182 résultats pour "energy"
- Energy.
-
World Energy Supply.
In the 1990s, oil production by non-OPEC countries remained strong and production by OPEC countries rebounded. The result at the end of the 20th century was aworld oil surplus and prices (when adjusted for inflation) that were lower than in 1972. Experts are uncertain about future oil supplies and prices. Low prices have spurred greater oil consumption, and experts question how long world petroleum reservescan keep pace with increased demand. Many of the world’s leading petroleum geologists beli...
-
Thermodynamics
I
INTRODUCTION
Thermodynamics, field of physics that describes and correlates the physical properties of macroscopic systems of matter and energy.
Carnot EngineThe idealized Carnot engine was envisioned by the French physicist Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot, who lived during theearly 19th century. The Carnot engine is theoretically perfect, that is, it converts the maximum amount of energy intomechanical work. Carnot showed that the efficiency of any engine depends on the difference between the highest andlowest temperatures reached during one cycle. The greater the difference, the greater the efficiency. An automobileengine, for example, wou...
-
Quantum Theory
I
INTRODUCTION
Quantum Theory, in physics, description of the particles that make up matter and how they interact with each other and with energy.
electron in the same way a particle with momentum would: It bumps the electron and changes the electron’s path. The light is also affected by the collision as though itwere a particle, in that its energy and momentum changes. Momentum is a quantity that can be defined for all particles. For light particles, or photons, momentum depends on the frequency, or color, of the photon, which in turndepends on the photon’s energy. The energy of a photon is equal to a constant number, called Planck’s cons...
-
Nuclear Energy
I
INTRODUCTION
Gundremmingen Nuclear Power Plant, Germany
The first of three boiling-water nuclear reactors at Germany's Gundremmingen plant began operating in 1966 but was
permanently shut down after being decommissioned in 1983.
such as ¯U is induced by the absorption of a neutron as in producing cesium-140, rubidium-93, three neutrons, and 200 MeV, or 3.2 × 10 -11 J (7.7 × 10 -12 cal). A nuclear fission reaction releases 10 million times as much energy as is released in a typical chemical reaction. See Nuclear Chemistry. III NUCLEAR ENERGY FROM FISSION The two key characteristics of nuclear fission important for the practical release of nuclear energy are both evident in equation (2). First, the energy per fiss...
-
Light
I
INTRODUCTION
Light, form of energy visible to the human eye that is radiated by moving charged particles.
simulates the action of a moving charge upon the electric field. It creates a wave that travels along the rope in a direction that is perpendicular to the initial up anddown movement. Because electromagnetic waves are transverse—that is, the vibration that creates them is perpendicular to the direction in which they travel, they are similar to waveson a rope or waves traveling on the surface of water. Unlike these waves, however, which require a rope or water, light does not need a medium, or su...
-
Electricity
I
INTRODUCTION
Electricity, one of the basic forms of energy.
electrons in the neutral object are attracted to the positive object. Some of these electrons flow to the side of the neutral object that is nearest to the positive object.This side of the neutral object accumulates electrons and becomes negatively charged. Because electrons leave the far side of the neutral object while its protonsremain stationary, that side becomes positively charged. Since the negatively charged side of the neutral object is closest to the positive object, the attraction bet...
-
Federal Energy Office
4 En décembre 1973, WIUiam E. Simon, saas-secrétaire au Trésor, prend la direction du FEO. Pour en faire une véritabie administration, il recrute 1 000 techniciens et foncllonnalres. Bien que partisan de l'économie de mar ché; il fait usage des dispositions lui ·permettant d'attri buer des· quotas par secteur et prépare, afin de parer à toute éventualité, un plan de raUonnement de l'essence. Il lance une campagne. d'économie volontaire, mai$...
-
-
Analyse
Introduction Through this company analysis, different aspects of DTE Energy Company will be cover in a financial viewpoint. I will firstly give a brief description of DTE Energy Company, after that analyze the industry in which it operates, describe its major market, analyze its financial statement with a spread sheet for the financial analysis, and finally I will determine if I will invest in this company or not. Company, Industr...
-
Electron
I
INTRODUCTION
Models of the Atom
Once scientists discovered the electron, they set out to explain how electrons behave in atoms.
Electron Density and Orbital ShapesAtomic orbitals are mathematical descriptions of where the electrons in an atom (or molecule) are most likely to be found.These descriptions are obtained by solving an equation known as the Schrödinger equation, which expresses ourknowledge of the atomic world. As the angular momentum and energy of an electron increases, it tends to reside indifferently shaped orbitals. The orbitals corresponding to the three lowest energy states are s, p, and d, respectively....
