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catchment area

(Encyclopedia)catchment area or drainage basin, area drained by a stream or other body of water. The limits of a given catchment area are the heights of land—often called drainage divides, or watersheds—separat...

carbide

(Encyclopedia)carbide, any one of a group of compounds that contain carbon and one other element that is either a metal, boron, or silicon. Generally, a carbide is prepared by heating a metal, metal oxide, or metal...

sublimation, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)sublimation sŭblĭmāˈshən [key], change of a solid substance directly to a vapor without first passing through the liquid state. The term is also used to describe the reverse process of the gas ch...

solvent

(Encyclopedia)solvent, constituent of a solution that acts as a dissolving agent. In solutions of solids or gases in a liquid, the liquid is the solvent. In all other solutions (i.e., liquids in liquids or solids i...

hydrogen peroxide

(Encyclopedia)hydrogen peroxide, chemical compound, H2O2, a colorless, syrupy liquid that is a strong oxidizing agent and, in water solution, a weak acid. It is miscible with cold water and is soluble in alcohol an...

borax

(Encyclopedia)borax or sodium tetraborate decahydrate sōˈdēəm tĕˌtrəbôrˈāt dĕkˌəhīˈdrāt [key], chemical compound, Na2B4O7·10H2O; sp. gr. 1.73; slightly soluble in cold water; very soluble in hot wa...

stalactite and stalagmite

(Encyclopedia)stalactite stəlăgˈmīt [key], mineral forms often found in caves; sometimes collectively called dripstone. A stalactite is an icicle-shaped mass of calcite attached to the roof of a limestone caver...

compound

(Encyclopedia)compound, in chemistry, a substance composed of atoms of two or more elements in chemical combination, occurring in a fixed, definite proportion and arranged in a fixed, definite structure. A compound...

Ames

(Encyclopedia)Ames, city (2020 pop. 66,427), Story co., central Iowa, on the Skunk River; inc. 1870. Its chief manufactures are electronic, water-analysis, and water-treatment equipment; motor vehicles;...

Kensico Reservoir

(Encyclopedia)Kensico Reservoir kĕnˈzĭkō [key], c.4 sq mi (10 sq km), SE N.Y., N of White Plains, formed by Kensico Dam (completed 1915) on the Bronx River. A principal unit in the New York City water supply sy...