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ethane

(Encyclopedia)ethane ĕthˈān [key], CH3CH3, gaseous hydrocarbon. It is a continuous-chain alkane. As a constituent of natural gas, it is used for fuel. It can be prepared by cracking and fractional distillation o...

Pharr

(Encyclopedia)Pharr fär [key], city (1990 pop. 32,921), Hidalgo co., extreme S Tex.; inc. 1916. It is located in the irrigated region of the lower Rio Grande valley. Transportation equipment and concrete blocks ar...

Wyoming, University of

(Encyclopedia)Wyoming, University of, at Laramie; coeducational; land-grant and state supported; chartered 1886, opened 1887. The Rocky Mt. Herbarium, which has an outstanding collection of plants of the central Ro...

Sulphur, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sulphur, city (1990 pop. 20,125), Calcasieu parish, SW La.; inc. 1914. It is a trade center for an area producing natural gas, oil, and timber as well as sorghum, soybeans, cattle, and crawfish. Indus...

Big Spring

(Encyclopedia)Big Spring, city (2020 pop. 26,144), seat of Howard co., W central Tex.; inc. 1907. The spring for which it was named once fed a branch of the Colorado ...

acetylene

(Encyclopedia)acetylene ĕthˈīn [key], HC≡CH, a colorless gas. It melts at −80.8℃ and boils at −84.0℃. Offensive odors often noted in commercial acetylene are due to impurities. Acetylene forms explosiv...

ammonia

(Encyclopedia)ammonia, chemical compound, NH3, colorless gas that is about one half as dense as air at ordinary temperatures and pressures. It has a characteristic pungent, penetrating odor. Ammonia forms a minute ...

chromatography

(Encyclopedia)chromatography krōˌmətŏgˈrəfē [key], resolution of a chemical mixture into its component compounds by passing it through a system that retards each compound to a varying degree; a system capabl...

skin

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Cross section of skin skin, the flexible tissue (integument) enclosing the body of vertebrate animals. In humans and other mammals, the skin operates a complex organ of numerous structures (so...

Tay-Sachs disease

(Encyclopedia)Tay-Sachs disease tāˈ-săksˈ [key], rare hereditary disease caused by a genetic mutation that leaves the body unable to produce an enzyme necessary for fat metabolism in nerve cells, producing cent...