Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

472 results found

Wind Cave National Park

(Encyclopedia)Wind Cave National Park, 28,295 acres (11,459 hectares), in the Black Hills, SW S.Dak.; est. 1903. Wind Cave, discovered in 1881, was named for the strong air currents that blow alternately in and out...

liter

(Encyclopedia)liter, abbr. l, unit of volume in the metric system, defined since 1964 as equal to 0.001 cubic meters, or 1 cubic decimeter. A cube that has each of its edges equal to 10 centimeters has a volume of ...

Valparaiso, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Valparaiso vălpərāˈzō [key], city (1990 pop. 24,414), seat of Porter co., NW Ind.; inc. 1850. There is popcorn processing, tool and die making, and the manufacture of metal products, liquid ferti...

soman

(Encyclopedia)soman, colorless liquid used as a nerve gas. It boils at 167℃, evolving an odorless vapor. It is rapidly absorbed through the skin; death may result within 15 min of exposure. In nonfatal concentrat...

chloroprene

(Encyclopedia)chloroprene klōrˈəprēnˌ [key] or 2-chloro-1,3-butadiene, colorless liquid organic compound used in the synthesis of neoprene and certain other rubbers. The structure of the chloroprene molecule i...

cyclohexane

(Encyclopedia)cyclohexane sīˌkləhĕkˈsān [key], C6H12, colorless liquid hydrocarbon. It is a cyclic alkane that melts at 6℃ and boils at 81℃. It is nearly insoluble in water. Cyclohexane is found naturally...

diphosgene

(Encyclopedia)diphosgene dīˌfŏzˈjēn [key], colorless liquid developed as a military poison. It boils at 128℃; its vapors have the odor of phosgene. Diphosgene is a lung irritant but is only slightly lachrima...

encaustic

(Encyclopedia)encaustic, painting medium in which the binder for the pigment is wax or wax and resin. Examples of encaustic tomb portraits from Roman Egypt bear witness to the durability of the medium, which is tho...

hydraulic machine

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Hydraulic pressure: In any hydraulic device the pressure exerted by one piston is transmitted throughout the fluid. Since pressure equals force divided by area, a small force (F1) exerted on a ...

sewerage

(Encyclopedia)sewerage, system for the removal and disposal of chiefly liquid wastes and of rainwater, which are collectively called sewage. The average person in the industrialized world produces between 60 and 14...