Brassicaceae: Characters, Distribution and

Types
In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Characters of Brassicaceae 2. Distribution of Brassicaceae
3. Economic Importance 4. Affinities 5. Important Types.
Characters of Brassicaceae:
Flowers actinomorphic rarely zygomorphic, hermaphrodite; sepals four in two whorls of two each, petals
four, diagonally arranged-cruciform; stamens six, tetradynamous; gynoecium bicarpellary, syncarpous,
parietal placentation, bilocular due to the formation of flase septum (replum); fruit siliqua or silicula.
A. Vegetative characters:
Habit:
Generally herbs, annual (Brassica, Capsella) or biennial or shrubs. Common Indian herbs are Eruca,
Alyssum, Nasturtium, Lepidium, Coronopus etc. Vegetative reproduction is by bulbils (Dentaria
bulbifera) or by coral roots.
Roots:
Tap root, swollen on account of stored food materials. It may be conical (Radish), fusiform or napiform
(Turnip).
Stem:
Herbaceous, erect, cylindrical (Iberis, Brassica) rarely woody or some times reduced (Raphanus &
Brassica species), glabrous or hairy, solid and branched.
Leaves:
Alternate or sub-opposite, simple, exstipulate (Brassica campestris). May be cauline or radical
(Raphanus), generally sessile, hairy, entire and with unicostate reticulate venation.
B. Floral characters:
Inflorescence:
Raceme (Brassica campestris) corymbose raceme (Iberis) or corymb.
Flower:
Pedicellate, ebracteate, hermaphrodite, actinomorphic rarely zygomorphic (Iberis and Teesdalia),
hypogynous, complete or incomplete (Lepidium) and tetramerous.
Calyx:
Sepals 4 arranged in two whorls of two each, polysepalous (2 antero-posterior and 2 lateral), 2 lateral
sepals may be saccate, imbricate aestivation, inferior.
Corolla:
Petals 4, alternate with sepals, polypetalous, petals arranged in the form of across known as cruciform.
This arrangement is characteristic of the family Petals usually clawed, petals generally equal rarely
unequal (Iberis, Teesdalia) or sometimes petals may be replaced by stamens (Capsella bursa pastoris).
Androecium:
Stamens 6, arranged in two whorls, outer two stamens short and inner four long (2+4), tetradynamous,
polyandrous, anthers dithecous basifixed, introrse. Disc like nectaries, variable in number, present at the
base of stamens. In some cases the number of stamens is variable – 16 (Megacarpaea), 4 (Cardamine
hirsuta), 2 (Coronopus) etc.
Gynoecium:
Bicarpellary rarely tricarpellary (Lepidium sativum), syncarpous, ovary superior, unilocular, becomes
bilocular due to the development of false septum called replum: parietal placentation, ovules many, style
short, stigma simple or bifid. The crucifer carpel has been a puzzling subject for the morphologists and
their attention attracted towards its for a long time. According to some there are only two carpels while
others hold that there are four carpels.
Fruit:
Siliqua or silicula, sometimes lomentum (Raphanus); when the valves separate in a siliqua the seeds
remain attached to the replum.
Seed:
Ex-albuminous. The germination of seed is epigeal.
Short Essay on Pollination and Its Types
Pollination :
The transference of the pollen from the anther to the receptive stigma, whether of the same
flower or of a different flower, is known as pollination.
As the pollen is not capable of locomotion, this process either involves some agent for this
transference or the anther must be placed in the flower right above the stigma so that pollens
may drop directly on the stigma.
If the stigma is pollinated by the pollen of the same flower, it is a case of self-pollination.When
the pollen of one flower pollinates the stigma of a different flower but on the same plant, it is
called geitonogamy.
Pollination Agents:
Pollination may be affected by different agencies such as wind, water, animals and insects.
Accordingly, the types of pollination are:
(i) Anemophily (Wind-Pollinated):
These flowers are inconspicuous and not showy. They are devoid of scent, nectar, etc. They
produce a very large quantity of dusty pollens which are light in weight so that they may be car-
ried to longer distances to reach the stigma.
(ii) Hydrophily (Water-Pollinated):
The water plants generally have their flowers above water and are adapted for wind or insect
pollination, e.g., lotus. In case of the plants submerged under water, the flowers are small and
inconspicuous. The male flowers are small and numerous, they become detached from the plant
and float about on the water and approach female flowers. Some of the pollen grains are thus
transferred to the stigma.
(iii) Zoophily (Animal-Pollinated):
These flowers are pollinated by birds, bats and other animals and may be of the following types:
(a) Ornithophily (Bird-Pollinated):
Bird- pollinated flowers are not many in number. Tiny birds like humming-birds and honey-
thrushers feed on the nectar of flowers like Bignonia and thereby pollinate them.
(b) Chiropteriphily (Bat-Pollinated):
Bauhinia of Java, Epertua and a few other trees are known to be pollinated by bats.
(c) Malacophily (Slug and Snail-Pollinated):
Snails and slugs visit certain flowers and may have a role in their pollination.
(iv) Entomophily (Insect-Pollinated):
The majority of flowers are insect pollinated. Insect pollinated flowers are made attractive to in-
sects in different ways. The pollens are sticky with a rough surface so that they may easily stick
to insect limbs. The stigma is also sticky and thus receives the pollens more easily, e.g., salvia,
mango, sunflower, jasmine, lady of the night and poppy.
Bentham and Hooker System: Merits and
Demerits
In this article we will discuss about the merits and demerits of Bentham and
Hooker’s system.
Merits of Bentham and Hooker’s System:
1. The description of families and genera is very accurate.
2. The system is very handy for identification purposes.
3. The system is of great practical convenience.
The British and Commonwealth herbaria therefore still adopt this system in arrangement of
families.
4. Each family had a synopsis at the beginning which is very useful in identification.
5. The system starts from Ranales, which are now universally considered to be most primitive
living angiosperms.
6. Larger genera subdivided into subgenera and sections.
7. They believed in evolution through reduction and hence placed monocots after dicots; even
in dicots, the dichlamydeous polypetalae and gamopetalae were placed before the uniseriate
monochlamydeae.
8. The gamopetalae placed after polypetalae is justified since union of petals is considered to be
an advanced feature.
9. The polypetalae includes Thalamiflorae and Calyciflorae of de Candolle. But Bentham and
