CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

activity    →   aktivitet

Activity (a) is a thermodynamic function used in place of concentration in equilibrium constants for reactions involving nonideal gases and solutions. For the species i activity is defined as

where a_i is the activity of the species i, c_i is its molar concentration, and f_i is a dimensionless quantity called the activity coefficient.

asparagine    →   asparagin

Asparagine is neutral amino acids with polar side chains. The polar amino acids are an important class of amino acids since they provide many of the functional groups found in proteins. Asparagine is a common site for attachment of carbohydrates in glycoproteins. In general this is not very reactive residues. Asparagine is amide derivative of aspartic acid. Asparagine is not essential for humans, which means that it can be synthesized from central metabolic pathway intermediates and is not required in the diet.

• Abbreviations: Asn, N
• IUPAC name: 2,4-diamino-4-oxobutanoic acid
• Molecular formula: C₄H₈N₂O₃
• Molecular weight: 132.12 g/mol

atomic orbital    →   atomska orbitala

Atomic orbital is a wave function that describes the behaviour of an electron in an atom.

Beer’s law    →   Beerov zakon

Beer’s law (or Beer-Lambert law) is the functional relationship between the quantity measured in an absorption method (A) and the quantity sought, the analyte concentration (c). As a consequence of interactions between the photons and absorbing particles, the power of the beam is attenuated from P_o to P. Beer’s law can be written

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).

biochemistry    →   biokemija

Biochemistry is the study of the chemistry of living organisms, especially the structure and function of their chemical components (principally proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and nucleic acids).

carbonyl group    →   karbonilna skupina

Carbonyl group is a functional group common to all ketones and aldehydes.

carboxylate group    →   karboksilna skupina

Carboxylate group (-COOH) is a functional group which is common to all carboxylic acids.

fluid mechanics    →   mehanika fluida

Fluid mechanics is the study of various properties of the fluid (liquids and gases): velocity, pressure, density and temperature, as functions of space and time.

blackbody radiation    →   zračenje crnog tijela

Blackbody radiation is the radiation emitted by a perfect blackbody, i.e., a body which absorbs all radiation incident on it and reflects none. The primary law governing blackbody radiation is the Planck Radiation Law, which governs the intensity of radiation emitted by unit surface area into a fixed direction (solid angle) from the blackbody as a function of wavelength for a fixed temperature. The Planck Law can be expressed through the following equation

where λ is the wavelength, h is Planck’s constant, c is the speed of light, k is the Boltzmann constant, and T is the temperature.

coenzyme a    →   koenzim a

Coenzyme A (CoA) is an essential metabolic cofactor synthesized from cysteine, pantothenate (vitamin B5), and ATP. CoA plays important roles in many metabolic pathways, including the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and the synthesis and oxidation of fatty acids. One of the main functions of CoA is the carrying and transfer of acyl groups. Acylated derivatives (acetyl-CoA) are critical intermediates in many metabolic reactions.