Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Epsom salts

(Encyclopedia)Epsom salts, common name for magnesium sulfate heptahydrate, MgSO4·7H2O, a water-soluble bitter-tasting compound that occurs as white or colorless needle-shaped crystals. It was first prepared from t...

superphosphate

(Encyclopedia)superphosphate or superphosphate of lime, Ca(H2PO4)2, is a compound produced by treating rock phosphate with sulfuric acid or phosphoric acid, or a mixture of the two. It is the principal carrier of p...

Soddy, Frederick

(Encyclopedia)Soddy, Frederick sŏdˈē [key], 1877–1956, English chemist. He worked under Lord Rutherford at McGill Univ. and with Sir William Ramsay at the Univ. of London. After serving (1910–14) as lecturer...

saccharin

(Encyclopedia)saccharin săkˈərĭn [key], C7H5NSO3, white, crystalline, aromatic compound. It was discovered accidentally by I. Remsen and C. Fahlberg in 1879. Pure saccharin tastes several hundred times as sweet...

turpentine

(Encyclopedia)turpentine, yellow to brown semifluid oleoresin exuded from the sapwood of pines, firs, and other conifers. It is made up of two principal components, an essential oil and a type of resin that is call...

Pyinmana

(Encyclopedia)Pyinmana pyĭnˈmänäˌ [key], town and township (1983 pop. 52,962), Naypyidaw union territory, S central Myanmar, 55 mi (89 km) NNW of Toungoo. Pyinmana is located on the Yangon–Mandalay railroad ...

gum, colloidal plant substance

(Encyclopedia)gum, term commonly applied to any of a wide variety of colloidal substances somewhat similar in appearance and general characteristics, exuded by or extracted from plants. In this classification, howe...

lignin

(Encyclopedia)lignin lĭgˈnĭn [key], a highly polymerized and complex chemical compound especially common in woody plants. The cellulose walls of the wood become impregnated with lignin, a process called lignific...

Buena Park

(Encyclopedia)Buena Park bwāˈnə [key], city (2020 pop. 84,034), Orange co., S Calif.; inc. 1953. Food pr...

Moore, Henry

(Encyclopedia)Moore, Henry, 1898–1986, English sculptor. Moore's early sculpture was angular and rough, strongly influenced by pre-Columbian art. About 1928 he evolved a more personal style which has gained him a...