Hooker distinguished a new series Disciflorae which includes orders which cannot be assigned
to Thalamiflorae or Calyciflorae.
10. The 3 series – Thalamiflorae, Disciflorae and Calyciflorae show gradual evolutionary
advance from marked hypogyny to epigyny.
11. Treating Cucurbitaceae and Umballiferae (Apiaceae) at the end of Polypetalae as connecting
links between poly- and gamopetalous families.
12. Creation of Monochlamydeae at the end of Dicots.
13. Disputed families included in Ordines anomali.
14. Placing of unisexual monocot families after bisexual families e.g. Palmae and Araceae after
Liliaceae.
15. The series Glumaceae with extremely reduced flowers and inflorescences, placed at the end
of the flowering plants.
16. The system was never conceived by its authors on the basis of phylogeny. The theory of
organic evolution (theory of descent) was announced independently by Darwin and Wallace in
1859. So, any criticism of the system on the basis of phylogeny is not too justified.
Demerits of Bentham and Hooker’s System:
1. The system does not give any idea as to the evolutionary history of any genus, family or order.
2. In this system grouping of plants is mainly based on single and artificial characters; with the
result, that closely allied families are placed widely apart.
3. The group “Monochlamydeae” is entirely artificial.
4. Gymnospermae is placed between the Dicotyledones and Monocotyledones, which is
extremely anomalous.
5. The system does not show any phylogenetic relationship. The main demerit is that this
system does not give us any idea as to the evolutionary history of any genus, family or order nor
does it give any idea of phylogenetic relationship between them.
6. Compositae (Asteraceae) is a highly advanced family and placed in Inferae at the beginning
of Gamopetalae.
7. Advanced families like Orchidaceae and Scitamineae are treated in the beginning of
monocots.
8. Liliaceae and Amaryllidaceae were kept apart though they are very closely related.
9. The Amaryllidaceae is more allied to Liliaceae but is clubbed with Scitamineae in series
Epigynae, on account of inferior gynoecium.
10. The position of series Apocarpae is unsatisfactory due to its free and superior carpels.
Endosperm: Meaning and Types (With Diagram) |
Botany
Let us learn about Endosperm. After reading this article you will learn about: 1. Meaning of
Endosperm 2. Types of Endosperm Formation.
Meaning of Endosperm:
The endosperm makes the main source of food for the embryo. In gymnosperms, the endosperm is haploid (n) and
forms a continuation of the female gametophyte. On the other hand, in angiosperms it is formed mostly as the
result of a fusion of the two polar nuclei and one of the male gametes. Since all the three nuclei taking part in the
fusion are haploid, the endosperm becomes triploid (3n).
In normal cases, the endosperm is triploid but haploid, tetraploid and polyploid endosperms are also known.
Generally the endosperm nucleus divides after the division of the oospore, but in several cases the endosperm is
formed to a great extent even before the first division of the oospore. However, endosperm formation is
suppressed in two angiospermic families, the Orchidaceae and Podostemonaceae.
Types of Endosperm Formation:
There are three general types of endosperm formation:
(a) Nuclear type,
(b) Cellular type and
(c) Helobial type.
Nuclear Type:
In this type, the first division and usually several of the following divisions are unaccompanied by wall formation.
The nuclei may either remain free or in later stages, they may become separated by walls.
As divisions progress, the nuclei are being pushed towards the periphery, thus a large central vacuole is formed.
Often the nuclei are especially aggregated at the micropylar and chalazal ends of the sac and form only a thin layer
at the sides.
Generally the endosperm nuclei in the chalazal part of the embryo sac have been observed to be larger than those
in the micropylar end. The number of free nuclear divisions varies in different plants.
The development of the endosperm of Cocos nucifera of Palmae deserves special mention. Here the primary
endosperm nucleus undergoes a number of free nuclear divisions. When the fruit is about 50 mm long the embryo
sac remains filled with a watery fluid or milk containing free nuclei and fine cytoplasmic particles.
At a later stage when the fruit becomes about 100 mm in length the liquid shows in addition to free nuclei, several
cells each enclosing variable number of nuclei. Gradually these cells and free nuclei set at the periphery of the
cavity, and layers of cellular endosperm are formed, and this becomes the coconut meat.
On maturity of coconuts the endosperm does not have free nuclei or cells. In Areca nut the development of the
endosperm is like that of coconut but the embryo sac cavity is small and it is completely filled up by the growth of
the endosperm, and later becomes very hard.
The nuclear type of endosperm formation is the most common type and found in maize, wheat, rice, sunflower,
etc.
Cellular Type:
In this type, the first and most of the following divisions are accompanied by wall formation and thus the sac is
divided into several chambers, some of which may contain more than one nucleus. The first wall is usually
transverse but sometimes vertical or oblique, and in some other cases, the plane of division is not constant.
On the basis of the orientation of walls following the first two or three divisions, this type of endosperm has been
further divided into several subtypes.
Helobial Type:
This type is frequently found in the members of the order Helobiales. This type is intermediate between the
nuclear and the cellular types. In this type the first division is followed by a transverse wall resulting in a
micropylar and chalazal chamber. Further divisions are generally free nuclear and may be formed by the
micropylar chamber only.
Eremurus is an example of a typical Helobial endosperm. Here the primary endosperm nucleus divides tranversely
forming two chambers, a large micropylar and a small chalazal. Free nuclear divisions occur in both but are more
rapid in micropylar chamber. Thus, when four nuclei are formed in the chalazal chamber, eight nuclei are
produced in the micropylar chamber.
When the chalazal chamber has eight nuclei, the micropylar chamber contains sixteen nuclei, and when there are
30 to 32 nuclei in chalazal chamber the micropylar chamber has considerably a large number of nuclei.
In older ovules, the chalazal chamber begins to degenerate. Finally, when cell formation takes place in the
micropylar chamber, the chalazal chamber is almost crushed and shows only a few disorganized nuclei.
Leaf Abscission: Definition & Purpose

