Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

336 results found

mercury poisoning

(Encyclopedia)mercury poisoning, tissue damage resulting from exposure to more than trace amounts of the element mercury or its compounds. Elemental mercury (the silver liquid familiar from thermometers) is the mos...

Krebs cycle

(Encyclopedia)Krebs cycle, series of chemical reactions carried out in the living cell; in most higher animals, including humans, it is essential for the oxidative metabolism of glucose and other simple sugars. The...

moth

(Encyclopedia)moth, any of the large and varied group of insects which, along with the butterflies, make up the order Lepidoptera. The moths comprise the great majority of the 100,000 species of the order, and abou...

antimony

(Encyclopedia)antimony ănˈtĭmōˌnē [key] [Lat. antimoneum], semimetallic chemical element; symbol Sb [Lat. stibium,=a mark]; at. no. 51; at. wt. 121.760; m.p. 630.74℃; b.p. 1,750℃; sp. gr. (metallic form) ...

horseshoe crab

(Encyclopedia)horseshoe crab, large, primitive marine arthropod of the family Limulidae, related to the spider and scorpion and sometimes called a king crab (a name also used for the largest of the edible true crab...

hydrocarbon

(Encyclopedia)hydrocarbon hīˌdrōkärˈbən [key], any organic compound composed solely of the elements hydrogen and carbon. The hydrocarbons differ both in the total number of carbon and hydrogen atoms in their ...

pendulum

(Encyclopedia)pendulum, a mass, called a bob, suspended from a fixed point so that it can swing in an arc determined by its momentum and the force of gravity. The length of a pendulum is the distance from the point...

polymer

(Encyclopedia)CE5 A. Addition polymerization: Two ethylene molecules, C2H4, combine to form two links in the polyethylene chain molecule (C2H4)n. B. Condensation polymerization: Two glycine molecules, NH2CH2COOH...

bow and arrow

(Encyclopedia)bow and arrow, weapon consisting of two parts; the bow is made of a strip of flexible material, such as wood, with a cord linking the two ends of the strip to form a tension from which is propelled th...

Srebrenica

(Encyclopedia)Srebrenica srĕbrĕnētˈsä [key], town, E central Bosnia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, in the Serb Republic of Bosnia Herzegovina. Lead has been mined here and nearby since Roman times, and silver and me...

Browse by Subject