The acid dissociation constant, often represented as \( K_a \), is a quantitative measure of the strength of an acid in solution. It describes the equilibrium position of the dissociation of a weak acid in water, indicating how well the acid donates protons (H⁺ ions) to the solution.
Specific density, commonly referred to as "specific gravity," is a dimensionless quantity that compares the density of a substance to the density of a reference substance, typically water for liquids and solids, and air for gases. It is defined as the ratio of the density of the substance to the density of the reference substance at a specified temperature and pressure.
The Butler-Volmer equation describes the current density at an electrode as a function of the overpotential, which is the difference between the actual potential and the equilibrium potential. It is a fundamental equation in electrochemistry that describes the kinetics of electron transfer reactions at an electrode surface.
Darken's equations are a set of thermodynamic relations in physical chemistry, specifically related to the diffusion of species in multicomponent systems. They provide a way to relate the fluxes of components in a mixture to their concentrations, and are particularly useful in describing transport phenomena in liquid mixtures and solid solutions. The key components of Darken's equations include: 1. **Diffusion Flux**: The flux of a component \( i \) is represented by \( J_i \).
The E. Bright Wilson Award in Spectroscopy is a prestigious accolade given by the American Chemical Society (ACS) to recognize outstanding contributions to the field of spectroscopy. It was established to honor E. Bright Wilson, a prominent figure in the field of spectroscopy and molecular theory. The award is typically presented to individuals who have made significant breakthroughs or advancements in spectroscopic techniques, applications, or related theoretical developments. The E.
Electrodeionization (EDI) is a water treatment technology that removes ions and impurities from water through the application of an electrical field. It is commonly used as a method for producing high-purity water, especially in industries such as pharmaceuticals, electronics, and power generation. The EDI process typically involves the following components: 1. **Ion Exchange Resins**: EDI units contain ion exchange resins that can attract and hold charged ions (cations and anions) from the water.
Electron transfer is a fundamental process in chemistry and physics that involves the movement of electrons from one atom, molecule, or ion to another. This process is crucial for a wide variety of chemical reactions, especially redox (reduction-oxidation) reactions, where oxidation involves the loss of electrons and reduction involves the gain of electrons.
Food physical chemistry is a branch of science that applies the principles and theories of physical chemistry to understand the properties, behaviors, and interactions of food components at the molecular and macroscopic levels. This interdisciplinary field merges concepts from chemistry, physics, biology, and engineering to study various phenomena related to food. Key areas of focus in food physical chemistry include: 1. **Phase Transitions**: Understanding how food components change states (solid, liquid, gas) during processes like freezing, melting, and evaporation.
The Gibbs-Donnan effect, or Gibbs-Donnan equilibrium, refers to the distribution of ions between two compartments separated by a selectively permeable membrane, typically a biological membrane. This phenomenon occurs when there are impermeant charged solutes in one compartment that cannot freely cross the membrane, influencing the distribution of permeable ions across the membrane due to electrochemical gradients and concentration differences.
The Irving Langmuir Award is a prestigious honor given by the American Vacuum Society (AVS) to recognize outstanding achievements in the field of surface and vacuum science. Named after the American chemist and Nobel laureate Irving Langmuir, the award is intended to acknowledge significant contributions to the understanding of surfaces and their science, particularly those that pertain to vacuum technology.
The "Law of Dilution" generally refers to a principle in chemistry and physics that explains how the properties of a solute in a solution change as the concentration of that solute decreases. While there are various contexts where this term may apply, two primary areas include: 1. **Chemistry (Concentration and Solubility)**: In chemistry, the Law of Dilution states that when a solute is diluted in a solvent, the concentration of the solute decreases.
Linear Combination of Atomic Orbitals (LCAO) is a method used in quantum chemistry and solid state physics to describe the molecular orbitals (MOs) of a molecule in terms of the atomic orbitals (AOs) of the individual atoms that make up the molecule. The fundamental idea is that the molecular orbitals can be approximated as linear combinations of the atomic orbitals.
Membrane emulsification is a physical method used to produce emulsions by forcing a dispersed phase (such as oil) through a membrane to create droplets that are uniformly sized and distributed within a continuous phase (such as water). This technique leverages the controlled pore structure of a specialized membrane to achieve precise droplet formation. ### Key Aspects of Membrane Emulsification: 1. **Mechanism**: The process involves the use of a membrane with defined pore sizes.
Molecular weight cut-off (MWCO) refers to the maximum molecular weight of a substance that can pass through a semipermeable membrane or filter. It is a critical parameter used in various applications, including protein purification, dialysis, ultrafiltration, and other processes in biochemistry and molecular biology. MWCO is typically expressed in daltons (Da) or kilodaltons (kDa) and indicates the size or molecular weight at which molecules are retained by the membrane.
