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lactic acid

(Encyclopedia)lactic acid, CH3CHOHCO2H, a colorless liquid organic acid. It is miscible with water or ethanol. Lactic acid is a fermentation product of lactose (milk sugar); it is present in sour milk, koumiss, leb...

assaying

(Encyclopedia)assaying əsāˈyĭng, ăsˈāyĭng [key], in metallurgy, process of determining the specific metallic content of an ore, alloy, or other substance, especially one containing precious metals. It consi...

Kapitza, Peter

(Encyclopedia)Kapitza, Peter käˈpētsə [key], 1894–1984, Russian physicist, educated at the polytechnic institute of Petrograd (now St. Petersburg) and at Cambridge. He developed equipment (for a laboratory at...

indigo

(Encyclopedia)indigo [Span.; from Lat.,=Indian], important blue dyestuff used in printing inks and for vat dyeing of cotton (see dye). It was anciently produced in India and was known in Egypt, probably c.1600 b.c....

plaster casting

(Encyclopedia)plaster casting, as a sculpture process, is of three kinds. One employs a waste mold, another a piece mold (both plaster of paris), and the third a gelatin mold; all reproduce the original clay or wax...

pyridine

(Encyclopedia)pyridine ăzˈēn [key], C5H5N, colorless, flammable, toxic liquid with a putrid odor. It melts at −42℃ and boils at 115.5℃. Chemically, it is a heterocyclic aromatic tertiary amine (see under a...

oscilloscope

(Encyclopedia)oscilloscope əsĭlˈəskōpˌ [key], electronic device used to produce visual displays corresponding to electrical signals. Displays of such nonelectrical phenomena as the variations of a sound's int...

benzaldehyde

(Encyclopedia)benzaldehyde bĕnˌzēnkärˈbənəl [key], C6H5CHO, colorless liquid aldehyde with a characteristic almond odor. It boils at 180℃, is soluble in ethanol, but is insoluble in water. It is formed by ...

tetraethyl lead

(Encyclopedia)tetraethyl lead tĕtˌrəĕthˈəl [key], (C2H5)4Pb, viscous, colorless, poisonous liquid. It is an organometallic compound prepared by reacting ethyl chloride with a sodium-lead alloy. When added to ...

Bergius, Friedrich Karl Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Bergius, Friedrich Karl Rudolf, 1884–1949, German chemist, Ph.D. Univ. of Leipzig, 1907. In 1910, Bergius set up a laboratory to carry out his research and in 1914 transferred the operation to the E...