Vicinal ''("In the neighbourhood of")'' is a general adjective used as a standard, specific, technical descriptor in a range of contexts, including:
*
Vicinal (chemistry)
In chemistry the descriptor vicinal (from Latin ''vicinus'' = neighbor), abbreviated ''vic'', is a descriptor that identifies two functional groups as bonded to two adjacent carbon atoms (i.e., in a 1,2-relationship). It may arise from vicinal ...
, stands for any two functional groups bonded to two adjacent atoms.
*
Vicinal tramway or ''Buurtspoor'', a system of narrow gauge tramways or local railways in Belgium.
* In materials science, a "vicinal substrate" is a
thin-film substrate whose
surface normal
In geometry, a normal is an object (e.g. a line, ray, or vector) that is perpendicular to a given object. For example, the normal line to a plane curve at a given point is the infinite straight line perpendicular to the tangent line to the ...
deviates slightly from a major
crystallographic
Crystallography is the branch of science devoted to the study of molecular and crystalline structure and properties. The word ''crystallography'' is derived from the Ancient Greek word (; "clear ice, rock-crystal"), and (; "to write"). In J ...
axis.
* In physics, the
exclusion zone
An exclusion zone is a geographic area in which specific activities are prohibited by an authority. The United States Department of Defense defines an exclusion zone is a territory where an authority prohibits specific activities in a specific g ...
of changed physical/molecular structure at the boundary of many liquids and a barrier has been described as the interfacial layer or the vicinal layer.
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