Table Of ContentTHE FACTS ON FILE
CHEMISTRY
HANDBOOK
Revised Edition
THE FACTS ON FILE
HANDBOOK OF
CHEMISTRY
CHHEANMDIBSOOTRK Y
THRE eDvIiAseGdRA EMdi GtiRoOnUP
THE DIAGRAM GROUP
The Facts On File Chemistry Handbook, Revised Edition
Copyright © 2006, 2001 by Diagram Visual Information Ltd.
Diagram Visual Information Ltd
Editorial directors David Harding, Moira Johnston
Science editor Eleanora von Dehsen
Editors Nancy Bailey, Jean Brady, Paul Copperwaite, Eve Daintith,
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Design production Anthony Atherton, Carole Dease, Oscar Lobban,
Lee Lawrence
Artists Susan Kinsey, Lee Lawrence, Kathleen McDougall
Research Peter Dease, Catherine & Neil McKenna,
Contributors Michael Allaby, Martyn Bramwell, John Daintith,
Trevor Day, John Haywood, Jim Henderson, David Lambert,
Catherine Riches, Dr Robert Youngson
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The Facts on File chemistry handbook / The Diagram Group. —Rev. ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index
ISBN 0-8160-5878-4
I. Chemistry—Handbooks, manuals, etc. I. Diagram Group.
QD65.F33 2006
540—dc22 2005055496
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INTRODUCTION
THE FACTS ON FILE CHEMISTRY HANDBOOK, Revised Edition offers students a full view of this
vital branch of science, in the form of a one-stop reference.
The Revised Edition expands greatly on the information available in the previous edition, with the
inclusion of four new sections—an A–Z of key advances in the field of chemistry; a list of Nobel Prize
winners in chemistry; listings of important science and chemistry associations; and listings of key science
and chemistry Web sites. The biography and chronology sections have been updated and the glossary
expanded to include charts and graphs illustrating important concepts. Finally, the index has been
extended and completely revised to make searching even easier. THE CHEMISTRY HANDBOOK,
Revised Edition features the following components:
GLOSSARY
Almost 1,500 entries, many accompanied by illustrations and now with 14 new large diagrams and
charts, are provided here, to aid students’ understanding of the specialized terminology of chemistry.
BIOGRAPHIES
Biographies of more than 300 people are provided here—not only the giants of chemistry, but also
many of those whose achievements may have gone unnoticed but whose discoveries have pushed
forward the world’s understanding of chemistry. Updated to 2005.
CHRONOLOGY
This section covers 9,000 years of events in the history of chemistry that have influenced our lives
more than wars, political changes, and world rulers. Now extended to 2005.
KEY ADVANCES
This entirely new A–Z list of over 140 important advances in chemistry enables students to find quick
information on who invented or discovered what and when.
NOBEL PRIZE WINNERS
The newly added list of Nobel Prize winners in chemistry is complete to 2005. Each entry includes the
award citation as well as the nationality and dates of birth and death of the winners.
CHARTS & TABLES
This section brings together charts and tables in key areas of chemistry. Nine new pages have been
added in the Revised Edition.
ASSOCIATIONS
This entirely new section provides the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and Web addresses of 30
important associations.
WEB SITES
Another entirely new section, listing 50 selected Web sites for students, teachers, and library patrons.
CONTENTS
SECTION ONE Glossary 7
SECTION TWO Biographies 129
SECTION THREE Chronology 183
SECTION FOUR Key advances 219
SECTION FIVE Nobel Prize winners 229
SECTION SIX Charts & Tables 241
SECTION SEVEN Associations 257
SECTION EIGHT Web sites 261
INDEX 265
SECTION
ONE
GLOSSARY
7
GLOSSARY absolute temperature – actinides
absolute temperature (thermodynamic temperature) Based on absolute zero.
The unit (the kelvin) is 1/273.16 of the temperature of the triple point
of water and is equivalent to one degree Celsius (1°C).
absolute zero The lowest possible temperature. Zero on the Kelvin scale.
abundance A measure of the quantity of a substance occurring in a particular
area (an element in the Earth’s crust or an isotope in a sample of an
element). It is expressed in percentage or parts per million.
