CHEMISTRY GLOSSARY

fission    →   fisija

Fission is a nuclear reaction in which an atomic nucleus breaks into smaller nuclei of comparable mass, releasing a large amount of energy.

seaborgium    →   seaborgij

Seaborgium was discovered by workers at the Nuclear Institute at Dubna (USSR) and by workers at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) in 1974. Named in honour of Glenn T. Seaborg, American nuclear chemist and Nobel prize winner. It is synthetic radioactive metal. Seaborgium was made by bombarding californium-249 with oxygen-18.

Haber process    →   Haberov proces

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.

poison    →   otrov

Poisons are substance, which upon contact or being introduced into an organism, impair or prevent normal metabolic processes from taking place, thus altering the normal functioning of organs or tissues.

Poisons are molecules or material that tends to collect on a catalyst surface, blocking access to active sites or destroying their activities.

Poisons are substance that can reduce a nuclear reaction by absorbing neutrons, thereby preventing more fission. If enough poisons are present in a reactor core, the chain reaction will die out.

polonium    →   polonij

Polonium was discovered by Marie Curie (Poland) in 1898. Named for Poland, native country of Marie Curie. It is silvery-grey, extremely rare, radioactive metal. Soluble in dilute acids. Highly toxic. Severe radiotoxicity. Carcinogen. Polonium occurs in pitchblende. Produced by bombarding bismuth with neutrons. Used in industrial equipment that eliminates static electricity caused by such processes as rolling paper, wire and sheet metal.

potential energy    →   potencijalna energija

Potential energy (E_p) is the energy stored in a body or system as a consequence of its position, shape, or state (this includes gravitation energy, electrical energy, nuclear energy, and chemical energy). Gravitational potential energy is the energy associated with the state of separation between bodies that attracts each other via gravitational force. Elastic potential energy is the energy associated with the state of compression or extension of an elastic object. Thermal energy is associated with the random motions of atoms and molecules in a body.

promethium    →   prometij

Promethium was discovered by J. A. Marinsky, Lawrence Glendenin and Charles D. Coryell (USA) in 1945. Named after Prometheus in Greek mythology, who stole fire from the gods. It is rare earth metal of synthetic origin on the earth, naturally made in stars. Poison. Radiotoxic. Radioactive. Promethium does not occur naturally. Found among fission products of uranium, thorium and plutonium. It has been used as a source of radioactivity for thickness-measuring gages.

rutherfordium    →   ruthefordij

Rutherfordium was discovered by workers at the Nuclear Institute at Dubna (USSR) and by workers at the University of California, Berkeley (USA) in 1964. Name in honour of Lord Rutherford, the physicist and chemist from New Zealand. It is synthetic radioactive metal. Rutherfordium was made by bombarding californium-249 with beams of carbon-12 and 13. Six isotopes of rutherfordium have so far been identified. Rutherfordium-261, the longest-lived, has a half-life of 62 seconds.

spin    →   spin

Spin is the intrinsic angular momentum of an elementary particle, or system of particles such as nucleus, that is also responsible for the magnetic moment; or, a particle or nucleus possessing such a spin. The spins of nuclei have characteristic fixed values. Pairs of neutrons and protons align to cancel out their spins, so that nuclei with an odd number of neutrons and/or protons will have a net non-zero rotational component characterized by a non-zero quantum nuclear spin number.

Stern-Gerlach experiment: a beam of silver atoms is split into two beams when it traverses a nonuniform magnetic field. Atoms with spin quantum number m_s=+1/2 follow one trajectory, and those with m_s=+1/2 follow another.

ununquadium    →   ununkvadij

The discovery of ununquadium was reported informally in January 1999 following experiments towards the end of December 1998 involving scientists at Dubna (Joint Institute for Nuclear Research) in Russia and the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, USA. The new element has not yet been officially named, but it is known as ununquadium, according to the system designated by the IUPAC for naming new elements. It is synthetic radioactive metal. Only few atoms of element 114 (²⁸⁹114) has ever been made (through a nuclear reaction involving fusing a calcium atom with a plutonium atom) isolation of an observable quantity has never been achieved.