-
Light - astronomy.
Each different frequency or wavelength of visible light causes our eye to see a slightly different color. The longest wavelength we can see is deep red at about 700 nm.The shortest wavelength humans can detect is deep blue or violet at about 400 nm. Most light sources do not radiate monochromatic light. What we call white light,such as light from the Sun, is a mixture of all the colors in the visible spectrum, with some represented more strongly than others. Human eyes respond best to greenlight...
-
Turbine.
steam turbine has supplanted the reciprocating engine as a prime mover in large electricity-generating plants and is also used as a means of jet propulsion. Steam turbines are used in the generation of nuclear power and in nuclear ship propulsion. They operate with fuel-fired boilers for power generation. In cogenerationapplications requiring both process heat (heat used in an industrial process) and electricity, steam is raised at high pressure in the boiler and extracted from the turbineat th...
-
Heat (physics)
I
INTRODUCTION
Heat Loss from a House
A thermograph shows the large amount of heat lost through a house's windows during winter.
Theoretically, the molecules of a substance would exhibit no activity at the temperature termed absolute zero. See Molecule. III TEMPERATURE SCALES Five different temperature scales are in use today: the Celsius scale, known also as the Centigrade scale, the Fahrenheit scale, the Kelvin scale, the Rankine scale, andthe international thermodynamic temperature scale ( see Thermometer). The Celsius scale, with a freezing point of 0° C and a boiling point of 100° C, is widely used throughout the...
-
Nuclear Weapons.
Regardless of the method used to attain a supercritical assembly, the chain reaction proceeds for about a millionth of a second, liberating vast amounts of heat energy.The extremely fast release of a very large amount of energy in a relatively small volume causes the temperature to rise to tens of millions of degrees. The resultingrapid expansion and vaporization of the bomb material causes a powerful explosion. VI PRODUCTION OF FISSILE MATERIAL Much experimentation was necessary to make the p...
-
Fossil Fuels.
water molecules. This crystalline solid is known as gas hydrate. Because technology for the commercial extraction of gas hydrates has not yet been developed, this typeof fossil fuel is not included in most world energy resource estimates. However, in February 2007 the U.S. Department of Energy completed the drilling of a well toretrieve core samples of gas hydrates found in the Prudhoe Bay region of Alaska’s North Slope. By identifying the nature of these gas hydrates, the Energy Departmenthoped...
-
Air - chemistry.
lighting systems, fertilizers, and semiconductors (substances used to make the chips in computers, calculators, televisions, microwave ovens, and many other electronicdevices). A Oxygen More than half of the oxygen produced in the United States is used by the steel industry, which injects the gas into basic oxygen furnaces to heat and produce steel(see Iron and Steel Manufacture: Basic Oxygen Process ). Metalworkers also combine oxygen with acetylene to produce high-temperature torch flames th...
-
-
Interstellar Matter - astronomy.
silhouette of a cloud of dust. At other times, it blocks only a percentage of the light from behind it, a process known by astronomers as extinction . The long, narrow dark lanes in the Milky Way as seen from Earth are examples of extinction. The amount of extinction is different for different wavelengths of light. A2 Reddening Starlight that does not get completely absorbed by interstellar dust can still be changed by the dust’s effects. As light passes through less dense patches of interstel...
-
Photosynthesis - biology.
P680 in Photosystem II is now electron deficient because it has donated electrons to P700 in Photosystem I. P680 electrons are replenished by the water that has beenabsorbed by the plant roots and transported to the chloroplasts in the leaves. The movement of electrons in Photosystems I and II and the action of an enzyme split thewater into oxygen, hydrogen ions, and electrons. The electrons from water flow to Photosystem II, replacing the electrons lost by P680. Some of the hydrogen ions maybe...
-
Meteorology.
to find the corresponding relative humidity and dew-point temperature. III SPECIAL METEOROLOGICAL INSTRUMENTS Meteorologists have developed several sophisticated instruments that measure multiple physical characteristics of the air simultaneously and at more than one location.The most important of these special instruments are radiosondes, Doppler radar, and weather satellites. A Radiosonde A radiosonde measures air temperature, air pressure, and humidity from the earth’s surface up to an alt...
-
Conservation.
cancers, Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Unfortunately, human activities have greatly reduced biodiversity around the world. The 20th century encompasses one of the greatest waves of extinction, orelimination of species, to occur on the planet. The greatest threat to biodiversity is loss of habitat as humans develop land for agriculture, grazing livestock, industry,and habitation. The most drastic damage has occurred in the tropical rain forests, which cover less than seven percent of the Earth’...
