Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

dubnium

(Encyclopedia)dubnium do͞obˈnēəm [key], artificially produced radioactive chemical element; symbol Db; at. no. 105; mass number of most stable isotope 268; m.p., b.p., and sp. gr. unknown; valence +5. Situated ...

radium

(Encyclopedia)radium rāˈdēəm [key] [Lat. radius=ray], radioactive metallic chemical element; symbol Ra; at. no. 88; mass number of most stable isotope 226; m.p. 700℃; b.p. 1,140℃; sp. gr. about 6.0; valence...

zirconium

(Encyclopedia)zirconium zərkōˈnēəm [key], metallic chemical element; symbol Zr; at. no. 40; at. wt. 91.224; m.p. about 1,852℃; b.p. 4,377℃; sp. gr. 6.5 at 20℃; valence +2, +3, or +4. Zirconium is a very ...

night blindness

(Encyclopedia)night blindness, inability to see normally in subdued light. It is usually a result of vitamin A deficiency. The rod cells, one of two light-sensitive areas of the retina of the eye, are impaired in t...

Krasnoyarsk Territory

(Encyclopedia)Krasnoyarsk Territory, administrative division (1989 pop. 3,595,000), c.928,000 sq mi (2,403,520 sq km), central Siberian Russia, extending from the Sayan Mts. and the Minusinsk basin in the south acr...

lanthanum

(Encyclopedia)lanthanum lănˈthənəm [key] [Gr.,=to lie hidden], metallic chemical element; symbol La; at. no. 57; at. wt. 138.90547; m.p. about 920℃; b.p. about 3,460℃; sp. gr. 6.19 at 25℃; valence +3. Lan...

atomic number

(Encyclopedia)atomic number, often represented by the symbol Z, the number of protons in the nucleus of an atom, as well as the number of electrons in the neutral atom. Atoms with the same atomic number make up a c...

yttrium

(Encyclopedia)yttrium ĭtˈrēəm [key] [for Ytterby, a town in Sweden], metallic chemical element; symbol Y; at. no. 39; at. wt. 88.90585; m.p. about 1,522℃; b.p. 3,338℃; sp. gr. about 4.45; valence +3. Yttriu...

sulfide

(Encyclopedia)sulfide, chemical compound containing sulfur and one other element or sulfur and a radical. Sulfides may be salts or esters of hydrogen sulfide, H2S, or may be formed directly, e.g., by heating a meta...

radon

(Encyclopedia)radon rāˈdŏn [key], gaseous radioactive chemical element; symbol Rn; at. no. 86; mass no. of most stable isotope 222; m.p. about −71℃; b.p. −61.8℃; density 9.73 grams per liter at STP; vale...

Browse by Subject