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formic acid

(Encyclopedia)formic acid or methanoic acid mĕthˌənōˈĭk [key], HCO2H, a colorless, corrosive liquid with a sharp odor; it boils at 100.7℃ and solidifies at 8.4℃. It has the lowest molecular weight and is ...

iron lung

(Encyclopedia)iron lung, device used to maintain artificial respiration over an extended period of time. Before the successful vaccination program against poliomyelitis, it was used mostly in treatment of that dise...

Dumfries, town, Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Dumfries dəmfrēsˈ [key], town, Dumfries and Galloway, SW Scotland, on the Nith River. The ...

chalk

(Encyclopedia)chalk, mineral of calcium carbonate, similar in composition to limestone, but softer. It is characteristically a marine formation and sometimes occurs in great thickness; the chief constituents of the...

polyurethanes

(Encyclopedia)polyurethanes pŏlˌēyo͝orˈəthānz [key], group of plastics that may be either thermosetting or thermoplastic. Polyurethane can be made into both flexible and rigid foams. The flexible foam is oft...

tourniquet

(Encyclopedia)tourniquet to͝orˈnĭkĕt, –kā, tûrˈ– [key], compression device used to cut off the flow of blood to a part of the body, most often an arm or leg. It may be a special surgical instrument, a ru...

raft

(Encyclopedia)raft, floating platform of wood, cork, or air-inflated rubber for conveying goods or people. Originally, several logs, bound together by vines, strips of animal skin, and later rope, formed a flat sur...

Swansea, city and county, Wales

(Encyclopedia)Swansea swŏnˈzē, –sē [key], Welsh Abertawe, city (1981 pop. 172,433) and county, 146 sq mi (378 sq km), S Wales. Located on Swansea Bay at the mouth of the Tawe River, the city of Swansea is a m...

Tempe

(Encyclopedia)Tempe tĕmˈpē [key], city (1990 pop. 141,865), Maricopa co., S Ariz., in the Salt River valley, a suburb of Phoenix; inc. 1894. Its population has grown markedly since the 1970s with the expansion o...

Zamboanga

(Encyclopedia)Zamboanga sāmˌbōängˈgä [key], city (1990 pop. 442,345), Zamboanga del Sur prov., SW Mindanao, the Philippines, at the tip of the Zamboanga peninsula, on Basilan Strait. One of the chief cities o...