Materials, Properties, and Applications: Wood & Metals
Materials and Raw Materials
Raw materials are resources obtained directly from nature without undergoing any transformation. The main ones are:
- Air: Used in chemical reactions, lens manufacturing, and fertilizer production.
- Water: Used in non-potable manufacturing, chemical reactions, lens production, and paper making.
- Rocks and Minerals: Used to produce metals, glass, etc.
- Petroleum: Used to obtain gasoline, diesel fuel, etc.
- Vegetables: Provide fibers, resins, pigments, etc.
- Animals: Used for silk, wool,
Solar Energy Systems: Collectors, Power Plants, and PV
Stationary Collectors
Flat-Plate Collectors (FPC)
Consist of the following components:
- Glazing: Diathermanous material.
- Tubes: To conduct the heat transfer fluid from the inlet to the outlet.
- Absorber plates: Flat plate to which the tubes are attached.
- Headers: To admit and discharge the fluid.
- Insulation: To minimize heat loss.
- Container: To surround the other components.
When solar radiation passes through the transparent cover, a portion of this energy is absorbed by the plate and transferred to the transport
Read MoreWood Defects: Juvenile Wood and Growth Stresses
Young Heart Wood
A defect that occurs in wood from trees that have had a strong initial growth rate in diameter, as a result of having found very favorable ecological conditions or growing up in a forest of low mass density (low density of trees per hectare or defective). This rapid growth results in wood different from normal wood for a particular species, with the following characteristics:
- In the late wood, there was a lower proportion of cells with thick walls.
- From the foregoing feature, the apparent
Energy, Heat, and Temperature: Understanding the Basics
Energy
Energy is a physical quantity that represents the capacity of bodies to cause transformations in themselves or in other bodies.
Types of Energy
- Mechanical Energy: Possessed by bodies in motion (kinetic energy), those at a certain height (potential energy), or those that have experienced deformation (elastic energy).
- Electrical Energy: Possessed by electric current.
- Nuclear Energy: Produced in nuclear reactions of fusion and fission.
- Thermal Energy: Energy that flows from one body to another when
Understanding Environmental Issues: Causes, Effects, Solutions
Environmental Issues: Causes, Effects, and Solutions
We must be conscious of environmental problems such as overpopulation, deforestation, endangered species, pollution, hunting, and overfishing, because they contribute to global warming.
Deforestation and Its Impact
For instance, deforestation leads to the destruction of rainforests, wiping out many animals and fish. Rainforests help control global warming because they absorb carbon dioxide. In recent years, large areas have been destroyed as trees
Read MoreSubduction Zones and Plate Tectonics: Earth’s Dynamic Processes
Subduction Zones: Collision Between Plates
Subduction of Oceanic Lithosphere Under Oceanic Lithosphere
The result is the formation of a deep oceanic trench. When the subducting plate is partially melted in the mantle, magma originates. Part of it rises to the surface through cracks and reaches the subducted plate, forming an arched archipelago of islands with great volcanic activity.
Subduction of Oceanic Lithosphere Under Continental Lithosphere
This phenomenon produces an active continental margin
Read More