Thirty terms for reading chemistry with more confidence. These short definitions introduce concepts; follow an article for the conditions and detail.

30 terms

Activation energy
The energy barrier associated with a reaction pathway.
Activity
An effective concentration used to describe how a chemical species behaves in a mixture.
Adsorption
Accumulation of a substance at an interface, such as a solid surface.
Atom economy
The theoretical fraction of reactant atoms incorporated into the desired product.
Buffer
A solution whose components resist pH change when modest amounts of acid or base are added.
Catalyst
A substance that participates in a reaction pathway and is regenerated in the ideal catalytic cycle.
Cell culture
Cells maintained under controlled conditions outside their original organism.
Concentration
The amount of a component relative to a stated amount or volume of mixture.
Control
A comparison used to distinguish an experimental effect from alternative explanations.
Crosslink
A connection between polymer chains that constrains their motion.
Diffusion
Net spreading driven by random molecular motion; concentration gradients can produce net transport.
Electrode
A conducting interface at which an electrochemical reaction can occur.
Electrolyte
A medium containing mobile ions that can carry electric current.
Enzyme
A biological catalyst, usually a protein; some RNA molecules also catalyze reactions.
Genome editing
Methods used to make changes to DNA sequences.
Ion
An atom or molecular species with a net electrical charge.
Lipid nanoparticle
An engineered assembly of lipid-based components used, among other purposes, to carry molecular cargo.
Material balance
Accounting for material entering, leaving and accumulating within a defined boundary.
Metal–organic framework
An extended structure assembled from metal-containing nodes and organic linkers.
Microfluidics
The control and study of fluids in channels with small dimensions.
Monomer
A molecule capable of contributing units to a polymer.
Organ chip
A device that recreates selected tissue structures or functions in a controlled fluidic environment.
Oxidation
Loss of electrons by a chemical species, described through changes in oxidation state.
PFAS
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances: a broad family of fluorinated chemicals.
pH
The negative base-ten logarithm of hydrogen-ion activity.
Polymer
A substance composed of large molecules containing many connected units.
Reduction
Gain of electrons by a chemical species, described through changes in oxidation state.
Selectivity
Preference for one product, interaction or transported species over competing alternatives.
Sorbent
A material that takes up other substances; the precise uptake mechanism depends on the system.
Yield
The amount of desired product obtained relative to a stated theoretical or reference amount.