Background Radiation
Background radiation is the low level of ionising radiation that is always present in the natural environment, arising from natural and artificial sources. It includes cosmic rays …
Chemical Glossary — Letter B
35 chemicals found starting with "B"
Band
In solid-state physics and chemistry, a band refers to a range of allowed energy states that electrons can occupy in a solid material, formed by the overlap of many atomic orbitals…
Band of Stability
The band of stability (also called the belt of stability) is the region on a plot of number of neutrons (N) vs. number of protons (Z) where stable nuclei are found. Nuclides outsid…
Band Theory of Metals
The band theory of metals is a quantum mechanical model that explains the electrical conductivity of metals, insulators, and semiconductors. It arises from the overlap of atomic or…
Barium
Barium is a soft, silvery alkaline earth metal, atomic number 56. Highly reactive - reacts with water and air. Barium sulfate (BaSO4) is uniquely insoluble and non-toxic - used as …
Barometer
A barometer is a scientific instrument used to measure atmospheric (air) pressure. The most common type (Torricelli barometer) consists of a vertical glass tube filled with mercury…
Base
A base is a substance that accepts protons from acids (Brønsted–Lowry definition), donates electron pairs (Lewis definition), or produces hydroxide ions in aqueous solution (Arrhen…
Basic Anhydride
A basic anhydride is a metal oxide that reacts with water to form a base (metal hydroxide) or reacts with an acid to form a salt. They are the anhydrous form of a metallic hydroxid…
Basic Salt
A basic salt is a salt that contains both an anion from an acid and hydroxide (OH⁻) ions, formed by the partial neutralisation of a polyhydroxy base by an acid. The salt can still …
Berkelium
Berkelium is a synthetic radioactive actinide produced by bombarding americium with alpha particles. It is named after Berkeley, California, where it was first synthesised in 1949.…
Beryllium
Beryllium is a hard, grey, lightweight alkaline earth metal, atomic number 4. Highly toxic - inhalation causes chronic beryllium disease (berylliosis). Found in beryl minerals (eme…
Beta Particle
A beta particle is a high-energy, high-speed electron (β⁻) or positron (β⁺) emitted from the nucleus during beta decay of a radioactive isotope. Beta particles have intermediate pe…
Binary Acid
A binary acid is an acid composed of only two elements: hydrogen and a nonmetal. Binary acids are named using the prefix "hydro-" followed by the name of the nonmetal with the suff…
Binary Compound
A binary compound is a chemical compound consisting of exactly two different elements, though not necessarily in a 1:1 ratio. Examples include sodium chloride (NaCl), water (H₂O), …
Binding Energy (Nuclear Binding Energy)
Nuclear binding energy is the energy required to completely separate all the protons and neutrons in a nucleus from one another. It represents the mass defect multiplied by c² (Ein…
Biodegradability
Biodegradability is the ability of a substance to be decomposed by bacteria, fungi, or other living organisms into simpler, environmentally benign compounds such as water, carbon d…
Bismuth
Bismuth is a brittle, silvery-pink post-transition metal, atomic number 83. Has the highest natural diamagnetism of any element. Its crystals form beautiful hopper-shaped formation…
Bohrium
Bohrium is a synthetic radioactive transactinide element named after Niels Bohr. Expected to behave similarly to rhenium. First synthesised in 1981 in Darmstadt, Germany.
Boiling Point
The boiling point of a liquid is the temperature at which its vapour pressure equals the atmospheric pressure, causing the liquid to vaporise throughout its volume. The normal boil…
Boiling Point Elevation
Boiling point elevation is a colligative property: the increase in boiling point of a solvent caused by dissolving a non-volatile solute. The elevation is proportional to the molal…
Bomb Calorimeter
A bomb calorimeter is a constant-volume calorimeter used to measure the heat of combustion of a substance. The sample is placed in a strong steel vessel (the "bomb") filled with ox…
Bond Energy
Bond energy (or bond dissociation energy) is the average energy required to break one mole of a specific type of covalent bond in gaseous molecules. It is a measure of bond strengt…
Bond Order
Bond order is the number of shared electron pairs between two bonded atoms, or more precisely, half the difference between the number of bonding and antibonding electrons in molecu…
Bonding Orbital
A bonding orbital is a molecular orbital formed by the constructive overlap of atomic orbitals, resulting in increased electron density between the nuclei. Electrons in bonding orb…
Bonding Pair
A bonding pair (or shared pair) is a pair of electrons shared between two atoms to form a covalent bond. In Lewis dot structures, each line between atoms represents one bonding pai…
Born-Haber Cycle
The Born-Haber cycle is an application of Hess's law used to calculate lattice energies of ionic compounds that cannot be measured directly. It is an energy cycle that relates the …
Boron
Boron is a metalloid, atomic number 5. Does not occur as free element - found in borax and boric acid. Forms wide range of covalent compounds. B-10 is an excellent neutron absorber…
Boron Hydrides
Boron hydrides (boranes) are a series of compounds consisting of boron and hydrogen, with the general formula BₓHᵧ. They are unusual because they are electron-deficient: they have …
Boyle's Law
Boyle's Law states that at constant temperature, the pressure of a fixed amount of ideal gas is inversely proportional to its volume (P ∝ 1/V, or PV = constant). First published by…
Breeder Reactor
A breeder reactor is a nuclear reactor that generates more fissile material than it consumes by converting fertile material (such as uranium-238 or thorium-232) into fissile isotop…
Bromine
Bromine is a reddish-brown liquid halogen, atomic number 35. One of only two elements that are liquid at room temperature (the other being mercury). Has a strong, unpleasant suffoc…
Brønsted-Lowry Acid
A Brønsted-Lowry acid is any species capable of donating a proton (H⁺) to another species. This definition, proposed independently by Johannes Brønsted and Thomas Lowry in 1923, ex…
Brønsted-Lowry Base
A Brønsted-Lowry base is any species that accepts a proton (H⁺) from another species. This definition, proposed in 1923, is broader than the Arrhenius definition and includes speci…
Buffer Solution
A buffer solution is an aqueous solution that resists changes in pH upon addition of small amounts of acid or base. It consists of a weak acid and its conjugate base (or a weak bas…
Buret
A buret (or burette) is a graduated glass tube with a stopcock at the bottom, used in titrations to deliver a precise, variable volume of liquid solution. Burets are commonly calib…
About Chemicals Starting With B
This page lists all chemicals in our database beginning with the letter B. Each entry provides the chemical formula, CAS registry number, physical and chemical properties, common uses, and safety information. Use the alphabetical navigation above to browse other letters, or use the search function to find a specific chemical quickly.
Our chemical glossary covers acids, bases, salts, organic compounds, inorganic compounds, solvents, and many more categories. Click on any chemical name to view its full detailed profile.