CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

Fajans’ rules    →   Fajansova pravila

Fajans’ rules, formulated by American chemist of Polish origin. Kazimierz Fajans (1887-1975), indicating the extent to which an ionic bond has covalent character caused by polarisation of the ions. Covalent character is more likely if:

1. the charge of the ions is high;

2. the positive ion is small or the negative ion is large;

3. the positive ion has an outer electron configuration that is not a noble- gas configuration.

flashback    →   uskakanje plamena

Flashback occurs when the flame in a gas torch burns back into the torch or hose; this is often accompanied by a hissing or squealing sound, and a pointed or smoky flame.

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.

gunpowder    →   barut

Gunpowder (black powder) is a low explosive composed of potassium nitrate, sulphur and charcoal. Typical proportions are 6:1:1.

heat of sublimation    →   toplina sublimacije

Heat of sublimation or enthalpy of sublimation is the energy required to convert one mole of a substance from the solid to the gas state (sublimation) without the appearance of the liquid state.

equilibrium constant    →   konstanta ravnoteže

The equilibrium constant (K) was originally introduced in 1863 by Norwegian chemists C.M. Guldberg and P. Waage using the law of mass action. For a reversible chemical reaction represented by the equation

chemical equilibrium occurs when the rate of the forward reaction equals the rate of the back reaction, so that the concentrations of products and reactants reach steady-state values.

The equilibrium constant is the ratio of chemical activities of the species A, B, C, and D at equilibrium.

To a certain approximation, the activities can be replaced by concentrations.

For gas reactions, partial pressures are used rather than concentrations

The units of K_p and K_c depend on the numbers of molecules appearing in the stoichiometric equation (a, b, c, and d).

The value equilibrium constant depends on the temperature. If the forward reaction is exothermic, the equilibrium constant decreases as the temperature rises. The equilibrium constant shows the position of equilibrium. A low value of K indicates that [C] and [D] are small compared to [A] and [B]; i.e. that the back reaction predominates.

The equilibrium constant is related to Δ_rG°, the standard Gibbs free energy change in the reaction, by

heat of vaporisation    →   toplina isparavanja

Heat of vaporisation or enthalpy of vaporisation is the heat required to convert a substance from the liquid to the gaseous state with no temperature change (also called latent heat of vaporization).

irreversible process    →   ireverzibilni proces

If a system is taken from one state to another but cannot be brought back to the same initial state, then the process is called irreversible. Some examples are free expansion of a gas; dissipation of energy due to friction, or the mixing of two gases or liquids etc.

fatty acid    →   masna kiselina

Fatty acids are aliphatic monocarboxylic acids characterized by a terminal carboxyl group (R-COOH). The higher members of this series of acids occur in nature in the combined form of esters of glycerol (fats), and hence all acids of this family are called fatty acids. Natural fatty acids commonly have a chain of 4 to 28 carbons (usually unbranched and even-numbered), which may be saturated or unsaturated. The most important of saturated fatty acids are butyric (C4), lauric (C12), palmitic (C16), and stearic (C18). The most common unsaturated acids are oleic, linoleic, and linolenic (all C18).

The physical properties of fatty acids are determined by the chain length, degree of unsaturation, and chain branching. Short-chain acids are pungent liquids, soluble in water. As the chain length increases, melting points are raised and water-solubility decreases. Unsaturation and chain branching tend to lower melting points.

filtration    →   filtriranje

Filtration is a procedure in which liquids are separated from the precipitate by passing a suspension through the filter. The precipitate remains on the filter and through it the filtrate passes. Gaseous heterogeneous mixtures can also be filtrated.