optical activity

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noun Physical Chemistry.

the ability of a substance to rotate the plane of polarization of plane-polarized light.

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Origin of optical activity

First recorded in 1875–80

Words nearby optical activity

optative, optesthesia, optic, optical, optical aberration, optical activity, optical allachesthesia, optical art, optical astronomy, optical bench, optical binary

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

How to use optical activity in a sentence

The most recent activity had a high point of 3.6 on the Richter Scale.
26 Earthquakes Later, Fracking’s Smoking Gun Is in Texas|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
“There is nothing whatsoever in the video which supports the charges—it shows no criminal activity,” Bakir said.
Sisi Is Persecuting, Prosecuting, and Publicly Shaming Egypt’s Gays|Bel Trew|December 30, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The masterpiece is huge, but structurally flawed and terribly vulnerable to seismic activity.
Florence Preps ‘David’ for the Big One|Barbie Latza Nadeau|December 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Moreover, trucks, dust, and boomtown stress are the effects of any large-scale industrial activity.
New York’s Conservative Fracking Ban|Jay Michaelson|December 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST

Some of them, including Kurnosova, escaped the country as they faced a possible jail term for their opposition activity.
Russians Plot Exiled Government in Kiev|Anna Nemtsova|December 16, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Other factors being equal, the amount of urea indicates the activity of metabolism.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
In disease, the amount of solids depends mainly upon the activity of metabolism and the ability of the kidneys to excrete.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
No young Cave Swallows were taken and gonads of adults were in various stages of reproductive activity.
Summer Birds From the Yucatan Peninsula|Erwin E. Klaas
It is the will directing the activity of the intellect into some particular channel and keeping it there.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
Both animal and man seemed to be dozing, but they woke into activity when the sahib approached.
The Red Year|Louis Tracy

British Dictionary definitions for optical activity

optical activity

noun

the ability of substances that are optical isomers to rotate the plane of polarization of a transmitted beam of plane-polarized light

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Medical definitions for optical activity

optical activity

The property of an asymmetrical molecule in solution to rotate the plane of polarized light either clockwise or counterclockwise.