-
Radio Astronomy - astronomy.
equivalent to the apparent angular dimensions of a basketball at the distance of the moon. In 1984, the U.S. government appropriated funds for the construction of aninstallation called the very long baseline array (VLBA), a network of 10 radio antennas spread from the U.S.-Canadian border to Puerto Rico and from Hawaii to the U.S.Atlantic coast. The VLBA is expected to provide angular resolutions in the range of 200-millionths of an arc second. Canada and Australia are both planning similarprogr...
-
Animal Courtship and Mating - biology.
activity. These animals frequently copulate in water, and the penis helps transfer sperm before it is carried away by the currents Ostriches and rheas also contain apenis within the cloaca. Virtually all snakes and lizards display yet another variation of internal fertilization. Located in the tail are two penises, called hemepenes, which are covered by spinesand knobs that help lock it into place during mating. The male uses one hemepene at a time for copulation. Male salamanders secrete large...
-
Inorganic Chemistry - chemistry.
two electrically charged plates (positively charged top plate and negatively charged bottom plate). By measuring the difference in how fast these electron-laden oildrops fell when the metal plates were charged and uncharged, Millikan was able to calculate the total charge on each oil drop. Because each measurement was a wholenumber multiple of -1.60 × 10 -19 coulombs, Millikan concluded this was the charge carried by a single electron. Using Thomson’s electron charge-to-mass ratio, Millikan then...
-
Human Nutrition.
is one of the most preventable types of cancer. Nutritionists caution that most Americans need to eat more complex carbohydrates. In the typical American diet, only 40 to 50 percent of total calories come fromcarbohydrates—a lower percentage than found in most of the world. To make matters worse, half of the carbohydrate calories consumed by the typical American comefrom processed foods filled with simple sugars. Experts recommend that these foods make up no more that 10 percent of our diet, bec...
-
-
Jupiter (planet) - astronomy.
Beneath the supercritical fluid zone, the pressure reaches 3 million Earth atmospheres. At this depth, the atoms collide so frequently and violently that the hydrogenatoms are ionized—that is, the negatively charged electrons are stripped away from the positively charged protons of the hydrogen nuclei. This ionization results in asea of electrically charged particles that resembles a liquid metal and gives rise to Jupiter’s magnetic field. This liquid metallic hydrogen zone is 30,000 to 40,000 k...
-
Neutron
I
INTRODUCTION
Neutron, electrically neutral elementary particle that is part of the nucleus of the atom.
Beta DecayBeta decay can occur in two ways. As shown on the left, a neutron turns into a proton by emitting an antineutrino and anegatively charged beta particle. As shown on the right, a proton turns into a neutron by emitting a neutrino and apositively charged beta particle. Positive beta particles are called positrons and negative beta particles are called electrons.After the decay, the nucleus of the atom contains either one less or one more proton. Beta decay changes an atom of oneelement i...
-
Plant - biology.
B1 Vacuoles Vacuoles are membrane-bound cavities filled with cell sap, which is made up mostly of water containing various dissolved sugars, salts, and other chemicals. B2 Plastids Plastids are types of organelles, structures that carry out specialized functions in the cell. Three kinds of plastids are important here. Chloroplasts contain chlorophyllsand carotenoid pigments; they are the site of photosynthesis, the process in which light energy from the sun is fixed as chemical energy in the b...
-
Radioactivity
I
INTRODUCTION
Marie Curie
Working with her husband, Pierre Curie, French physicist Marie Curie discovered the radioactive elements polonium and
radium in 1898.
Rutherford when he allowed an alpha-emitting substance to decay near an evacuated thin-glass vessel. The alpha particles were able to penetrate the glass and werethen trapped in the vessel, and within a few days the presence of elemental helium was demonstrated by use of a spectroscope. Beta particles were subsequentlyshown to be electrons, and gamma rays to consist of electromagnetic radiation of the same nature as X rays but of considerably greater energy. A The Nuclear Hypothesis Rutherford...
-
Chemical Analysis - chemistry.
inorganic reactions than by organic functional group chemistry. VII SPECTROSCOPIC TECHNIQUES Spectroscopy, or the study of the interactions of electromagnetic radiation with matter, is the largest and most nearly accurate class of instrumental methods used inchemical analysis and indeed in all of chemistry ( see Spectroscopy; Spectrum). The electromagnetic radiation (emr) spectrum is divided into the following wavelength regions: X ray, ultraviolet, visible, infrared, microwave, and radiowave....
