gas chromatography

a method of chemical analysis used to separate and identify the components of a mixture. The substance being tested is placed at one end of a long tube, and its components are volatilized by an inert gas injected into the tube. Components can be identified by the time they take to pass through the tube. The technique is used to separate and quantify barbiturates, steroids, and fatty acids.

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Psychology term of the day

May 8th 2024

mental chemistry

a concept proposed by John Stuart Mill as an alternative to the mental mechanics described by his father, James Mill. The concept is modeled on a common phenomenon in physical chemistry, in which two chemical substances combine to form a compound with properties not present in either of the components. Similarly, Mill held that compound ideas were not merely combinations of simpler ideas but that they possessed other qualities not present in any of the constituent ideas. Thus, such an idea could be an essentially new one. See associationism; association of ideas.