Ac Symbol for the element actinium.
accelerator A chemical that increases the rate of a chemical reaction.
accumulator or battery A device that uses chemical energy to store electrical
energy.
acetaldehyde See ethanal.
acetic acid See ethanoic acid.
acetone See propanone.
acetylene See ethyne.
acid Any substance that releases hydrogen ions when added to water. It
has a pH of less than 7.
acid anhydrides Compounds that react with water, forming acids, for
example, the acid anhydride SO that reacts to make the acid H SO .
2 2 4
acid-base reaction An acid and a base react together to form a salt and water
only.
acidic oxide The oxides of nonmetals that form acidic solutions in water. An
acidic oxide reacts with a base to form salt and water only.
acidification The fall in pH in a solution caused by the addition of an acid.
This is seen in nature in the pollution of lakes, rivers, and
groundwater by acid rain.
acid, organic See organic acid.
acid rain A form of pollution where rain dissolves acidic gases (mainly sulfur
dioxide) from the air. Sulfur dioxide is released into the atmosphere
by the burning of fossil fuels.
acid salt A salt of a polybasic acid in which not all the hydrogen atoms have
been replaced by a metal or metal-like group (e.g., ammonium group).
acid, standardization of See standardization of solutions.
actinides (actinoids) The name of the group of elements with atomic
numbers from 89 (actinium) to 103 (lawrencium). All are radioactive
and have similar properties to actinium. As their outer electronic
structure is very similar (the f orbital in their fifth shell is being
filled), they have similar chemical properties.
GLOSSARY absolute temperature – actinides
8
actinium – air, liquid GLOSSARY
actinium Element symbol, Ac; silvery metallic element; Z 89; A(r) 227;
3
density (at 20°C), 10.07 g/cm ; m.p., 1,050°C; radioactive; name
derived from the Greek aktis, “ray;” discovered 1899.
actinium series One of the naturally occurring radioactive series.
activated complex A short-lived association of atoms that is formed during a
chemical reaction.
activation energy The energy barrier to be overcome in order for a reaction to
occur. Many chemical reactions require heat energy to be applied to
reactants to initiate a reaction.
active carbon Particles of carbon used widely as an adsorbent to remove
H H H H
impurities in gases and liquids.
addition polymerization A process by which molecules join together by a
C C C C
series of addition reactions to form larger molecules, or
macromolecules, which consist of repeated structural units.
n H H H H n
addition reaction A reaction in which a molecule of a substance reacts with
another molecule to form a single compound. The term addition Addition polymerization
reaction is often used in organic chemistry to describe a reaction in
which an atom is added to either side of the double or triple bond in
an unsaturated compound to form a saturated compound.
additive A small quantity of a compound added to a bulk material to give it
certain properties. For example, the colorings added to food and
reactant reactant
drink.
adsorption The process by which molecules of gases or liquids become
attached to the surface of another substance. Desorption is the
opposite process.
catalyst
aerosol Extremely small liquid or solid particles suspended in air or another
gas.
Adsorption
Ag Symbol for the element silver.
agrochemicals Chemicals used in agriculture, with the exception of fertilizers.
The classification includes fungicides, herbicides, pesticides, growth
regulators, and vitamin and mineral supplements.
Other
air, a mixture Air is a mixture of several gases (see air, composition of). These Oxygen 21% gases 1%
can be physically separated by cooling (to remove water vapor) and
by fractional distillation (to remove nitrogen). The properties of air
are an average of its components.
air, composition of The composition of air varies but its average composition
Nitrogen 78%
(given in percentages by volume) is nitrogen, 78; oxygen, 21; argon,
0.93; carbon dioxide, 0.03.
air, liquid Liquid air is a pale blue liquid that boils at –193°C. As its
component parts have different boiling points (nitrogen boils at Composition of air
actinium – air, liquid GLOSSARY
9
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