-
Electric Lighting.
successful arc lamp in 1878. Tungsten filaments were substituted for carbon filaments in incandescent lamps in 1907, and gas-filled incandescent lamps were developedin 1913. The fluorescent lamp was introduced in 1938. See also Lamp. For most of the 20th century the incandescent light bulb was widely used for lighting in homes. More energy-efficient and longer-lasting fluorescent lamps were adoptedfor industrial and office use. In 1979 a compact fluorescent bulb that screwed into ordinary lig...
-
Prokaryote - biology.
earliest organisms to evolve, an estimated 3.4 billion to 3.5 billion years ago. The environment of the early Earth lacked oxygen, and cyanobacteria probably usedfermentation (a chemical process performed without the presence of oxygen) to produce the energy molecule adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Cyanobacteria introduced oxygen into the atmosphere through the process of photosynthesis. As the oxygen content in the atmosphere increased over the centuries, bacteria evolved that usedthis oxygen in...
-
Bird.
I
INTRODUCTION
Bird, animal with feathers and wings. Birds are the only
B Physical Adaptations for Flight The internal body parts of all birds, including flightless ones, reflect the evolution of birds as flying creatures. Birds have lightweight skeletons in which many of themajor bones are hollow. A unique feature of birds is the furculum, or wishbone, which is comparable to the collarbones of humans, although in birds the left and rightportions are fused together. The furculum absorbs the shock of wing motion and acts as a spring to help birds breathe while they...
-
-
Bird - biology.
B Physical Adaptations for Flight The internal body parts of all birds, including flightless ones, reflect the evolution of birds as flying creatures. Birds have lightweight skeletons in which many of themajor bones are hollow. A unique feature of birds is the furculum, or wishbone, which is comparable to the collarbones of humans, although in birds the left and rightportions are fused together. The furculum absorbs the shock of wing motion and acts as a spring to help birds breathe while they...
-
Sun - astronomy.
A The Sun’s Place in the Milky Way The Milky Way Galaxy contains about 400 billion stars. All of these stars, and the gas and dust between them, are rotating about a galactic center. Stars that arefarther away from the center move at slower speeds and take longer to go around it. The Sun is located in the outer part of the galaxy, at a distance of 2.6 × 10 17 km (1.6 × 10 17 mi) from the center. The Sun, which is moving around the center at a velocity of 220 km/s (140 mi/s), takes 250 million y...
-
Manhattan Project - U.
other possible uses of nuclear energy, such as using uranium to operate large power plants or, perhaps, as power sources for ships or submarines. Then Nazi Germanyinvaded Poland on September 1, 1939, and Europe plunged into war. The scientists realized that any plans to build large-scale nuclear power plants would have to waituntil the war was over. Two weeks after the invasion of Poland, Hitler made a radio speech in which he threatened Britain with “a weapon against which there is no defense.”...
-
Laser.
their atoms into laser light. Consequently, they are the most powerful continuous wave (CW) lasers—that is, lasers that emit light continuously rather than in pulses. C Liquid Lasers The most common liquid laser media are inorganic dyes contained in glass vessels. They are pumped by intense flash lamps in a pulse mode or by a separate gas laserin the continuous wave mode. Some dye lasers are tunable, meaning that the color of the laser light they emit can be adjusted with the help of a prism lo...
-
Hydrogen - chemistry.
Hydrogen gas does not usually react with other chemicals at room temperature. That is, it does not split into two hydrogen atoms to combine with other chemicals. Thebond between the hydrogen atoms is very strong and can only be broken with a large amount of energy. However, when heated with a flame or a spark, hydrogen gaswill react violently with oxygen in the air to produce water in the following reaction: 2H2 + O 2 → 2H 2O This chemical equation shows that two hydrogen molecules (H 2) and o...
-
Cell (biology) - biology.
proteins, or other proteins required by the cell. While relatively simple in construction, prokaryotic cells display extremely complex activity. They have a greater range of biochemical reactions than those found in theirlarger relatives, the eukaryotic cells. The extraordinary biochemical diversity of prokaryotic cells is manifested in the wide-ranging lifestyles of the archaebacteria andthe bacteria, whose habitats include polar ice, deserts, and hydrothermal vents—deep regions of the ocean un...
-
Earth (planet).
Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...
-
Earth (planet) - astronomy.
Milky Way to complete one revolution around the Galaxy’s center. Earth’s axis of rotation is inclined (tilted) 23.5° relative to its plane of revolution around the Sun. This inclination of the axis creates the seasons and causes the height of the Sun in the sky at noon to increase and decrease as the seasons change. The Northern Hemisphere receives the most energy from the Sun when it is tiltedtoward the Sun. This orientation corresponds to summer in the Northern Hemisphere and winter in the S...
-
-
Earthquake.
