CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

element    →   element

Element is a substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances. In an element, all the atoms have the same number of protons or electrons, although the number of neutrons my vary.

equivalent    →   ekvivalent

Equivalent (eq) is a unit for describing the amount of a chemical species. In contrast to the mole, the amount of a substance contained in one equivalent can vary from reaction to reaction.

chlorophyll    →   klorofil

Chlorophyll is a green pigment present in green plants and cyanobacteria. Chlorophyll is essential in the transformation of light energy to chemical energy in photosynthesis. Chlorophyll absorbs light mostly in the blue and red ends of the visible spectrum, and very little in the green wavelengths. That green light is reflected, giving us the leaf colour we see.

extensive property    →   ekstenzivno svojstvo

Extensive property is a property that changes when the amount of matter in a sample changes. Examples are mass, volume, length, and charge.

formula    →   formula

See Chemical compound formula

freezing    →   smrzavanje

Freezing is the change of a liquid into a solid state as the temperature decreases. For water, the freezing point is 0 °C (or 273.16 K).

geochemistry    →   geokemija

Geochemistry is the scientific study of the chemical composition of the Earth. It includes the study of the abundance of the Earth’s elements and their isotopes and the distribution of the elements in environments of the Earth (lithosphere, atmosphere, biosphere, and hydrosphere).

chlorinity    →   klorinitet

Originally chlorinity (symbol Cl) was defined as the weight of chlorine in grams per kilogram of seawater after the bromides and iodides had been replaced by chlorides. To make the definition independent of atomic weights, chlorinity is now defined as 0.3285233 times the weight of silver equivalent to all the halides.

The Mohr-Knudsen titration method served oceanographers for more than 60 years to determine salinity from chlorinity. This modification of the Mohr method uses special volumetric glassware calibrated directly in chlorinity units. The Mohr method uses potassium chromate (K₂CrO₄) as an indicator in the titration of chloride ions chloride (plus a small amount of bromide and iodide) with a silver nitrate (AgNO₃) standard solution.

The other halides present are similarly precipitated.

A problem in the Mohr titration was that silver nitrate is not well suited for a primary standard. The Danish physicist Martin Knudsen (1871-1949) suggested that a standard seawater (Eau de mer Normale or Copenhagen Normal Water) be created and distributed to oceanographic laboratories throughout the world. This water was then used to standardize the silver nitrate solutions. In this way all chlorinity determinations were referred to one and the same standard which gave great internal consistency.

The relationship between chlorinity Cl and salinity S as set forth in Knudsen's tables is

In 1962, however, a better expression for the relationship between total dissolved salts and chlorinity was found to be

coenzyme    →   koenzim

Coenzyme is an organic nonprotein molecule, such as a vitamin, that associates with an enzyme in catalysing biochemical reactions. Coenzymes usually participate in the substrate-enzyme interaction by donating or acepting certain chemical groups.

inhibitor    →   inhibitor

Inhibitor is a chemical that stops (or at least decreases the rate of) a chemical reaction.