CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

mean free path    →   srednji slobodni put

Mean free path is the average distance a gas molecule travels between collisions.

melting    →   taljenje

Melting happens when a solid turns into a liquid, most often caused by warming of a solid. An example is ice turning into water. Melting is not the same as dissolving.

mercaptides    →   merkaptidi

Mercaptides are derivatives of mercaptanes in which hydrogen from the SH-group is replaced with a metal atom.

metal hydride    →   metalni hidrid

Metal hydrides are compounds formed of atoms of a metal combined with atoms of hydrogen in which hydrogen has an oxidation number -1.

metalloid    →   polumetal

Metalloid (semimetal) is any of a class of chemical elements intermediate in properties between metals and nonmetals. The classification is not clear cut, but typical metalloids are boron (B), silicon (Si), germanium (Ge), arsenic (As), and tellurium (Te). They are electrical semiconductors and their oxides are amphoteric.

copper    →   bakar

Copper has been known since ancient times. The origin of the name comes from the Latin word cuprum meaning the island of Cyprus famed for its copper mines. It is malleable, ductile, reddish-brown metal. Resistant to air and water. Exposed surfaces form greenish carbonate film. Pure copper occurs rarely in nature. Usually found in sulfides as in chalcopyrite (CuFeS₂), coveline (CuS), chalcosine (Cu₂S) or oxides like cuprite (Cu₂O). Most often used as an electrical conductor. Also used in the manufacture of water pipes. Its alloys are used in jewellery and for coins.

coulomb    →   kulon

Coulomb (C) is the SI unit of electric charge. It is equal to the charge transferred by a current of one ampere in one second (C = A s). The unit was named after the French physicist C. A. Coulomb (1736-1806).

cryogenic fluid    →   kriogenski fluid

Cryogenic fluids are used for accessing low temperatures, usually below -150 °C. Cryogenic temperatures are achieved by the rapid evaporation of volatile liquids. The most common laboratory cryogenic fluids are liquid nitrogen (-196 °C). Nitrogen gas is colorless and odorless. The cloud formed when pouring liquid nitrogen is condensed water vapour from the air, not nitrogen gas.

Dalton’s law    →   Daltonov zakon

Dalton’s law of partial pressure says that the total pressure eof gaseous mixture is equal to the sum of all gases partial pressures which make that mixture on the condition that they do not interact.

For example, if dry oxygen gas at 900 hPa is saturated with water vapor at 56 hPa, the pressure of the wet gas is 956 hPa.

decomposition    →   raspadanje

Decomposition occurs when chemical compounds are broken up into simple molecules, and even as far as their original elements. These processes are normally irreversible. An example of decomposition is when ammonium nitrate is heated. This produces nitrous oxide and water which are unable to recombine.