Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Orekhovo-Zuyevo

(Encyclopedia)Orekhovo-Zuyevo əryĕˈkhəvə-zo͞oˈyĭvə [key], city (1989 pop. 137,000), W central European Russia, on the Klyazma River. There is a large textile industry (dating from the 18th cent.) and a maj...

Cheremkhovo

(Encyclopedia)Cheremkhovo chĕrĭmkôˈvə [key], city (1989 pop. 74,000), SE Siberian Russia, on the Trans-Siberian RR. The center of the Cheremkhovo coal basin, the city forms part of a minor industrial complex b...

Kotka

(Encyclopedia)Kotka kōtˈkä [key], city (1998 pop. 55,551), Southern Finland prov., SE Finland, on the Gulf of Finland. It is a major export center for paper, pulp, and timber, and it has chemical industries. It ...

Kruševac

(Encyclopedia)Kruševac kro͞oˈshĕväts [key], town (1991 pop. 58,808), Serbia. A commercial center, it has a hydroelectric plant and an important chemical industry. The seat of the kings of Serbia until 1389, it...

Bobruysk

(Encyclopedia)Bobruysk bəbro͞oˈēsk [key], Belarusian Babruysk, city, central Belarus, a port on the Ber...

caustic

(Encyclopedia)caustic, any strongly corrosive chemical substance, especially one that attacks organic matter. A caustic alkali is a metal hydroxide, especially that of an alkali metal; caustic soda is sodium hydrox...

Pontoise

(Encyclopedia)Pontoise pôNtwäzˈ [key], city (1990 pop. 28,463), capital of Val-d'Oise dept., N central France. It is the site of a technical school. The metallurgy and chemical industries are important. A “new...

sodium hydroxide

(Encyclopedia)sodium hydroxide, chemical compound, NaOH, a white crystalline substance that readily absorbs carbon dioxide and moisture from the air. It is very soluble in water, alcohol, and glycerin. It is a caus...

C, letter of the alphabet

(Encyclopedia)C, third letter of the alphabet. In position and form, but not in meaning, it corresponds to Greek gamma (see G). In English it is pronounced variously, e.g., in can, cent, church, and loch. In musica...

rare earths

(Encyclopedia)rare earths, in chemistry, oxides of the rare-earth metals. They were once thought to be elements themselves. They are widely distributed in the earth's crust and are fairly abundant, although they we...