Every year we see trees drop their leaves in anticipation of winter. This actually has a specific
purpose and reason. Abscission occurs in many different plants for a variety of reasons, and in
this lesson, we will look at the specifics of abscission.

What Is a Leaf Abscission?

Abscission is the shedding away or cutting off of different parts of an organism, generally a
plant. When you see a plant dropping its leaves or its fruits, this is a form of abscission. Leaf
abscission is simply when a plant drops its leaves.
As is commonly seen, deciduous, or leaf bearing trees, drop their leaves in preparation for
wintertime. Coniferous, or cone bearing trees, also drop some of their needle-shaped leaves,
though not all of them, just before winter. But coniferous trees also drop their needles
periodically throughout the year. That's why if you look at the ground around a pine tree, you
will probably see lots of needles.

How Does Abscission Work?

In terms of how leaf falling occurs, we can look at the environment at the time of abscission.
This process generally occurs during the fall when we see the weather beginning to cool and
the growing season ending. As the autumn and winter months approach, the leaves from all
leaf-bearing trees and the needles from some pine trees, such as the larch, will drop.
Oftentimes, the process of abscission is brought on by a number of factors, including lack
of chlorophyll, which is the light-absorbing pigment that makes leaves green. In the autumn
months, we see a reduction in the number of hours of sunlight. This causes a slow-down
of photosynthesis, the method by which plants make food by absorbing sunlight and taking in
carbon dioxide and water. When photosynthesis slows down, there is a reduction of chlorophyll
in plant leaves. This then allows the leaf to turn colors, depending on the other pigments in that
particular leaf. The pigments xanthophylls, carotenoids, and anthocyanins will cause the leaf to
turn yellow, orange, or red. Which color the leaf turns will depend upon the particular pigment
in the leaf. The leaf then falls off.
Fossil: Definition, Types, Characteristics & Examples

Fossils provide scientists with many clues about Earth's history, offering evidence of dinosaurs
and strange plants that existed in the past. This lesson will define a fossil, look at different
types and characteristics of fossils, and then describe how fossils are formed.

Definition of Fossils
Have you ever wondered how scientists know so much about the earth's past? For example,
how they know Hadrosaurs, a group of duck-billed dinosaurs, lived in Alaska 90 million years
ago? Or how they know a relative of today's horsetail plant lived 150 million years ago?
Paleontologists, or scientists who study fossils, help paint a picture of what life used to look
like on earth millions of years ago. Fossils are remains or traces of past organisms that have
been preserved by nature. And here's a fun fact: the word 'fossil' is Latin and actually means
'obtained by digging,' which makes sense because they are often buried.

