Scientists cool water to -263° C without freezing it. Can you believe it? Yes, researchers have explored an idea to keep water in liquid state at temperatures approaching absolute zero. Conventionally, we all know that water freezes at zero degree Celsius (32 oF). A team of scholars in Switzerland discovered a way to reduce the temperature […]
The Raman effect was discovered in 1928 and was named after the Indian scientist Sir C. V. Raman. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1930 for this discovery of Raman scattering. The Raman effect or Raman scattering is the inelastic scattering of photons by matter, where there is an exchange of energy and a change […]
Both Graphite and Diamonds are pure forms of Carbon! Yes! The chemical composition of the two are exactly the same. Can you believe it? This makes graphite and diamond allotropes of carbon. That is, graphite can be converted to diamond under high pressure (>100 k bar) and temperature (>2000oC). Allotropy is the existence of an […]
Fluorescence is the ability of certain chemicals to release visible light after absorbing an invisible radiation, such as ultraviolet light. It is a form of luminescence where molecules on absorbing light energy excites to a higher energy state, also known an excited state. Since the energy of the excited state is too high the molecule cannot sustain […]
Acid rain is a comprehensive term that involves the deposition of any form of precipitation containing both dry and wet acidic components having pH in the range of 4-5. This includes rain, snow, fog, hail and even dust that is acidic. It is to be noted that the pH of normal drinking water is 7. […]
Insect venoms are indeed complicated. You could be exonerated for thinking that it will be relatively a simple composition of chemicals which creates an aching sensation during a bee or wasp sting, but the fact is that, it’s a highly complex mixture of all classes of compounds – proteins, peptides, enzymes, and many other smaller […]
What does hydrophobic mean? The word hydrophobicity is derived from two Greek words “hydro”, meaning “water”, and “phobos”, meaning “fear”. In chemistry, the substances which exhibit the property of hydrophobicity are known as hydrophobic substances. Hydrophobic substances are usually water repellant or non-wetting in nature, but at the same time they are fat or oil […]
