Rubber - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Rubber is an elastomer—that is, a polymer that has the ability to regain its original shape after being deformed. Rubber is also tough and resistant to weathering and chemical attack.

Rubidium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Ruthenium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Rutherfordium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Salt - Chemistry Encyclopedia

The word "salt" is a general chemical term that refers to ionic compounds formed when an acid reacts with a base.

Samarium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Scandium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Secondary Structure - Chemistry Encyclopedia

The secondary structure refers to the conformation present at a local region of a polypeptide. A few types of secondary structure are particularly stable and occur widely in proteins.

Selenium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Semiconductors - Chemistry Encyclopedia

The development of semiconductors is clearly among the most significant technological achievements to evolve from the study of solid-state chemistry and physics. Aside from their well-known applications in computers and electronics, semiconductors are also used in a wide variety of optical devices such as lasers, light-emitting diodes, and solar panels.

Silicon - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Silicone - Chemistry Encyclopedia

The term "silica" denotes the compound silicon dioxide, SiO2. It is a ubiquitous chemical substance with rich chemical, geological, and commercial importance.

Silver - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Soap - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Soaps are cleaning agents that are usually made by reacting alkali (e.g., sodium hydroxide) with naturally occurring fat or fatty acids. The reaction produces sodium salts of these fatty acids, which improve the cleaning process by making water better able to lift away greasy stains from skin, hair, clothes, and just about anything else.

Sodium - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Solar Cells - Chemistry Encyclopedia

A solar cell is, in principle, a simple semiconductor✶ device that converts light into electric energy. The conversion is accomplished by absorbing light and ionizing crystal atoms, thereby creating free, negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions.

Solid State - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Matter is commonly encountered in one of three states—solid, liquid, or gas. Air is an example of a gas and water an example of a liquid.

Solid-State Devices - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Solid-state devices are the controlling components of both high-tech and very ordinary devices. Their widespread usage is related to the fact that they can be utilized to interface with all human senses.

Solution Chemistry - Chemistry Encyclopedia

The majority of chemical processes are reactions that occur in solution. Important industrial processes often utilize solution chemistry.

Spectroscopy - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Spectroscopy is the measurement of interactions between electromagnetic radiation and matter. Electromagnetic radiation, which includes light, has characteristics of waves and particles.

Rutherford, Ernest - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Ernest Rutherford was born on August 30, 1871, near Nelson, New Zealand. He was a very good student, excelling at science and mathematics.

Rydberg, Johannes - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Johannes Robert Rydberg was born in Halmstad, Sweden, on November 8, 1854. His father, Sven, was a local merchant and minor shipowner who died when Rydberg was young.

Sanger, Frederick - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Frederick Sanger is surely one of the most outstanding biochemists of modern times. His methods for determining the exact sequence of amino acids in proteins and of nucleotides in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) have won him numerous awards, including two Nobel Prizes in chemistry.

Scheele, Carl - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele, who discovered oxygen with Joseph Priestley and Antoine-Laurent Lavoisier.

Schrödinger, Erwin - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Erwin Schrödinger was born in Vienna, Austria, in 1887. In 1906 he entered the University of Vienna with the intention of studying statistical thermodynamics with the mathematician and physicist Ludwig Boltzmann.

Seaborg, Glenn Theodore - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Seibert, Florence - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Florence Seibert made several important contributions to medicine during her long career. Most notably, she purified a protein from tuberculosis bacteria that became the international standard for tuberculosis testing.

Soddy, Frederick - Chemistry Encyclopedia

Frederick Soddy, the youngest of seven sons of a London corn merchant, was born on September 2, 1877, in Eastbourne, England. Raised by his half-sister, this precocious scientist attended Eastbourne College (1892–1894) and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (1895).