Types of Fossils
There are many ways fossils can form, and we'll get to all that in a minute. First, let's discuss
the two main ways that fossils can be classified:

 Body fossils
 and trace fossils

The remains of a Hadrosaur are an example of a body fossil, or fossils of the actual organism.
Typically, hard structures like bones, shells, and teeth fossilize more often than soft-bodied
structures like tissues or plant leaves, but as is seen with the horsetail relative, plants can
become fossils.
The other type of fossil is called a trace fossil, where evidence of the organism but not
the actual organism is preserved, such as a track, a burrow, a nest, or even feces.

Characteristics and Examples of Fossil Formation

The many different ways organisms are preserved gives fossils different characteristics. Let's
explore a few ways fossils can form.
Permineralization is when an organism dies and sediment enters the body, filling in the pores
of a leaf, or a bone or a shell. Oftentimes, minerals from the sediment will eventually replace
the organism's tissues, leaving a replica of the original organism.
Mold fossils and cast fossils occur when an organism leaves an imprint that is fossilized. Mold
fossils are when an imprint is made and that imprint is fossilized, whereas cast fossils are
imprints that are filled in and then fossilized.

For paleontologists, finding an organism that is preserved without any changes to its
composition is a huge find. For example, when an organism is preserved through freezing, soft
tissue like muscle and skin stays intact; or when an organism falls in tree amber and then is
fossilized, the organism is preserved. This is called whole body preservation.

How Fossils Form

You know some of the different types of fossils, but let's look at how fossils form. Fossilization,
or fossil formation, is actually pretty rare. The right organism has to be in the right place at the
right time. When an organism dies, it usually gets dispersed by organisms eating it or by the
elements like wind and water. In addition, many organisms do not fossilize well because of
their soft bodies.
difference between simple leaf and compound leaf

Considering the way the leaf blade or lamina is divided leaves can either be simple or
compound in shape.
Difference between simple leaf and compound leaf
Simple Leaf Compound Leaf
A simple leaf has a single blade.
A simple leaf may have incisions
but these incisions are not deep The blades of compound leaves are divided
enough to divide the blade into into distinct parts called leaflets.
leaflets (one of the subdivisions
of a compound leaf).
Axillary bud is present in the axil of a
An axillary bud is present in the
compound leaf as well, but the leaflets of a
axil of a simple leaf
compound leaf do not have them.
Example: Rose, Coriander, Azadirachta indica
Example: Mango, Guava
(Neem), Moringa
What Is the Joule-Thomson Effect?
For several years, James Prescott Joule and William Thomson – both British physicists –
worked in collaboration, conducting experiments designed to analyze and advance
thermodynamics. In 1852, the researchers made a particularly notable discovery. They
found that a temperature change can occur in a gas as a result of a sudden pressure change
over a valve. Known as the Joule-Thomson effect (or sometimes the Thomson-Joule effect),
this phenomenon has proven to be important in the advancement of refrigeration systems as
well as liquefiers, air conditioners, and heat pumps. It is also the effect that is responsible
for a tire valve getting cold when you let out the air from a bicycle tire.
The temperature change pertaining to the Joule-Thomson effect can occur when a flowing
gas passes through a pressure regulator, which acts as a throttling device, valve, or porous
plug. Here, a temperature change is not necessarily desirable. To balance out any Joule-
Thomson related temperature changes, a heating or cooling element can be used.
Definitions of Symbols Used to Describe the Joule-Thomson Effect
Before analyzing the Joule-Thomson effect mathematically, you need to be familiar with
the nomenclature that is used to describe the effect. The table below provides an overview
of the relevant nomenclature:
Understanding the Joule-Thomson Effect
Consider the image below, describing a gas flow that expands through a porous, permeable
plug from a higher to a lower pressure state, with thermally insulated walls.
Schematic of throttling through a porous plug.

This is an adiabatic throttling process. No heat or mechanical work is exchanged with the
environment. Fundamental thermodynamic definitions can be used to develop an energy
balance for the flow process into and out of the porous section, with 1 representing the inlet
and 2 representing the outlet:
where is the enthalpy and is the velocity (m/s). Here, any magnetic, electric, and nuclear
energy contributions are neglected. For gas flows at moderate velocities, it is safe to
disregard the kinetic energy change in comparison to any enthalpy changes:
Therefore, it is evident that the process happens at constant enthalpy – in other words, it
is isenthalpic. Most engineers remember from their textbooks
that an enthalpy change can be calculated from the material
property heat capacity, , as
At this point, from the equation above, one might jump to the
conclusion that if is 0, then must also be 0, assuming that is
never 0. Such a conclusion contradicts the experimental
findings from Thomson and Joule. The two physicists found
that some gases actually change in temperature at throttling. But
how can this be explained? The answer lies in some
thermodynamic reasoning and the concept
of ideal versus realgases. Unfortunately, Eq. (3) is not entirely
true; it is a special case for ideal gases (and liquids).
Looking at a more general situation, is a thermodynamic state function. According to the
so-called Gibbs' phase rule, the function must have two degrees of freedom for a substance
with a fixed composition in one phase. This means that the state of a gas can be exactly
determined, provided that the values of exactly two other state functions are known.
Entropy
PHYSICS

