

impurity    →   nečistoća

Impurities are traces of other elements or compounds in an impure substance.

inorganic chemistry    →   anorganska kemija

Inorganic chemistry, the branch of chemistry concerned with compounds of elements other than carbon. Certain simple carbon compounds, such as CO, CO₂, CS₂, carbonates CO₃^2- and cyanides CN^-, are usually treated in inorganic chemistry.

Bunsen, Robert Wilhem    →   Bunsen, Robert Wilhem

Robert Wilhem Bunsen (1811-1899) is a German chemist who held professorships at Kassel, Marburg and Heidelberg. His early researches on organometallic compound of arsenic cost him an eye in an explosion. Bunsen's most important work was in developing several techniques used in separating, identifying, and measuring various chemical substances. He also improvement chemical battery for use in isolating quantities of pure metals - Bunsen battery.

The essential piece of laboratory equipment that has immortalized the name of Bunsen was not invented by him. Bunsen improved the burner's design, which had been invented by Faraday, to aid his endeavors in spectroscopy. Use of the Bunsen burner in conjunction with a glass prism led to the development of the spectroscope in collaboration with the German physicist Gustav Kirchoff and to the spectroscopic discovery of the elements rubidium (1860) and cesium (1861).

cerium    →   cerij

Cerium was discovered by Martin Heinrich Klaproth (Germany) and by Jöns Jacob Berzelius (Sweden) in 1803 and Wilhelm von Hisinger (Germany) in 1814. Named after the asteroid Ceres this discovered two years before the element. It is malleable, ductile, iron-grey metal. Tarnishes in air; reacts easily with water. Dissolves in acids; ignites when heated. Metal ignites and burns readily. Strong reductant. Cerium is most abundant rare earth metal. Found in many minerals like monazite sand [Ce(PO₄)]. Its oxides are used in the optics and glass-making industries. Its salts are used in the photography and textile industry. Used in high-intensity carbon lamps and as alloying agents in special metals.

chemical compound formula    →   formula kemijskog spoja

Chemical elements are represented by their symbols, and chemical compounds are represented by a group of symbols of those elements from which the compound is composed. That group of symbols, which shows which atoms and in which number relation they are present in certain compound is called a chemical compound formula.

In a formula chemical symbols show which element is present in a certain compound, and its index shows how much of that element there is in a certain compound. From sulphuric acid formula H₂SO₄ we can see that one molecule of sulphuric acid consists of two atoms of hydrogen, one atom of sulphur and four atoms of oxygen.

isotope proportion    →   izotopni omjer

Isotope proportion is a number of atoms of each isotope in a sample of one element. It uses relative masses of isotopes to calculate a relative mass of one element.

lanthanides contraction    →   kontrakcija lantanoida

Lanthanides contraction is a reduction of metal and ion diameters from lanthanum to lutetium and it is caused by a core charge growth inside the same shell. Elements which in the periodic system of elements come after lanthanides have, because of lanthanides contraction, smaller diameter than they should have according to their position in the periodic system of elements.

law of definite composition    →   zakon o određenom sastavu

Law of definite composition states that the elements in a given compound are always combined in the same proportion by mass. This law form the basis for the definition of a chemical compound.

limescale    →   kamenac

Limescale (or scale) is a flaky deposit left in hot-water pipes and appliances, especially those that contain heating elements (washing machines, dishwashers, water heaters). Limescale is mainly made up of calcium and magnesium carbonate.

control rod    →   kontrolna šipka

Control rods are rods in a nuclear reactor composed of substances that absorb neutrons (cadmium, hafnium, boron, etc.). These rods regulate the power level of the reactor.