optical activity

noun — 2 senses

optical activity

noun
1

Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Physics a property caused by asymmetrical molecular or crystal structure that enables a compound or crystal to rotate the plane of incident polarized light

2

Chemistry, Natural sciences, Physical sciences A measure of the amount of optical rotation produced by a standard amount of a substance

Related terms
optical rotation, optically active, polarimeter, stereoisomerism

Entry derived from the Wiktionary, under licence CC BY-SA 4.0 — list of authors.