CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

levorotatory    →   lijevokretan

Levorotatory is refers to an optically active substance that rotates the plane of plane polarised light counterclockwise.

micelle    →   micele

Micelle is an electrically charged colloidal particle, usually organic in nature, composed of aggregates of large molecules, e.g., in soaps and surfactants. For aqueous solutions, the hydrophilic end of the molecule is on the surface of the micelle, while the hydrophobic end (often a hydrocarbon chain) points toward the centre.

aspartic acid    →   asparaginska kiselina

Aspartic acid is an electrically charged amino acids with acidic side chains. As a group the charged amino acids are relatively abundant and are generally located on the surface of the protein. Aspartic acid and glutamic acid play important roles as general acids in enzyme active centers, as well as in maintaining the solubility and ionic character of proteins. Aspartic acid (sometimes referred to as asparate depending on pH) is non-essential in mammals, being produced from oxaloacetate by transamination.

• Abbreviations: Asp, D
• IUPAC name: 2-aminobutanedioic acid
• Molecular formula: C₄H₇NO₄
• Molecular weight: 133.10 g/mol

biocapacity    →   biokapacitet

Biocapacity (or biological capacity) is the capacity of ecosystems to produce useful biological materials and to absorb carbon dioxide generated by humans, using current management schemes and extraction technologies. Useful biological materials are defined as those used by the human economy, hence what is considered useful can change from year to year. The biocapacity of an area is calculated by multiplying the actual physical area by the yield factor and the appropriate equivalence factor.

Yield factor is a factor that accounts for differences between countries in productivity of a given land type. Each country and each year has yield factors for cropland, grazing land, forest, and fisheries.

Equivalence factor is a productivity based scaling factor that converts a specific land type into a universal unit of biologically productive area, a global hectare (gha).

nascent state    →   nascentno stanje

Nascent state is an especially active state of an element in a moment when it is released from a compound during chemical reaction, e.g. nascent hydrogen.

neoprene    →   neopren

Neoprene is a synthetic rubber made by polymerising the compound 2-chlorobuta-1,2-diene. Neoprene is often used in place of natural rubber in applications requiring resistance to chemical attack.

polyvalent molecule    →   polivalentna molekula

Polyvalent molecule is a molecule which having multiple binding sites. The antibodies of our immune system are one example.

carbon    →   ugljik

Carbon has been known since ancient times. The origin of the name comes from the Latin word carbo meaning charcoal. Graphite form of carbon is a black, odourless, slippery solid. Graphite sublimes at 3825 °C. Diamond form is a clear or colored; an extremely hard solid. C60 is Buckminsterfullerine. Carbon black burns readily with oxidants. Carbon is made by burning organic compounds with insufficient oxygen. There are close to ten million known carbon compounds, many thousands of which are vital to organic and life processes. Radiocarbon dating uses the carbon-14 isotope to date old objects.

chiral molecule    →   kiralne molekule

Chiral molecule is a molecule which cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. A common example is an organic molecule containing a carbon atom to which four different atoms or groups are attached. Such molecules exhibit optical activity, i.e., they rotate the plane of a polarised light beam.

close-packed structure    →   gusta slagalina

Close packing is the packing of spheres so as to occupy the minimum amount of space. The name close packed refers to the packing efficiency of 74.05 %. There are two types of close packing: hexagonal and cubic. One layer, with atoms centered on sites labeled a. Two layers, with the atoms of the second layer centered on sites labeled b. The third layer can be placed on the sites labeled c (giving cubic close-packing) or over those marked a (giving hexagonal close-packing).