• Sorb

    Origin

    From Latin sorbus the tree, sorbum the fruit; compare French sorbe. See service tree.

    Full definition of sorb

    Noun

    sorb

    (plural sorbs)
    1. The wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis) of Europe.
    2. The rowan tree.
    3. The fruit of either of these trees.

    Derived terms

    Verb

    1. (chemistry) To absorb or adsorb.
      • 1971, E. K. Duursma, M. G. Gross, Chapter Six: Marine Sediments and Radioactivity, National Research Council (U.S.) Committee on Oceanography Panel on Radioactivity in the Marine Environment, Radioactivity in the marine environment, page 148,In sediments with large cation exchange capacities, as calculated from the mineral composition (Duursma and Eisma, unpublished), the radionuclides were somewhat more strongly sorbed (Figure 2).
      • 2005, J. E. Barbash, The Geochemistry of Pesticides, Barbara Sherwood Lollar (editor), Treatise on Geochemistry 9: Environmental Geochemistry, Second Edition, page 548,The exchange of pesticide compounds between aqueous solution and the sorbed phase in soils is not instantaneous.
      • 2007, Danny D. Reible, Chapter 21: Contaminant Processes in Sediments, Marcelo H. García (editor), Sedimentation Engineering: Processes, Management, Modeling, and Practice, page 966,The quantity sorbed is often found to be well represented by the combination of a compartment exhibiting linear, reversible sorption and a compartment that exhibits nonlinear and thermodynamic irreversible sorption.

    Derived terms

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