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Gram's stain

(Encyclopedia)Gram's stain, laboratory staining technique that distinguishes between two groups of bacteria by the identification of differences in the structure of their cell walls. The Gram stain, named after its...

mole, in chemistry

(Encyclopedia)mole, in chemistry, a quantity of particles of any type equal to Avogadro's number, or 6.02×1023 particles. One gram-molecular weight of any molecular substance contains exactly one mole of molecules...

molecular modeling

(Encyclopedia)molecular modeling, the computer simulation, by various means, of chemical structures or processes. Special computer-graphics programs can display three-dimensional images of molecular structures and ...

molecular biology

(Encyclopedia)molecular biology, scientific study of the molecular basis of life processes, including cellular respiration, excretion, and reproduction. The term molecular biology was coined in 1938 by Warren Weave...

weight lifting

(Encyclopedia)weight lifting, international sport, also a training technique for athletes in other sports. From the earliest times men have lifted weights as a test of strength. Long popular as a competitive sport ...

atomic weight

(Encyclopedia)atomic weight, mean (weighted average) of the masses of all the naturally occurring isotopes of a chemical element, as contrasted with atomic mass, which is the mass of any individual isotope. Althoug...

combining weight

(Encyclopedia)combining weight, the proportion (by weight) in which a chemical element combines with other elements to form compounds. The determination of combining weights was a very important part of early chemi...

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