Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Lorca lôrˈkä [key], city (1990 pop. 67,338), Murcia prov., SE Spain, in Murcia, on the Guadalentín River. It is a market center for a fertile, irrigated basin producing cereals, fruits, and vegeta...

(Encyclopedia) flamethrower, mechanism for shooting a burning stream of liquid or semiliquid fuel at enemy troops or positions. Primitive types of flamethrowers, consisting of hollow tubes filled with burning coals,...

(Encyclopedia) vermilion, vivid red pigment of durable quality. It is a chemical compound of mercury and sulfur and is known as red sulfide of mercury; it was formerly obtained by grinding pure cinnabar but is now c...

(Encyclopedia) leaven lĕvˈən [key], agent used to raise bread or other flour foods. Physical leavens include water vapor, which is released as steam at high temperatures (as in popovers), and air, which is incorp...

(Encyclopedia) potassium carbonate, chemical compound, K2CO3, white, crystalline, deliquescent substance that forms a strongly alkaline water solution. It is available commercially as a white, granular powder common...

(Encyclopedia) carbonic acid, H2CO3, a weak dibasic acid (see acids and bases) formed when carbon dioxide dissolves in water; it exists only in solution. Carbonic acid forms carbonate and bicarbonate (or acid carbon...

(Encyclopedia) Mercury, in astronomy, nearest planet to the sun, at a mean distance of 36 million mi (58 million km); its period of revolution is 88 days. Mercury passes through phases similar to those of the moon a...

(Encyclopedia) ligand lĭgˈənd [key], charged or uncharged molecule with one or more unshared pairs of electrons that can attach to a central metallic atom or ion to form an aggregate known as a complex ion (see c...

(Encyclopedia) peat, soil material consisting of partially decomposed organic matter, found mainly in swamps and bogs in various parts of the northern temperate zone but also in some semitropical and tropical region...

(Encyclopedia) carbonated beverage, an effervescent drink that releases carbon dioxide under conditions of normal atmospheric pressure. Carbonation may occur naturally in spring water that has absorbed carbon dioxid...