surface phenomena and catalysis

Catalysis - It has been mentioned earlier that a catalyst usually increases the rate of reaction. A catalyst is not consumed in the reaction, it is used up in one step and then released in the next step. Catalytic reactions can be classified into two types. They are i) Homogenous reaction..

4) Formation of diethyl ether from ethyl alcohol using concentrated sulphuric acid as catalyst. 5) Hydrolysis of esters in the presence of H 2 SO 4 catalyst. In heterogeneous catalysis, the catalyst is generally a solid while the reactants are gases, although sometimes liquid reactants ar..

) molecules in precise orientations and to stabilize transition states in the making and breaking of bonds. Enzymes are highly specific. An enzyme usually catalyses a single chemical reaction or a set of closely related reactions. For e.g., urease catalyses the hydrolysis of urea only. Other exampl..

Conclusion - Adsorption is a surface phenomenon. In this process there is accumulation of a substance on the surface of a solid or a liquid as compared to the bulk of the solid or liquid. The substance which is adsorbed is called the adsorbate and the substance on to whose ..

Increase of pressure on the surface of a liquid increases the surface tension. Such effects are not large. The following two important phenomena are due to surface tensi..

Heterogeneous catalysis is extensively used in chemical industry. Hence, development, selection and application of solid catalysts forms an important area in surface chemistry studies. The nature of the solid catalyst has profound effects on heterogeneous catalytic reactio..

According to Sir Issac Newton's Corpuscular Theory, a luminous body continuously emits tiny, light and elastic particles called corpuscles in all directions. When these particles fall on the retina of the eye, they produce the sensation of vision. This theory could explain a number of phenomen..

When a thermometer is dropped accidentally, we find the mercury inside the bulb of the thermometer rolling down as small perfect spheres. Raindrops and soap bubbles are also perfectly spherical in shape. A plastic strainer floats on water which is unusua..

Then term 'Xerography'; the use of Photoelectric phenomena to transfer an image from one sheet of paper to another comes from the Greek words for "dry" and "writing". Dry copying is based on the principle that materials with opposite electrical charges attract one another and that some ma..

This is the domain of living organisms in contact with atmosphere, hydrosphere as well as lithosphere. Man has begun to effect significant changes in his natural environment mainly after the advent of the Industrial revolution. The change in industrial and agricultural practices in the last 300 ye..