Entropy, the measure of a system’s thermal energy per unit temperature that is unavailable for doing useful work. Because work is
obtained from ordered molecular motion, the amount of entropy is also a measure of the molecular disorder, or randomness, of a
system. The concept of entropy provides deep insight into the direction of spontaneous change for many everyday phenomena. Its
introduction by the German physicist Rudolf Clausius in 1850 is a highlight of 19th-century physics.
The idea of entropy provides a mathematical way to encode the intuitive notion of which processes are impossible, even though they
would not violate the fundamental law of conservation of energy. For example, a block of ice placed on a hot stove surely melts, while
the stove grows cooler. Such a process is called irreversible because no slight change will cause the melted water to turn back into ice
while the stove grows hotter. In contrast, a block of ice placed in an ice-water bath will either thaw a little more or freeze a little more,
depending on whether a small amount of heat is added to or subtracted from the system. Such a process is reversible because only
an infinitesimal amount of heat is needed to change its direction from progressive freezing to progressive thawing. Similarly,
compressed gas confined in a cylinder could either expand freely into the atmosphere if a valve were opened (an irreversible process),
or it could do useful work by pushing a moveable piston against the force needed to confine the gas. The latter process is reversible
because only a slight increase in the restraining force could reverse the direction of the process from expansion to compression. For
reversible processes the system is in equilibrium with its environment, while for irreversible processes it is not.
To provide a quantitative measure for the direction of spontaneous change, Clausius introduced the concept of entropy as a precise
way of expressing the second law of thermodynamics. The Clausius form of the second law states that spontaneous change for an
irreversible process in an isolated system (that is, one that does not exchange heat or work with its surroundings) always proceeds in
the direction of increasing entropy. For example, the block of ice and the stove constitute two parts of an isolated system for which
total entropy increases as the ice melts.
By the Clausius definition, if an amount of heat Q flows into a large heat reservoir at temperature Tabove absolute zero, then the
entropy increase is ΔS = Q/T. This equation effectively gives an alternate definition of temperature that agrees with the usual
definition. Assume that there are two heat reservoirs R1 and R2 at temperatures T1 and T2 (such as the stove and the block of ice). If an

amount of heat Q flows from R1 to R2, then the net entropy change for the two reservoirs is which is positive
provided that T1 > T2. Thus, the observation that heat never flows spontaneously from cold to hot is equivalent to requiring the net
entropy change to be positive for a spontaneous flow of heat. If T1 = T2, then the reservoirs are in equilibrium, no heat flows, and ΔS =
0.
The condition ΔS ≥ 0 determines the maximum possible efficiency of heat engines—that is, systems such as gasoline or steam
engines that can do work in a cyclic fashion. Suppose a heat engine absorbs heat Q1 from R1 and exhausts heat Q2 to R2 for each

complete cycle. By conservation of energy, the work done per cycle is W = Q1 – Q2, and the net entropy change is
To make W as large as possible, Q2 should be as small as possible relative to Q1. However, Q2 cannot be zero, because this would
make ΔS negative and so violate the second law. The smallest possible value of Q2 corresponds to the condition ΔS = 0, yielding

as the fundamental equation limiting the efficiency of all heat engines. A process for which ΔS = 0 is reversible
because an infinitesimal change would be sufficient to make the heat engine run backward as a refrigerator.
The same reasoning can also determine the entropy change for the working substance in the heat engine, such as a gas in a cylinder
with a movable piston. If the gas absorbs an incremental amount of heat dQ from a heat reservoir at temperature T and expands
reversibly against the maximum possible restraining pressure P, then it does the maximum work dW = P dV, where dV is the change
in volume. The internal energy of the gas might also change by an amount dU as it expands. Then by conservation of
energy, dQ = dU + P dV. Because the net entropy change for the system plus reservoir is zero when maximum work is done and the
entropy of the reservoir decreases by an amount dSreservoir = −dQ/T, this must be counterbalanced by an entropy increase of

for the working gas so that dSsystem + dSreservoir = 0. For any real process, less than the maximum
work would be done (because of friction, for example), and so the actual amount of heat dQ′ absorbed from the heat reservoir would
be less than the maximum amount dQ. For example, the gascould be allowed to expand freely into a vacuum and do no work at all.

