Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

surface chemistry

(Encyclopedia)surface chemistry, study of chemical reactions in which the reactants are first adsorbed onto a surface medium (see adsorption) that then acts as a catalyst for the reaction; after the reaction the pr...

physical chemistry

(Encyclopedia)physical chemistry, branch of science that combines the principles and methods of physics and chemistry. It provides a fundamental theoretical and experimental basis for all of chemistry, including or...

organic chemistry

(Encyclopedia)organic chemistry, branch of chemistry dealing with the compounds of carbon. While it is only the fourteenth most common element on earth, carbon forms by far the greatest number of different compound...

organometallic chemistry

(Encyclopedia)organometallic chemistry, the reactions and use of a class of compounds (R-M) that contain a covalent bond between carbon and metal. They are prepared either by direct reaction of the metal with an or...

common-ion effect

(Encyclopedia)common-ion effect, decrease in solubility of an ionic salt, i.e., one that dissociates in solution into its ions, caused by the presence in solution of another solute that contains one of the same ion...

Maurer, Ion Gheorghe

(Encyclopedia)Maurer, Ion Gheorghe yôn gāôrˈgā [key], 1902–2000, Romanian statesman. A lawyer, he defended Romanian Communists in the 1930s and later became (1945) a member of the central committee of the Co...

Caragiale, Ion Luca

(Encyclopedia)Caragiale, Ion Luca yŏn lo͞oˈkä käräjäˈlĭ [key], 1853–1912, Romanian playwright and author. Romania's foremost dramatist, his works sharply satirized Romanian society. His masterpiece, A Lo...

Browse by Subject