Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

120 results found

Bessemer process

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Bessemer converter Bessemer process bĕsˈəmər [key] [for Sir Henry Bessemer], industrial process for the manufacture of steel from molten pig iron. The principle involved is that of oxidati...

chromium

(Encyclopedia)chromium krōˈmēəm [key] [Gr.,=color], metallic chemical element; symbol Cr; at. no. 24; at. wt. 51.9961; m.p. about 1,857℃; b.p. 2,672℃; sp. gr. about 7.2 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, +6. Chromiu...

chain reaction

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Chain reaction: A neutron (n) strikes the uranium nucleus (U-235), causing it to split into fission products A and B and release two neutrons. These neutrons can in turn cause further fissions....

fugitive slave laws

(Encyclopedia)fugitive slave laws, in U.S. history, the federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves. Similar laws existing in both North and South in colonial days ...

gasoline

(Encyclopedia)gasoline or petrol, light, volatile mixture of hydrocarbons for use in the internal-combustion engine and as an organic solvent, obtained primarily by fractional distillation and “cracking” of pet...

arsenic

(Encyclopedia)arsenic ärˈsənĭk [key], a semimetallic chemical element; symbol As; at. no. 33; at. wt. 74.92160; m.p. 817℃ (at 28 atmospheres pressure); sublimation point 613℃; sp. gr. (stable form) 5.73; va...

lithium

(Encyclopedia)lithium lĭthˈēəm [key] [Gr.,=stone], metallic chemical element; symbol Li; at. no. 3; interval in which at. wt. ranges 6.938–6.997; m.p. about 180.54℃; b.p. about 1,342℃; sp. gr. .534 at 20�...

carbon monoxide

(Encyclopedia)carbon monoxide, chemical compound, CO, a colorless, odorless, tasteless, extremely poisonous gas that is less dense than air under ordinary conditions. It is very slightly soluble in water and burns ...

Whittier, John Greenleaf

(Encyclopedia)Whittier, John Greenleaf hwĭtˈēər [key], 1807–92, American Quaker poet and reformer, b. near Haverhill, Mass. Whittier was a pioneer in regional literature as well as a crusader for many humanit...

diesel engine

(Encyclopedia)diesel engine, type of internal-combustion engine invented by the German engineer Rudolf Diesel and patented by him in 1892. Although his engine was designed to use coal dust as fuel, the diesel engin...