Therefore, it can be stated that with dQ′ = dQ in the case of maximum work corresponding to
a reversible process.
This equation defines Ssystem as a thermodynamic state variable, meaning that its value is completely determined by the current state
of the system and not by how the system reached that state. Entropy is an extensive property in that its magnitude depends on the
amount of material in the system.
In one statistical interpretation of entropy, it is found that for a very large system in thermodynamic equilibrium, entropy S is
proportional to the natural logarithm of a quantity Ω representing the maximum number of microscopic ways in which the macroscopic
state corresponding to S can be realized; that is, S = k ln Ω, in which k is the Boltzmann constant that is related to molecular energy.
All spontaneous processes are irreversible; hence, it has been said that the entropy of the universe is increasing: that is, more and
more energy becomes unavailable for conversion into work. Because of this, the universe is said to be “running down.”
Ostwald’s Dilution Law

Ostwald’s dilution law is the application of the law of mass action to weak
electrolytes in solution. Suppose an acid HA is dissolved in water, it will ionise as
under:

Applying law of mass action,

Where is the dissociation (or ionisation) constant of the acid HA and is its
degree of dissociation.
This equation is known as Ostwald’s dilution law equation. If then the
above equation may be written as:

Thus at constant temperature degree of dissociation of weak electrolyte is directly

proportional to square root of its dilution. The value of can be calculated by
measuring conductance of the solution as:

Where is the equivalent conductance at a particular dilution and is equivalent

conductance at infinite dilution.
With the help of this equation; or of the acid solution may be calculated.
If we know the value of and C for any acid then may be calculated. For
example, the value of for 0.05 N acetic acid is 0.03.
Therefore the value of for acetic acid will be,

Weak electrolytes obey Ostwa1d’s dilution law fairly well, but strong electrolytes do
not obey this law; because these electrolytes almost completely ionise at every
concentration i. e. , , but in practice it is not so. thus is
not applicable for strong electrolytes. It is observed that even though .
This is due to the following two main effects:
1. The relaxation effect: According to this effect, each cation is surrounded by a
number of anions and vice versa in solution; which is called ionic atmosphere of
the oppositely charged ions. On applying e.m.f., the ion moves towards oppositely
charged electrode leaving behind the ionic atmosphere. To form a new ionic
atmosphere some time is taken which is called relaxation time and this effect of
the ionic atmosphere is called relaxation effect. Due to this effect the value of ,
is not limiting.

2. The electrophoretic effect: Since solvent molecules attached to the ionic

atmosphere moving in the opposite direction produce friction hence reduce the
motion of central ion.
What is a chromosome?
Chromosomes are thread-like structures located inside the nucleus of animal and plant cells.
Each chromosome is made of protein and a single molecule of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA).
Passed from parents to offspring, DNA contains the specific instructions that make each type of
living creature unique.
The term chromosome comes from the Greek words for color (chroma) and body (soma).
Scientists gave this name to chromosomes because they are cell structures, or bodies, that are
strongly stained by some colorful dyes used in research.
What do chromosomes do?
The unique structure of chromosomes keeps DNA tightly wrapped around spool-like proteins,
called histones. Without such packaging, DNA molecules would be too long to fit inside cells.
For example, if all of the DNA molecules in a single human cell were unwound from their
histones and placed end-to-end, they would stretch 6 feet.
For an organism to grow and function properly, cells must constantly divide to produce new
cells to replace old, worn-out cells. During cell division, it is essential that DNA remains intact
and evenly distributed among cells. Chromosomes are a key part of the process that ensures
DNA is accurately copied and distributed in the vast majority of cell divisions. Still, mistakes do
occur on rare occasions.
Changes in the number or structure of chromosomes in new cells may lead to serious
problems. For example, in humans, one type of leukemia and some other cancers are caused
by defective chromosomes made up of joined pieces of broken chromosomes.
It is also crucial that reproductive cells, such as eggs and sperm, contain the right number of
chromosomes and that those chromosomes have the correct structure. If not, the resulting
offspring may fail to develop properly. For example, people with Down syndrome have three
copies of chromosome 21, instead of the two copies found in other people.
Do all living things have the same types of chromosomes?
Chromosomes vary in number and shape among living things. Most bacteria have one or two
circular chromosomes. Humans, along with other animals and plants, have linear
chromosomes that are arranged in pairs within the nucleus of the cell.
The only human cells that do not contain pairs of chromosomes are reproductive cells, or
gametes, which carry just one copy of each chromosome. When two reproductive cells unite,
they become a single cell that contains two copies of each chromosome. This cell then divides
and its successors divide numerous times, eventually producing a mature individual with a full
set of paired chromosomes in virtually all of its cells.
Besides the linear chromosomes found in the nucleus, the cells of humans and other complex
organisms carry a much smaller type of chromosome similar to those seen in bacteria. This
circular chromosome is found in mitochondria, which are structures located outside the nucleus
that serve as the cell's powerhouses.
Scientists think that, in the past, mitochondria were free-living bacteria with the ability to
convert oxygen into energy. When these bacteria invaded cells lacking the power to tap into
oxygen's power, the cells retained them, and, over time, the bacteria evolved into modern-day
mitochondria.

What are centromeres?