The osmotic coefficient is a dimensionless number that quantifies the deviation of a solution's behavior from that of an ideal solution in the context of colligative properties—specifically, osmosis. In ideal solutions, the osmotic pressure can be predicted using the van't Hoff equation, which relates osmotic pressure to solute concentration. However, real solutions often show deviations from this ideal behavior, mostly due to interactions between solute particles and between solute and solvent.
In chemistry, resonance refers to a concept used to describe the delocalization of electrons within molecules that can be represented by two or more valid Lewis structures (also known as resonance structures or contributing structures). These structures depict different arrangements of electrons, primarily in π (pi) bonds and non-bonding lone pairs, while keeping the positions of the atomic nuclei the same. Resonance is important because no single Lewis structure can fully capture the actual electronic structure of the molecule.
Theoretical chemists are scientists who use mathematical models, computational techniques, and abstract theories to understand and predict chemical phenomena. This field of chemistry emphasizes the development and application of theoretical methods to study the properties and behaviors of molecules, atoms, and chemical systems. Theoretical chemists often work in conjunction with experimental chemists, using their models to interpret experimental data, design new experiments, or even predict new compounds and reactions.
The Tafel equation is an important relationship in the field of electrochemistry that expresses the relationship between the overpotential ( η) and the current density (j) in an electrochemical reaction. It is particularly useful for understanding the kinetics of electrode reactions, especially in cases where the reaction is limited by the rate of charge transfer.
Unimolecular ion decomposition refers to a type of chemical reaction in which a single ion breaks down into two or more products without the involvement of other reactants. This process typically occurs in the gas phase and is an important phenomenon in mass spectrometry and other areas of physical chemistry. In unimolecular reactions, the ion can decompose through various mechanisms, often influenced by factors such as energy levels, molecular structure, and the stability of the resulting products.
The Van der Waals surface is a conceptual and mathematical representation of the outer boundary of a molecule, specifically considering the interactions of that molecule with its surrounding environment. It is defined as the surface that describes the spatial extent of a molecular entity, taking into account the size of the atoms and the non-bonded interactions between them.

Pinned article: Introduction to the OurBigBook Project

Welcome to the OurBigBook Project! Our goal is to create the perfect publishing platform for STEM subjects, and get university-level students to write the best free STEM tutorials ever.
Everyone is welcome to create an account and play with the site: ourbigbook.com/go/register. We belive that students themselves can write amazing tutorials, but teachers are welcome too. You can write about anything you want, it doesn't have to be STEM or even educational. Silly test content is very welcome and you won't be penalized in any way. Just keep it legal!
We have two killer features:
  1. topics: topics group articles by different users with the same title, e.g. here is the topic for the "Fundamental Theorem of Calculus" ourbigbook.com/go/topic/fundamental-theorem-of-calculus
    Articles of different users are sorted by upvote within each article page. This feature is a bit like:
    • a Wikipedia where each user can have their own version of each article
    • a Q&A website like Stack Overflow, where multiple people can give their views on a given topic, and the best ones are sorted by upvote. Except you don't need to wait for someone to ask first, and any topic goes, no matter how narrow or broad
    This feature makes it possible for readers to find better explanations of any topic created by other writers. And it allows writers to create an explanation in a place that readers might actually find it.
    Figure 1.
    Screenshot of the "Derivative" topic page
    . View it live at: ourbigbook.com/go/topic/derivative
  2. local editing: you can store all your personal knowledge base content locally in a plaintext markup format that can be edited locally and published either:
    This way you can be sure that even if OurBigBook.com were to go down one day (which we have no plans to do as it is quite cheap to host!), your content will still be perfectly readable as a static site.
    Figure 2.
    You can publish local OurBigBook lightweight markup files to either https://OurBigBook.com or as a static website
    .
    Figure 3.
    Visual Studio Code extension installation
    .
    Figure 4.
    Visual Studio Code extension tree navigation
    .
    Figure 5.
    Web editor
    . You can also edit articles on the Web editor without installing anything locally.
    Video 3.
    Edit locally and publish demo
    . Source. This shows editing OurBigBook Markup and publishing it using the Visual Studio Code extension.
    Video 4.
    OurBigBook Visual Studio Code extension editing and navigation demo
    . Source.
  3. https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook-media/master/feature/x/hilbert-space-arrow.png
  4. Infinitely deep tables of contents:
    Figure 6.
    Dynamic article tree with infinitely deep table of contents
    .
    Descendant pages can also show up as toplevel e.g.: ourbigbook.com/cirosantilli/chordate-subclade
All our software is open source and hosted at: github.com/ourbigbook/ourbigbook
Further documentation can be found at: docs.ourbigbook.com
Feel free to reach our to us for any help or suggestions: docs.ourbigbook.com/#contact