CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

adhesion    →   adhezija

Adhesion is attraction between different substances on either side of a phase boundary. Adhesive is a substance used for joining surfaces together.

azeotrope    →   azeotropi

Azeotrope is a mixture of two liquids that boils at constant composition, i.e. the composition of the vapour is the same as that of the liquid. Azeotropes occur because of deviations in Raoult’s law leading to a maximum or minimum in the boiling point - composition diagram. The composition of an azeotrope depends on the pressure.

catalyst    →   katalizator

Catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change. Catalysts that have the same phase as the reactants are homogenous catalysts (e.g. enzymes in biochemical reactions). Those that have a different phase are heterogeneous catalyst (e.g. metals or oxides used in gas reactions).

The catalyst provides an alternative pathway by which the reaction can proceed, in which the activation energy is lower. In thus increases the rate at which the reaction comes to an equilibrium, although it does not alter the position of the equilibrium.

chemical equation    →   kemijska jednadžba

Chemical equation is a way of denoting a chemical reaction using the symbol for the participating particles (atoms, molecules, ions, etc.); for example,

The single arrow is used for an irreversible reaction; double arrows are used for reversible reactions. When reactions involve different phases, it is usual to put the phase in brackets after the symbol.

The numbers a, b, c, and d, showing the relative numbers of molecules reacting, are called the stoichiometric coefficients. The convention is that stoichiometric coefficients are positive for reactants and negative for products. If the sum of the coefficients is zero, the equation is balanced.

coherence    →   koherentnost

If two overlapping light waves are to interfere detectably, the phase difference between them must remain constant with time, i.e. the waves must be coherent.

emulsion    →   emulzija

Emulsion is a colloidal system in which the dispersed and continuous phases are both liquids (e.g. oil in water or water in oil). Such systems require an emulsifying agent to stabilize the dispersed particles.

chromatography    →   kromatografija

Chromatography is a method of separation of the components of a sample in which the components are distributed between two phases, one of which is stationary while the other moves. In gas chromatography, the gas moves over a liquid or solid stationary phase. In liquid chromatography, the liquid mixture moves through another liquid, a solid, or a gel. The mechanism of separation of components may be adsorption, differential solubility, ion-exchange, permeation, or other mechanisms.

Clapeyron equation    →   Clapeyronova jednadžba

Clapeyron equation (also called the Clausius-Clapeyron equation) is a relation between pressure and temperature of two phases of a pure substance that are in equilibrium,

where Δ_trsS is the difference in entropy between the phases and Δ_trsV the corresponding difference in volume.

colloid    →   koloid

Colloids are systems in which there are two or more phases, with one (the dispersed phase) distributed in the other (the continuous phase). Moreover, at least one of the phases has small dimensions, in the range between 1 nm and 1 μm (10^-9 m – 10^-6 m). Dimension, rather than the nature of the material, is characteristic. In this size range, the surface area of the particle is large with respect to its volume so that unusual phenomena occur, e.g., the particles do not settle out of the suspension by gravity and are small enough to pass through filter membranes. Macromolecules (proteins and other high polymers) are at the lower limit of this range; the upper limit is usually taken to be the point at which the particles can be resolved in an optical microscope.

Colloidal particles may be gaseous, liquid, or solid, and occur in various types of suspensions:

Sols - dispersions of small solid particles in a liquid.

Emulsions - colloidal systems in which the dispersed and continuous phases are both liquids.

Gels - colloids in which both dispersed and continuous phases have a three-dimensional network throughout the material.

Aerosols - colloidal dispersions of liquid or solid particles in a gas.

Foams - dispersions of gases in liquids or solids.

eutectic    →   eutektik

Eutectic is a solid solution consisting of two or more substances and having the lowest freezing point of any possible mixture of these components.

Eutectic point is the lowest temperature at which the eutectic mixture can exist in a liquid phase. A liquid having the eutectic composition will freeze at a single temperature without a change of composition.