optical activity
"Optical activity" describes a property of certain substances to rotate the plane of polarized light, commonly used in chemistry and physics to study molecular structure and behavior.
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Definition
C1Chemistry
(technical, academic)The ability of a substance, particularly chiral compounds, to rotate the plane of polarized light either to the left or right.
Example
- The optical activity of the compound was measured using a polarimeter.
- Chiral molecules exhibit optical activity due to their asymmetric structure.
C1Physics
(technical, academic)A property caused by asymmetrical molecular or crystal structure that enables a compound or crystal to rotate the plane of incident polarized light.
Example
- The crystal's optical activity was evident when polarized light passed through it.
Similar
Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "optical activity":