The constricted region of linear chromosomes is known as the centromere. Although this
constriction is called the centromere, it usually is not located exactly in the center of the
chromosome and, in some cases, is located almost at the chromosome's end. The regions on
either side of the centromere are referred to as the chromosome's arms.
Centromeres help to keep chromosomes properly aligned during the complex process of cell
division. As chromosomes are copied in preparation for production of a new cell, the
centromere serves as an attachment site for the two halves of each replicated chromosome,
known as sister chromatids.
Parts of the Digestive System
Every day, we eat food and the body carries out the process of digestion. Food is our body's
fuel source. The nutrients in food give the body's cells the energy and other substances they
need to operate, and digestion is the process of breaking down the food and drink into smaller
molecules like carbohydrates, proteins, fats, and vitamins.
There are many parts of the digestive system, including the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, also
called the digestive tract, the liver, the pancreas, and the gallbladder. The gastrointestinal
tract is a long, twisting tube of hollow organs that start at the mouth and end at the anus. Have
you ever gone to a water amusement park and rode down one of the tube slides into the
water? Well, that could represent the hollow organs of the GI tract. Just picture the food going
down the slide.
Hollow organs in the GI tract include the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine, large
intestine, including the rectum, and anus. Solid organs of the digestive system are the liver,
pancreas, and gallbladder.
However, the hollow and solid organs are not alone in the process of digesting food. There are
other areas of the body that assist with digestion. They include bacteria in the GI tract and
parts of the nervous and circulatory systems.
Digestion Process Overview
Food enters the mouth and passes to the anus through the hollow organs of the GI tract.
Digestion happens when food moves through the GI tract. Muscles in the hollow organs
contract and relax, moving like a wave that travels through the ocean. This moves food
along. Peristalsis is the process of the movement of food through the GI tract.
So, digestion begins in the mouth when you chew and ends in the large intestine 18 to 20
hours later. As food passes through the GI tract, it mixes with digestive juices, causing large
molecules of food to break down into smaller molecules. Think of a can of tomato soup. When
you open the can, it is a thick red blob. You have to add water to make the blob turn into the
soup - this is similar to how the digestive juices break down the molecules into nutrients.
Absorption of the smaller molecules, including carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins, and
minerals, happen through the walls of the small intestine and go into the bloodstream. Then,
the circulatory system, specifically the blood, works to distribute these nutrients to the rest of
the body.
You eat until you're satisfied, and then you do not think about digestion again. But for the next
18 to 20 hours, your digestive system is doing its job. The food you ate travels throughout your
body.
Digestion: Mouth to Stomach
Even before food enters your mouth, the digestive process begins. Think of your favorite food.
You can almost taste it, right? Now you have the food placed in front of you, and what
happens? You begin to salivate, or produce saliva in your mouth. This happens because the
brain sends impulses through the nerves that control the salivary glands, telling them to
prepare for a meal - so your body releases saliva.
Then, you begin to eat the food. Your teeth tear and chop the food while the saliva moistens it
for easier swallowing. Amylase is an important digestive enzyme in your saliva. It starts to
break down some of the carbohydrates in the food even before it leaves your mouth.
Swallowing then moves the food into your throat, also called the pharynx. From the throat, food
travels down a muscular tube called the esophagus. Peristalsis then forces the food down
through the esophagus to the stomach.
At the end of the esophagus, there is a muscular ring, called a sphincter, that opens for food
and then shuts. When the sphincter is closed, food or fluid cannot flow back up into the
esophagus.
The stomach muscles churn and mix the food with digestive juices, breaking it into much
smaller, more digestible pieces. All of this takes place without you even being aware of the
muscles of the esophagus and stomach moving.
Respiration in Mammals
All life respires, or breathes. Respiration in mammals is similar to respiration in other air
breathing animals. Respiration is necessary to extract oxygen from the air, which is use by
cells. Respiration also carries waste carbon dioxide away from the cells. Although respiration
depends on other systems (like the circulatory system) to take oxygen and carbon dioxide to
and from cells, the respiratory system is primarily responsible for bringing oxygen in to a
mammal's body and sending carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
Mammalian respiration occurs in the animal’s respiratory system. A respiratory system is made
up of muscles, airways, and lungs that work to bring fresh air into lungs where oxygen is
exchanged in blood for carbon dioxide. The airways are often lined with hairs or other
structures that help to clean the air of dust and microbes before it enters the lungs.
Muscle Structures
Mammalian respiratory systems rely on a single large muscle at the base of the lungs. This
muscle is called a diaphragm. The diaphragm pulls the lungs downward to increase their
volume, causing air to rush into the lungs. As it presses upward, the lungs become smaller,
and air is exhaled. Muscles in the rib cage work in consort with the diaphragm to expand and
contract the lungs.
Airways
Different mammals breathe differently. Some breathe through the nose, others breathe through
the mouth. Some mammals are able to breathe through either the nose or the mouth. As the air
passes through the nose or down the trachea, or airway, small hairs and microscopic hair-like
structures filter the air by attracting dust and microbes that could cause damage or infection in
the lungs.
Lung Structures
As the air passes through the airways, it enters the lungs. Mammals have two lungs. The air is
split between the lungs by an airway called bronchi. It moves to smaller airways called
bronchioles. The bronchioles take the air to alveoli, which are small sacks where the gas
transfer occurs.
Problems With Mammilan Respiration
Mammalian respiration can be interrupted by the presence of liquid in the lungs. Whether from
an infection or artificially introduced, such as in the case of drowning, liquid in the lungs
interferes with the gas transfer in the alveoli. As the alveoli fill with water, less oxygen can
reach the blood cells. In extreme cases, such as drowning, enough oxygen is blocked that the
brain of the mammal dies.
What Is the Mechanism of Enzyme Activity?

