Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

472 results found

air

(Encyclopedia)air: see atmosphere; liquid air; ventilation. ...

Greek fire

(Encyclopedia)Greek fire, a flammable composition believed to have consisted of sulfur, naphtha, and quicklime. Although known in antiquity, it was first employed on a large scale by the Byzantines. Bronze tubes th...

methanol

(Encyclopedia)methanol, methyl alcohol, or wood alcohol, CH3OH, a colorless, flammable liquid that is miscible with water in all proportions. Methanol is a monohydric alcohol. It melts at −97.8℃ and boils at 6...

symmetry

(Encyclopedia)symmetry, generally speaking, a balance or correspondence between various parts of an object; the term symmetry is used both in the arts and in the sciences. In art and design, it is often used in a s...

liniment

(Encyclopedia)liniment, liquid preparation rubbed on skin, used to relieve muscular aches and pains. It contains some substance that when rubbed over the affected part causes mild irritation and often brings more b...

carbon disulfide

(Encyclopedia)carbon disulfide, CS2, liquid organic compound; it is colorless, foul-smelling, flammable, and poisonous. It can be prepared by direct reaction of carbon, e.g., as charcoal, with sulfur. It is a widel...

Rochelle salt

(Encyclopedia)Rochelle salt, colorless to blue-white orthorhombic crystalline salt with a saline, cooling taste. It is also called Seignette salt after Pierre Seignette, an apothecary of La Rochelle, France, who wa...

prism

(Encyclopedia)prism, in optics, a piece of translucent glass or crystal used to form a spectrum of light separated according to colors. Its cross section is usually triangular. The light becomes separated because d...

flint, mineral

(Encyclopedia)flint, variety of quartz that commonly occurs in rounded nodules and whose crystal structure is not visible to the naked eye. Flint is dark gray, smoky brown, or black in color; pale gray flint is cal...

Bentonville

(Encyclopedia)Bentonville, city (2020 pop. 54,164), seat of Benton co., extreme NW Ark., in the Ozark Mts.; settled 1837 and named for Senator Thomas Hart Benton. Loc...

Browse by Subject