vanadium pentoxide
- noun
- /vəˈneɪdiəm ˈpɛntəksaɪd/
- Specialized
- Industrial chemists use vanadium pentoxide as a catalyst in the production of sulfuric acid.
Examples
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The bright yellow color of vanadium pentoxide makes it easy to identify in the laboratory.
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Exposure to dust from vanadium pentoxide can pose health risks to workers in certain industries.
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The laboratory uses vanadium pentoxide as a catalyst.
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Is vanadium pentoxide safe to handle?
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Industrial chemists use vanadium pentoxide as a catalyst in the production of sulfuric acid.
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Exposure to dust from vanadium pentoxide can pose health risks to workers in certain industries.
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The bright yellow color of vanadium pentoxide makes it easy to identify in the laboratory.
Synonyms
A chemical made of five oxygen atoms joined to another element
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is a straightforward chemical compound name formed compositionally from the element 'vanadium' and 'pentoxide' (an oxide with five oxygens), so a learner who knows those constituents can infer it denotes the oxide of vanadium (V2O5). Chemical naming patterns like element + oxide/prefix are regular and cross-linguistically recognizable, making the meaning predictable rather than idiomatic.
Etymology
Vanadium pentoxide gets its name from two parts: vanadium was named after the old Norse goddess Vanadis because many vanadium compounds show bright, pretty colors, and penta + oxide mean 'five' and 'oxygen atoms'. So the name tells you this is a vanadium compound with five oxygen atoms, which helps explain its formula and its yellow-red color.