CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

actinium    →   aktinij

Actinium was discovered by André Debierne (France) in 1899. The origin of the name comes from the Greek word aktinos meaning ray. It is heavy, silvery-white, very radioactive metal. Reacts with water. Glows in the dark. Actinium is extremely rare, found in all uranium ores. Usually obtained by treating radium with neutrons in a reactor.

activated charcoal    →   aktivni ugljen

Activated charcoal or activated carbon is charcoal that has been activated for adsorption by steaming or by heating in a vacuum. Charcoal is obtained by burning wood, nutshells, coconut husks or other materials. Charcoal becomes activated by heating it with steam to approximately 1000 °C in the absence of oxygen.

The chemical nature of amorphous carbon, combined with a high surface area makes it an ideal medium for the adsorption of organic chemicals. A single gram of such material can have 400 m² to 1 200 m² square meters of surface area. Activated charcoal is widely used to decolorize liquids, recover solvents, and remove toxins from water and air.

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.

anion    →   anion

Anion is a negatively charged atomic or molecular particle.

anion exchange    →   anionski izmjenjivač

An anionic resin has negative ions built into its structure and therefore exchanges positive ions. In an anion exchange, the side groups are ionised basic groups, such as (-NH₂, -NRH, -NR₂, -NR₃⁺) to which anions OH^- are attached. The exchange reaction is one in which different anions in the solution displace the OH^- from the solid.

antacid    →   antacid

Antacid is any mildly alkaline substance, such as sodium bicarbonate, taken internally or in water solution to neutralize excess stomach acidity.

artificial radioactivity    →   umjetna radioaktivnost

Artificial radioactivity is a creation, with the help of an accelerator or in the nuclear reactor, of isotopes (radionuclides) which are found in nature because they are unstable and by radioactive conversion they are converted to stable isotopes.

atomic absorption spectroscopy    →   atomska apsorpcijska spektroskopija

Atomic absorption spectroscopy (AAS) An analytical technique in which a sample is vapourised and the nonexcited atoms absorb electromagnetic radiation at characteristic wavelengths.

activity coefficient    →   koeficijent aktiviteta

Activity coefficient (γ or f) is a fractional number which, when multiplied by the molar concentration of a substance in solution, yields the chemical activity. This term gives an idea of how much interaction exists between molecules at higher concentration.

In solutions of very low ionic strength, when m is less than 0.01, the Debye-Hückel limiting law can be used to calculate approximate activity coefficients

where γ_i = activity coefficient of the species i, z_i = charge on the species i and μ = ionic strength of the solution.

adenosine triphosphate    →   adenozin trifosfat

Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is nucleotide that is of fundamental importance as a carrier of chemical energy in all living organisms. It consists of adenin linked to D-ribose).