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Questions tagged [etymology]

For questions relating to the etymology of chemistry terms. Etymology is the study of the origin of words and the way in which their meanings have changed throughout history. Consider using the terminology tag instead.

7 votes
1 answer
2k views

why is the suffix of alcohols -ol but not -al?

According to the IUPAC nomenclature, we put the suffix “-ol” to alcohols while we put the suffix “-al” to aldehydes. This will be related to some etymology issues. I presume “-ol” and “-al” are ...
Freeby Freeby's user avatar
-3 votes
2 answers
168 views

What the link between radical(root) and its meaning in chemistry inside etymology [closed]

All i know radical mean root and when i heard root all what i think about is the root in plant so what the link? Why they chose ...
Pcp115's user avatar
  • 115
0 votes
0 answers
274 views

What does "bulk concentration" mean?

In biogeochemistry/ecosystem models, the concentration of phytoplankton in sea water is often termed "bulk concentration" with units mol P/m^3 (moles of phosphorus per cubic meter, assuming ...
ouranos's user avatar
  • 135
2 votes
0 answers
143 views

Is 18:82 a valid ratio for aqua regia?

Here it writes that nitrohydrochloric acid (possibly Aqua Regia) is of the ratio of $18:82$, which is $1:4.56$ in a simpler form. On Wikipedia and every other source i found the ratio $1:3$. So what's ...
Lord Commander's user avatar
34 votes
4 answers
8k views

Why is '-ethane' in 'methane'?

Is there a chemical or historical significance in the fact that 'ethane' is just 'methane' without the 'm'?
yolo's user avatar
  • 673
9 votes
1 answer
994 views

Why is Buna-S called so?

Styrene Butadiene synthetic rubber is also called Buna-S. It is the abbreviation of Butadiene (Bu) Sodium (Na) Styrene (S). Why is Sodium included?
Adheeti's user avatar
  • 93