III CAUSES Most earthquakes are caused by the sudden slip along geologic faults. The faults slip because of movement of the Earth’s tectonic plates. This concept is called theelastic rebound theory. The rocky tectonic plates move very slowly, floating on top of a weaker rocky layer. As the plates collide with each other or slide past eachother, pressure builds up within the rocky crust. Earthquakes occur when pressure within the crust increases slowly over hundreds of years and finally exceeds...
-
Sound
I
INTRODUCTION
Sound, physical phenomenon that stimulates the sense of hearing.
A fundamental law of harmony states that two notes an octave apart, when sounded together, produce a pleasant-sounding combination. Other combinations of notescan also be pleasing. Physically, an interval of a fifth consists of two notes, the frequencies of which bear the arithmetical ratio 3 to 2, and a major third, the ratio 5 to4. Fundamentally, the law of harmony states that two or more notes sound pleasant when played together if their frequencies bear small, whole number ratios; if thefreq...
-
Cosmology - astronomy.
In 1917 American scientist Harlow Shapley measured the distance to several groups of stars known as globular clusters. He measured these distances by using amethod developed in 1912 by American astronomer Henrietta Leavitt. Leavitt’s method relates distance to variations in brightness of Cepheid variables, a class of starsthat vary periodically in brightness. Shapley’s distance measurements showed that the clusters were centered around a point far from the Sun. The arrangement of theclusters was...
-
Exercise.
broad, and most studies suggest a positive relationship between physical fitness and mental achievement. The relationship between regular aerobic exercise and cardiovascular health and longevity is well established. Regular exercise leads to a reduction in the risk ofcoronary heart disease, in which fatty deposits (plaque) form in blood vessels supplying the muscular wall of the heart, compromising oxygen delivery to the heartmuscle. In addition, with regular exercise the efficiency of the heart...
-
Nanotechnology.
ever-finer method of reducing material to the nanoscale size. Instead, nanostructures would be assembled atom by atom and molecule by molecule, from the atomiclevel up, just as occurs in nature. However, assembly at this scale has its own challenges. In school, children learn about some of these challenges when they study the random Brownian motion seen in particles suspended in liquids such as water. Theparticles themselves are not moving. Rather, the water molecules that surround the particles...
-
Québec - Geography.
facilities. Tributaries south of the St. Lawrence include the Richelieu, the Saint-François, and the Chaudière rivers, which are only a few hundred kilometers long. TheRimouski and Matane rivers, also south of the St. Lawrence, are popular areas for recreation and salmon fishing. In the Canadian Shield, the longest rivers are theRupert, Eastmain, Grande Baleine, and La Grand-Rivière, which is the site of a huge hydroelectric complex. C Coastlines Québec has two systems of saltwater coastline. O...
-
Québec - Canadian History.
facilities. Tributaries south of the St. Lawrence include the Richelieu, the Saint-François, and the Chaudière rivers, which are only a few hundred kilometers long. TheRimouski and Matane rivers, also south of the St. Lawrence, are popular areas for recreation and salmon fishing. In the Canadian Shield, the longest rivers are theRupert, Eastmain, Grande Baleine, and La Grand-Rivière, which is the site of a huge hydroelectric complex. C Coastlines Québec has two systems of saltwater coastline. O...
-
Iceland - country.
III PEOPLE Icelanders are one of the most homogenous peoples in the world. They are predominantly of Nordic origin, descendants of the hardy people who emigrated fromNorway to Iceland in the Middle Ages. There are also some Celtic influences from Irish and Scottish immigrants who arrived from the British Isles ( see Celts). The population of Iceland (2008 estimate) is 304,367. Numerous times in its history, Iceland has suffered major population losses due to epidemics, volcanic eruptions, and...
-
-
Fire - chemistry.
were usually natural caves. Eventually people learned to dip branches in pitch to form torches. They created crude lamps by filling a hollowed out piece of stone withmoss soaked in oil or tallow (a substance derived from animal fat). By cooking with fire, prehistoric people made the meat of the animals they killed more palatable and digestible. They learned to preserve meat by smoking it over a fire,vastly decreasing the danger of periodic starvation. Cooking also enabled them to add some for...
-
Metabolism (chemistry) - biology.
nearly perfect balance. Although much remains to be revealed about metabolic processes, biochemists now agree that regulatory, or rate-limiting, enzymes figure largely in the reactionsinvolved ( see Enzyme). Affecting metabolic pathways at the earliest steps, each enzyme molecule has a specific, or active, site that matches, or “fits,” its particular substrate—the compound with which the enzyme forms a product. The precision with which rate-limiting enzymes and substrates join to set off a parti...