Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

438 results found

compound

(Encyclopedia)compound, in chemistry, a substance composed of atoms of two or more elements in chemical combination, occurring in a fixed, definite proportion and arranged in a fixed, definite structure. A compound...

hydraulics

(Encyclopedia)hydraulics, branch of engineering concerned mainly with moving liquids. The term is applied commonly to the study of the mechanical properties of water, other liquids, and even gases when the effects ...

Giauque, William Francis

(Encyclopedia)Giauque, William Francis jēōkˈ [key], 1895–1982, American chemist, b. Niagara Falls, Ont., Canada, grad. Univ. of California (B.S., 1920; Ph.D., 1922). A member of the faculty of the Univ. of Cal...

Newlands, John Alexander Reina

(Encyclopedia)Newlands, John Alexander Reina, 1838–98, British chemist. He studied at the Royal College of Chemistry in London and worked as an industrial chemist. Newlands prepared the first periodic table of el...

Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike

(Encyclopedia)Kamerlingh Onnes, Heike hīˈkə käˈmərlĭng ônˈəs [key], 1853–1926, Dutch physicist. He was, from 1882, professor of physics at the Univ. of Leiden. He made important studies of the propertie...

balata

(Encyclopedia)balata bălˈətə [key], nonelastic natural rubber obtained as a latex from the South American tree Manikara bidentata and from related trees. Its properties are similar to those of gutta-percha, and...

water

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Water molecule (black circles represent valence-shell electrons) B. Structure of ice: Each oxygen atom (white circles) is bonded to four other oxygen atoms by hydrogen bonds, the hydrogen at...

Dewar, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Dewar, Sir James dyo͞oˈər [key], 1842–1923, British chemist and physicist, b. Scotland. He was professor of chemistry (from 1877) at the Royal Institution, London, and later was director of the D...

Iceland spar

(Encyclopedia)Iceland spar, colorless variety of crystallized calcite, characterized by its properties of transparency and double refraction. It is used chiefly in the manufacture of Nicol prisms, which are essenti...

Josephson, Brian David

(Encyclopedia)Josephson, Brian David, 1940–, British physicist, Ph.D. Cambridge, 1964. After several postdoctoral appointments, he joined the faculty at Cambridge in 1974. Josephson was co-recipient, with Leo Esa...