Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

common-ion effect

(Encyclopedia)common-ion effect, decrease in solubility of an ionic salt, i.e., one that dissociates in solution into its ions, caused by the presence in solution of another solute that contains one of the same ion...

English units of measurement

(Encyclopedia)English units of measurement, principal system of weights and measures used in a few nations, the only major industrial one being the United States. It actually consists of two related systems—the U...

Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich

(Encyclopedia)Mendeleev, Dmitri Ivanovich mĕndəlāˈəf, Rus. dəmēˈtrē ēväˈnəvĭch myĭndyĭlyāˈəf [key], 1834–1907, Russian chemist. He is famous for his formulation (1869) of the periodic law and t...

Priscian

(Encyclopedia)Priscian (Priscianus Caesariensis) prĭshˈən [key], fl. 500, Latin grammarian, b. Caesarea in Mauretania. Priscian taught grammar at Constantinople. His Commentarii grammatici, in 18 books, was long...

candle, unit of luminous intensity

(Encyclopedia)candle, in weights and measures, unit of luminous intensity; it is defined as 1⁄60 of the intensity of a blackbody, or ideal radiator, at the temperature at which platinum solidifies (2,046K). The...

Guillaume, Charles Édouard

(Encyclopedia)Guillaume, Charles Édouard shärl ādwärˈ gēyōmˈ [key], 1861–1938, Swiss physicist and metrologist, Ph.D. Zürich Polytechnic (now the Federal Institute of Technology), 1882. Guillaume joined ...

Saint-Cloud

(Encyclopedia)Saint-Cloud săN-klo͞oˈ [key], town (1990 est. pop. 28,673), Hauts-de-Seine dept., N central France, a suburb W of Paris on the Seine River. It is a residential town and resort, with a famous racetr...

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...

Browse by Subject