Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Binary compounds
Binary ionic compounds The nomenclature for binary ionic compounds simply entails naming the ions according to the following rules: The following examples illustrate the nomenclature rules for binary ionic compounds: sodium chloride(opens in a new tab) compound ions present name NaCl Na+, Cl− sodium chloride KI K+, I− potassium iodide CaS Ca2+, S2− calcium sulfide CsBr Cs+,…
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inorganic compound
Inorganic compound, any substance in which two or more chemical elements (usually other than carbon) are combined, nearly always in definite proportions. Compounds of carbon are classified as organic when carbon is bound to hydrogen. Carbon compounds such as carbides (e.g., silicon carbide [SiC2]), some carbonates (e.g., calcium carbonate [CaCO3]), some cyanides (e.g., sodium cyanide [NaCN]), graphite, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide are classified as inorganic. Read about the differences between inorganic compounds and organic compounds in…
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Chromatography and isotopes
The different solubilities of substances in aqueous and organic solvents provide another basis for analysis. In its earlier form, a separation was conducted in complex apparatus by partition of substances in various solvents. A simplified form of the same principle evolved as ‘‘paper chromatography,” in which small amounts of substances could be separated on filter paper and…
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Centrifugation and electrophoresis
An important tool in biochemical research is the centrifuge, which through rapid spinning imposes high centrifugal forces on suspended particles, or even molecules in solution, and causes separations of such matter on the basis of differences in weight. Thus, red cells may be separated from plasma of blood, nuclei from mitochondria in cell homogenates, and one protein from another in complex mixtures.…
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Methods in biochemistry
Like other sciences, biochemistry aims at quantifying, or measuring, results, sometimes with sophisticated instrumentation. The earliest approach to a study of the events in a living organism was an analysis of the materials entering an organism (foods, oxygen) and those leaving (excretion products, carbon dioxide). This is still the basis of so-called balance experiments conducted on animals,…
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Applied biochemistry
An early objective in biochemistry was to provide analytical methods for the determination of various blood constituents because it was felt that abnormal levels might indicate the presence of metabolic diseases. The clinical chemistry laboratory now has become a major investigative arm of the physician in the diagnosis and treatment of disease and is an indispensable unit of every hospital. Some…
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Evolution and origin of life
The exploration of space beginning in the mid-20th century intensified speculation about the possibility of life on other planets. At the same time, man was beginning to understand some of the intimate chemical mechanisms used for the transmission of hereditary characteristics. It was possible, by studying protein structure in different species, to see how the amino acid…
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Genes
Genetic studies have shown that the hereditary characteristics of a species are maintained and transmitted by the self-duplicating units known as genes, which are composed of nucleic acids and located in the chromosomes of the nucleus. One of the most fascinating chapters in the history of the biological sciences contains the story of the elucidation, in the mid-20th…
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Metabolism and hormones
The cell is the site of a constant, complex, and orderly set of chemical changes collectively called metabolism. Metabolism is associated with a release of heat. The heat released is the same as that obtained if the same chemical change is brought about outside the living organism. This confirms the fact that the laws of thermodynamics apply to living systems…
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Blood
One of the animal tissues that has always excited special curiosity is blood. Blood has been investigated intensively from the early days of biochemistry, and its chemical composition is known with greater accuracy and in more detail than that of any other tissue in the body. The physician takes blood samples to determine such things as the sugar content,…
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