glossary :: thesis :: eduardo matamoros
Relative Stereochemistry: A Sonification of ß-endorphin
| Acid | a substance that provides H+ ions in water | |
| Active site | a pocket in an enzyme with a specific shape and chemical makeup necessary to bind a substrate | |
| Aerobic | in the presence of oxygen | |
| Aldehyde | a compund that has a carbonyl group bonded to one carbon and one hydrogen | |
| Anaerobic | in the absence of oxygen | |
| Anion | a negatively charged ion | |
| Atom | the smallest and simplest particle of an element | |
| Atomic number (Z) | the number of protons in an atom |
| Binary compund | a compound formed by the combination of two different elements |
| Carbohydrate | a member of a large class of naturally occuring polyhydroxy ketones and aldehydes | |
| Carbonyl | any compound that contains a carbonyl group C=O | |
| Catalyst | a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction but itself is unchanged | |
| Cation | a positively charged ion | |
| Chemical compound | a pure substance that can be broken down into simpler substances through chemical reactions | |
| Chemical equation | an expression in which symbols and formulas are used to represent a chemical reaction | |
| Chemical formula | a notation for a chemical compound using elemental symbols and subscripts to show how many atoms of each element are present | |
| Chemical property | a property that involves change in the chemical nature of a substance | |
| Chemical reaction | a process in which the identity and composition of one of more substances are changed | |
| Chemistry | the study of the nature, properties, and transformations of matter | |
| Citric acid cycle | biochemical reactions that break down acetyl groups to produce energy carried by reduced coenzymes and carbon dioxide | |
| Coenzyme | an organic molecule that acts as an emzyme cofactor | |
| Cofactor | a nonprotein part of an enzyme that is essential to the enzyme's catalytic activity | |
| Covalent bond | a bond formed by sharing electrons between atoms |
| Electron | a negatively charged atomic particle | |
| Electron shell | a grouping of electrons in an atom according to energy | |
| Electron subshell | a grouping of electrons in a shell according to the shape of the region of space they occupy | |
| Electron-dot symbol | an atomic symbol with dots placed aroun it to indicate the number of valence electrons | |
| Element | a fundamental substance that can't be broken down chemically into simpler substances | |
| Endocrine system | a system of specialized cells, tissues, and ductless glands that excretes hormones and shares with the nervous system responsibility for maintaining constant internal body conditions and responding to changes in the envoronment | |
| Energy | the capacity to do work or supply heat | |
| Enzyme | a protein or other molecule that acts as a catalyst for a biological reaction |
| Functional group | an atom or group of atoms within a molecule that has a characteristic structure and chemical behavior |
| Group | one of the 18 vertical columns of elements in the periodic table |
| Heat | the kinetic energy transferred from a hotter object to a colder object when the two are in contact | |
| Hormone | a chemical messenger secreted by cells of the endocrine system and transported through ethe bloodstream to target cells with appropriate receptors where it elicits a response | |
| Hydrocarbon | an organic compound that contains only carbon and hydrogen |
| Ion | an elctrically charged atom or group of atoms | |
| Ionic bond | the electrcal attractions between ions of opposite charge in a crystal | |
| Isomers | compounds with the same molecular formula but different structures |
| Ketone | a compound that has a carbonyl group bonded to two hydrocarbons in organic groups that can be the same or different |
| Lewis structure | a molecular representation showing atomic connections and valence electrons | |
| Lone pair | a pair of electrons that is not used for bonding |
| Main group element | an element in one of the two groups on the left or the six groups on the right of the periodic table | |
| Matter | the physical material that makes up the universe | |
| Metabolism | the overall sum of the many reactions taking place in an organism | |
| Molecular compound | a compound that consists of molecules rather than ions | |
| Molecular formula | a formula that shows the numbers and kinds of atoms in one molecule of a compound | |
| Molecule | a group of atoms held together by covalent bonds |
| Neutron | an electrically neutral atomic particle | |
| Nucleus | the dense, central core of an atom that contains protons and neutrons |
| Octet rule | main-group elements tend to undergo reactions that leave them with 8 valence electrons | |
| Orbital | a region of space within an atom where an electron in a given subshell can be found | |
| Organic chemistry | the study of carbon-based compounds |
| Period | one of the 7 horizontal rows of elements in the periodic table | |
| Periodic table | a table of the tlements in order of increasing number and grouped according to their shared similarities | |
| Protein | a large biological molecule made of many amino acids linked together through peptide bonds |
| Substrate | a reactant in an enzyme-catalyzed reaction |
| Valence electron | an electron in the outermost, or valence, shell of an atom | |
| Valence shell | the outermost electron shell of an atom | |
| Valence-shell electron-pair repulsion (VSEPR) model | a method for predicting molecular shape by noting how many electron charge clouds surround atoms and assuming that the clouds orient as far away from one another as possible |
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
| home |