Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

chemical bond

(Encyclopedia)chemical bond, mechanism whereby atoms combine to form molecules. There is a chemical bond between two atoms or groups of atoms when the forces acting between them are strong enough to lead to the for...

Miami, University of

(Encyclopedia)Miami, University of, main campus at Coral Gables, Fla.; partly supported by city, county, and state; coeducational; chartered 1925, opened 1926. Notable programs include a school of marine and atmosp...

games, theory of

(Encyclopedia)games, theory of, group of mathematical theories first developed by John Von Neumann and Oskar Morgenstern. A game consists of a set of rules governing a competitive situation in which from two to n i...

quantum field theory

(Encyclopedia)quantum field theory, study of the quantum mechanical interaction of elementary particles and fields. Quantum field theory applied to the understanding of electromagnetism is called quantum electrodyn...

stereochemistry

(Encyclopedia)stereochemistry, study of the three-dimensional configuration of the atoms that make up a molecule and the ways in which this arrangement affects the physical and chemical properties of the molecule. ...

buckminsterfullerene

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Buckminsterfullerene buckminsterfullerene bŭkˌmĭnstərfo͝olˈərēnˌ, –fo͝olˌərēnˈ [key] or buckyball, C60, hollow cage carbon molecule named for R. Buckminster Fuller because of t...

hydrocarbon

(Encyclopedia)hydrocarbon hīˌdrōkärˈbən [key], any organic compound composed solely of the elements hydrogen and carbon. The hydrocarbons differ both in the total number of carbon and hydrogen atoms in their ...

Browse by Subject