Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

propane

(Encyclopedia)propane, CH3CH2CH3, colorless, gaseous alkane. It is readily liquefied by compression and cooling. It melts at −189.9℃ and boils at −42.2℃. Propane occurs in nature in natural gas and (in diss...

Tangshan

(Encyclopedia)Tangshan täng-shän [key], city (1994 est. pop. 1,110,200), NE Hebei prov., China. A coal-mining center in the Kailan basin, Tangshan is a major industrial hub with iron- and steelworks that make it ...

Canadian Pacific Railway

(Encyclopedia)Canadian Pacific Railway, transcontinental transportation system in Canada and extending into the United States, privately owned and operated. The construction of a railroad crossing the continent in ...

Tulsa

(Encyclopedia)Tulsa tŭlˈsə [key], city (2020 pop. 413,066), seat of Tulsa co., NE Okla., on the Arkansas...

Mutare

(Encyclopedia)Mutare o͝omtäˈlē [key], city (1992 est. pop. 131,400), E Zimbabwe, near the Mozambique border. Mutare is the commercial center for a rich agricultural and gold-mining region. Its industries includ...

Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Edmond, city (2020 pop. 94,428), Oklahoma co., central Okla.; settled 1889. It is a trading center with a huge oil field and small industries that manuf...

petrochemical

(Encyclopedia)petrochemical, any one of a large group of chemicals derived from a component of petroleum or natural gas. The cracking processes for manufacturing gasoline produce vast quantities of gaseous hydrocar...

Wakayama

(Encyclopedia)Wakayama wäkäˈyämä [key], city (1990 pop. 396,553), capital of Wakayama prefecture, SW Honshu, Japan, on the Inland Sea. It is a railroad hub and a manufacturing center where petroleum, cotton an...

Boksburg

(Encyclopedia)Boksburg bŏksˈbûrgˌ [key], city, now part of Ekurhuleni metropolitan municipality, Gauteng prov., NE South Africa. It is an important coal-mining center. Some gold mining is still carried on. Manu...

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