Fritz Haber (1868-1934) is German physical chemist, winner of the Nobel Prize for Chemistry (1918) for his development of a method of synthesizing ammonia. With Carl Bosch, he invented a process for the large-scale production of ammonia for use in nitrogen fertilizer.
Haber process is an industrial process for producing ammonia by reaction of nitrogen with hydrogen:
The reaction is reversible and exothermic, so that a high yield of ammonia is favoured by low temperature. However, the rate of reaction would be too slow for equilibrium to be reached at normal temperatures, so an optimum temperature of about 450 °C is used, with a catalyst of iron containing potassium aluminium oxide promoters. The higher the pressure the greater the yield, although there are technical difficulties in using very high pressures. A pressure of about 250 atmospheres is commonly employed. The removal of ammonia from the batch as soon as it is formed ensures that an equilibrium favouring product formation is maintained. The nitrogen is obtained from air. Formerly, the hydrogen was from water gas and the water-gas shift reaction (the Bosch process) but now the raw material (called synthesis gas) is obtained by steam reforming natural gas.
The process is of immense importance for the fixation of nitrogen for fertilisers and explosives. It was developed in 1908 by German chemist Fritz Haber (1868-1934) and was developed for industrial use by Carl Bosch (1874-1940), hence the alternative name Haber-Bosch process.
Born-Haber cycle is a cycle of reactions used for calculating the lattice energies of ionic crystalline solids. For a compound MX, the lattice energy is the enthalpy of the reaction
The standard enthalpy of formation of the ionic solid is the enthalpy of the reaction
The cycle involves equating this enthalpy (which can be measured) to the sum of the enthalpies of a number of steps proceeding from the elements to the ionic solid. The steps are:
1) Atomization of the metal
2) Atomization of the nonmetal
3) Ionisation of the metal
This is obtained from the ionisation potential.
4) Ionisation of the nonmetal
This is electron affinity.
5) Formation of the ionic solids
Equation of the enthalpies gives
from which ΔHL can be found.
Acheson process is an industrial process to synthesize graphite and silicon carbide (carborundum), named after its inventor the American chemist Edward Goodrich Acheson (1856-1931). In this process, a solid-state reaction between pure silica sand (SiO2) and petroleum coke (C) at very high temperature (more than 2500 °C) leads to the formation of silicon carbide under the general reaction:
While studying the effects of high temperature on carborundum, Acheson had found that silicon vaporizes at about 4150 °C, leaving behind graphitic carbon.
Autocatalysis is a reaction in which its product can act as a catalyst. Oxalate oxidation with permanganate in an acid solution is a slow reaction
Mn2+-ions catalyse this reaction. When enough Mn2+-ions are created, the reaction occurs instantly.
Bronze is an alloy made primarily of copper and tin. It may contain as much as 25 % tin. Bronzes with 10 % or more tin are harder, stronger, and resistant to corrosion. As bronze weathers, a brown or green film forms on the surface. This film inhibits corrosion. Silicon or aluminium is often added to bronze to improve resistance to corrosion. Phosphorus, lead, zinc, and other metals may be added for special purposes. The alloy is hard and easily cast and is extensively used in bearings, valves and other machine parts.
Bronze was one of the first alloys developed by ancient metal workers. The Bronze Age occurred in Europe around 2200 to 700 BC. Bronze was used for weapons such as spearheads, swords, and knives. Since ancient times, bronze has been the most popular metal for casting statues and other art objects.
The term bronze has been adopted commercially for many copper-rich alloys that contain little or no tin but are similar in colour to bronze, including aluminium bronze, manganese bronze, and silicon bronze. Aluminium bronze is used to make tools and, because it will not spark when struck. Manganese bronze is actually a brass that contains manganese. It is often used to make ship propellers because it is strong and resists corrosion by sea water.
Néel temperature (TN) is the critical temperature above which an antiferromagnetic substance becomes paramagnetic. The phenomenon was discovered around 1930 by the French physicist L.E.F. Néel (1904-2000).
Calomel electrode is a type of half cell in which the electrode is mercury coated with calomel (Hg2Cl2) and the electrolyte is a solution of potassium chloride and saturated calomel. In the calomel half cell the overall reaction is
Table: Dependence of potential of calomel electrode upon temperature and concentration of KCl according to standard hydrogen electrode
Potential vs. SHE / V | |||
---|---|---|---|
t / °C | 0.1 mol dm-3 | 3.5 mol dm-3 | sat. solution |
15 | 0.3362 | 0.254 | 0.2511 |
20 | 0.3359 | 0.252 | 0.2479 |
25 | 0.3356 | 0.250 | 0.2444 |
30 | 0.3351 | 0.248 | 0.2411 |
35 | 0.3344 | 0.246 | 0.2376 |
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid with 2-deoxy-D-ribose as the sugar in its nucleotides. DNA contains encoded genetic information, specifically templates for the synthesis of all of an organism’s proteins and enzymes.
DNA was first identified in the 1869 by Swiss chemist Friedrich Miescher (1844-1895). In 1953, American biologist James Dewey Watson (1928-) and English physicist Francis Harry Compton Crick (1916–2004) had discovered that DNA occurs in the cell as a double helix, with two long strands of the molecule wound around each other, and further that the chemical structure of the molecule dictates that adenine (A) always aligns or pairs with thymine (T), and cytosine (C) always pairs with guanine (G). It is this base pairing that allows DNA in a cell to copy itself, and transfer its information to a new cell. The diameter of the helix is 2.0 nm and there is a residue on each chain every 0.34 nm in the z direction. The angle between each residue on the same strand is 36°, so that the structure repeats after 10 residues (3.4 nm) on each strand.
Generalic, Eni. "Haber%2C Fritz." Croatian-English Chemistry Dictionary & Glossary. 29 June 2022. KTF-Split. {Date of access}. <https://glossary.periodni.com>.
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