CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

Snell’s law    →   Snellov zakon

When a light ray comes on a boundary between two transparent media, it will be partly reflected and partly refracted. Both rays, reflected and refracted ray, lay in the plane of incidence. The angle of reflection is equal to the angle of incidence. The angle of refraction (Θ₂) is related to the angle of incidence (Θ₁) via Snell’s law:

where n₁ and n₂ are dimensionless constants - indexes of refraction of the two media.

solar cell    →   sunčeva ćelija

Solar cell, or photovoltaic cell, is a device that captures sunlight and transforms it directly to electricity. All solar cells make use of photovoltaic effect, so often they are called photovoltaic cells. Almost all solar cells are built from solid-state semiconducting materials, and in the vast majority of these the semiconductor is silicon.

The photovoltaic effect involves the generation of mobile charge carriers-electrons and positively charged holes-by the absorption of a photon of light. This pair of charge carriers is produced when an electron in the highest filled electronic band of a semiconductor (the valence band) absorbs a photon of sufficient energy to promote it into the empty energy band (the conduction band). The excitation process can be induced only by a photon with an energy corresponding to the width of the energy gap that separates the valence and the conduction band. The creation of an electron-hole pair can be converted into the generation of an electrical current in a semiconductor junction device, wherein a layer of semiconducting material lies back to back with a layer of either a different semiconductor or a metal. In most photovoltaic cells, the junction is p-n junction, in which p-doped and n-doped semiconductors are married together. At the interface of the two, the predominance of positively charged carriers (holes) in the p-doped material and of negatively charged carriers (electrons) in the n-doped material sets up an electric field, which falls off to either side of the junction across a space-charge region. When absorption of a photon in this region generates an electron-hole pair, these charge carriers are driven in opposite directions by the electric field, i.e. away from the interface and toward the top and bottom of the two-layer structure, where metal electrodes on these faces collect the current. The electrode on the top layer (through which light is absorbed) is divided into strips so as not to obscure the semiconducting layers below. In most widely used commercial solar cells, the p-doped and n-doped semiconductive layers are formed within a monolithic piece of crystalline silicon. Silicon is able to absorb sunlight at those wavelengths at which it is most intense-from the near-infrared region (wavelengths of around 1200 nm) to the violet (around 350 nm).

Tafel plot    →   Tafelov dijagram

Tafel plot is the graph of the logarithm of the current density j against the overpotential η in electrochemistry in the high overpotential limit. An electrode when polarised frequently yields a current potential relationship over a region which can be approximated by:

where η is change in open circuit potential, i is the current density, B and i₀ is constants. B is known as the Tafel Slope. If this behaviour is observed a plot of the semilogarithmic components is known as the Tafel line and the diagram is called the Tafel diagram.

thermodynamic laws    →   termodinamički zakoni

Thermodynamic laws are the foundation of the science of thermodynamics:

First law: The internal energy of an isolated system is constant; if energy is supplied to the system in the form of heat dq and work dw, then the change in energy dU = dq + dw.

Second law: No process is possible in which the only result is the transfer of heat from a reservoir and its complete conversion to work.

Third law: The entropy of a perfect crystal approaches zero as the thermodynamic temperature approaches zero.

van der Waals’ equation    →   van der Waalsova jednadžba

Van der Waals’ equation is an equation of state for real fluids which takes the form:

where p is pressure, V_m is molar volume, T is temperature, R is the molar gas constant, and a and b are characteristic parameters of the substance which describe the effect of attractive and repulsive intermolecular forces.

van’t Hoff equation    →   van Hoffova jednadžba

Van’t Hoff equation is the equation expressing the temperature dependence on the equilibrium constant K of a chemical reaction:

where Δ_rH° is the standard enthalpy of reaction, R the molar gas constant, and T the temperature.

water ion product    →   ionski produkt vode

Water ion product (K_w) is a concentration product of hydrogen and hydroxide ions. For the reaction:

the equilibrium expression would be:

Note that all pure liquid terms are omitted, hence H₂O does not appear in the denominator. At 25 °C, K_w = 1.0×10^-14 mol²dm^-6 = (K_a)(K_b)

work    →   rad

Work is the energy required to move an object against an opposing force. Work is usually expressed as a force times a displacement.

When a constant force F acts on a point-like object while the object moves through a displacement s, the force does work W on the object. If force and displacement are at a constant angle Θ to each other, the work is expressed by the scalar product of these two vectors:

When the force F on a point-like object is not constant that is, it depends on the position of the object, the work done by force while object moves from initial position with coordinates (x_i, y_i, z_i) to final position with coordinates (x_f, y_f, z_f)is given by expression:

Where F_x, F_y and F_z are scalar components of the force.

SI unit for work is joule (J); 1 J = 1 Nm = 1 kg m² s^-2. The electron-volt (eV) is commonly used in atomic and nuclear physics.

zeolite    →   zeolit

Zeolite is a natural or synthetic hydrated aluminosilicate with an open three-dimensional crystal structure, in which water molecules are held in cavites in the latice. The water can be driven off by heating and the zeolite can then absorb other molecules of suitable size. Zeolites are used for separating mixtures by selective absorption.

CO2 ion selective electrode    →   CO2 ion selektivna elektroda

The carbon dioxide ion selective electrode uses a gas-permeable membrane to separate the sample solution from the electrode internal solution. Dissolved carbon dioxide in the sample solution diffuses through the membrane until an equilibrium is reached between the partial pressure of CO₂ in the sample solution and the CO₂ in the internal filling solution. In any given sample the partial pressure of carbon dioxide will be proportional to the concentration of carbon dioxide. The diffusion across the membrane affects the level of hydrogen ions in the internal filling solution:

The hydrogen level of the internal filling solution is measured by the pH electrode located behind the membrane. The internal filling solution contains a high concentration of sodium bicarbonate (e.g. 0.1 mol/L NaHCO₃) so that the bicarbonate level can be considered constant.