Have you ever wondered what an enzyme is and what it does? In this lesson, we'll learn what
an enzyme is and how it does its job in the cell - the mechanism of enzyme activity. We'll also
look at an example of an enzyme mechanism.

What Is an Enzyme?
Think of baking a delicious batch of cookies. Cookies can be a lot of work. You have to
measure the flour and spend time rapidly mixing the butter and sugar with a wooden spoon. In
fact, trying to beat together butter and sugar with a wooden spoon can take quite a bit of
energy. However, most people have electric egg beaters or a fancy stand mixer to get the job
done faster. These mixers act kind of like a tiny molecule called an enzyme inside our cells.
Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up chemical reactions. Like the mixer sped up our
beating of the butter and sugar, enzymes speed up things that have to happen inside the cell.
And just like the cookies are still good if you use a mixer to make them more easily, the end
product in a chemical reaction with an enzyme is still the same, we just got there more
efficiently.
Instead of butter and sugar, enzymes work on starting materials called reactants and make
them into end products. These are things the cell needs. For example, glucose may be
converted to ATP and another molecule to make energy for the cell. Let's take a closer look at
how enzymes accomplish this.

How Do Enzymes Work?

Enzymes speed up chemical reactions in the body, making things go faster than they normally
would. But how do they accomplish this feat? Well, every reaction has an initial barrier called
activation energy. Activation energy is like the hump the reaction has to get over before it can
get started. Even reactions that net a production of energy still need to break this barrier. Think
of it like pushing a car that broke down. It's really hard to get started, but once you and your
friends get some momentum going, the car starts to roll and you can ease it to the side of the
road.
Enzymes lower the activation energy of a reaction, which helps it go faster. Some enzymes,
like carbonic anhydrase, which converts carbon dioxide to bicarbonate in the blood, make the
reaction proceed nearly a million times faster than without the enzyme just by lowering
activation energy. How does the enzyme do this? The answer is in the way the enzyme binds
the reactants it works with, called the substrate.
Essay on DNA

In this essay we will discuss about:- 1. Definition of DNA Replication 2. Mechanism of

DNA Replication 3. Evidences for Semi-Conservative DNA Replication 4. Models for
Replication of Prokaryotic DNA.
Essay # Definition of DNA Replication:
DNA replicates by “unzipping” along the two strands, breaking the hydrogen bonds which link the
pairs of nucleotides. Each half then serves as a template for nucleotides available in the cells which are
joined together by DNA polymerase. The nucleotides are guanine, cytosine, adenine and thymine. DNA
replication or DNA synthesis is the process of copying a double-stranded DNA molecule.
This process is important in all known forms of life and the general mechanisms of DNA replication are
the same in prokaryotic and eukaryotic organisms. The process by which a DNA molecule makes its
identical copies is referred to as DNA replication. In other words, it is the process of duplicating the
DNA to make two identical copies. The main points related to DNA replication are briefly presented
below.
1. Time of Replication:
The process of DNA replication takes place during cell division. The DNA replication takes place during
S sub stage of interphase. In prokaryotes, DNA replication is initiated before the end of the cell cycle.
Eukaryotic cells can only initiate DNA replication at the beginning of S phase.
2. Replication Site:
In humans and other eukaryotes, replication occurs in the cell nucleus, whereas in prokaryotes it occurs
in the cytoplasm. Prokaryotes have only one active replication site, but eukaryotes have many.
3. Template Used:
The existing DNA is used as a template for the synthesis of new DNA strands. It is possible that during
replication on strand of DNA can replicate continuously and the other discontinuously or in piece. The
continuously replicating strand is known as leading strand and the discontinuously replicating strand is
known as lagging strand.
When one strand of DNA replicates continuously and other discontinuously, it is called semi-
discontinuous replication. Earlier it was thought that DNA replicates discontinuously. But now it is
believed that DNA replication is semi-discontinuous.
Short segments of nucleotides are synthesized in the lagging strand of DNA as a result of discontinuous
replication. These are called Okazaki after the name of discoverer. Okazaki fragments are about 1,500
bases in length in prokaryotes, and 150 bases in eukaryotes
4. Enzymes Involved:
The process of DNA replication takes place under the control of DNA polymerase. In other words, the
process is catalized by the polymerase enzyme. In eukaryotes, four types of polymerase enzymes, viz.
alpha, delta, gamma and epsilon are used.
DNA Polymerase alpha and delta replicate the DNA. The alpha is associated with initiation, and delta
extends the nascent strands. DNA polymerase epsilon and beta are used for repair. DNA polymerase
gamma is used for replication of mitochondrial DNA