http://www.ck12.org Chapter 27. Glossary
27.19 S
salt
An ionic compound composed of a cation from a base and an anion from an acid.
salt bridge
A tube containing an inert electrolyte that allows the passage of ions between the two half-cells.
salt hydrolysis
A reaction in which one of the ions from a salt reacts with water, forming either an acidic or basic solution.
saponification
The alkaline hydrolysis reaction of an ester; a reaction that makes soap molecules.
saturated hydrocarbon
A hydrocarbon that contains the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that can possibly bond with the number
of carbon atoms present.
saturated fat
A fat that consists of triglycerides whose carbon chains consist entirely of carbon-carbon single bonds.
scientific law
A statement that summarizes the results of many observations and experiments and to which there are no
known exceptions.
scientific method
A systematic and logical approach to the acquisition of knowledge.
scientific notation
A way to express numbers as the product of two numbers: a coefficient and the number 10 raised to a power.
scintillation counter
A device that uses a phosphor-coated surface to detect radiation by the emission of bright bursts of light.
secondary structure
A highly regular sub-structure of a protein.
self-ionization
The process in which water ionizes to hydronium ions and hydroxide ions.
sigma bond (σ)
A bond formed by the overlap of orbitals in an end-to-end fashion, with the electron density concentrated
between the nuclei of the bonding atoms.
significant figures
All the certain digits in that measurement plus one uncertain or estimated digit.
single covalent bond
The bond that forms when two atoms are joined by the sharing of one pair of electrons.
single-replacement reaction
A reaction in which one element replaces a similar element in a compound.
skeleton equation
A chemical equation that shows only the formulas of the reactants and products with nothing to indicate the
relative amounts.
solid
A form of matter that has a definite shape and volume.
solubility
The amount of that substance that is required to form a saturated solution in a given amount of solvent at a
specified temperature.
solubility product constant (Ks p)
The mathematical product of the ions that come from the dissociation of a nearly insoluble salt, each raised to