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molecular weight

(Encyclopedia)molecular weight, weight of a molecule of a substance expressed in atomic mass units (amu). The molecular weight may be calculated from the molecular formula of the substance; it is the sum of the ato...

electronegativity

(Encyclopedia)electronegativity ĭlĕkˌtrōnĕgətĭvˈətē [key], in chemistry, tendency for an atom to attract a pair of electrons that it shares with another atom (see chemical bond). For example, the molecule...

Chu, Steven

(Encyclopedia)Chu, Steven, 1948–, U.S. physicist and government official, b. St. Louis, Mo., grad. Univ. of Rochester (B.S., A.B. 1970), Univ. of California, Berkeley (Ph.D. 1976). He worked from 1978 at Bell Lab...

aniline

(Encyclopedia)aniline ănˈəlĭn [key], C6H5NH2, colorless, oily, basic liquid organic compound; chemically, a primary aromatic amine whose molecule is formed by replacing one hydrogen atom of a benzene molecule w...

Moerner, W. E.

(Encyclopedia)Moerner, W. E. (William Esco Moerner), 1953–, American physical chemist, b. Pleasanton, Calif., Ph.D. Cornell, 1982. Moerner worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center from 1981 to 1995 and at the Un...

buckminsterfullerene

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Buckminsterfullerene buckminsterfullerene bŭkˌmĭnstərfo͝olˈərēnˌ, –fo͝olˌərēnˈ [key] or buckyball, C60, hollow cage carbon molecule named for R. Buckminster Fuller because of t...

phosphorylation

(Encyclopedia)phosphorylation, chemical process in which a phosphate group is added to an organic molecule. In living cells phosphorylation is associated with respiration, which takes place in the cell's mitochondr...

buckyball

(Encyclopedia)buckyball, colloquial term for buckminsterfullerene, a roughly spherical fullerene molecule consisting of 60 carbon atoms. Buckytube is a generic term for cylindrical fullerenes. ...

denaturation

(Encyclopedia)denaturation, term used to describe the loss of native, higher-order structure of protein molecules in solution. Most globular proteins exhibit complicated three-dimensional folding described as secon...

antibody

(Encyclopedia)antibody, protein produced by the immune system (see immunity) in response to the presence in the body of antigens: foreign proteins or polysaccharides such as bacteria, bacterial toxins, viruses, or ...