Cast iron
Cast iron, an alloy of iron that contains 2 to 4 percent carbon, along with varying amounts of silicon and manganese and traces of impurities such as sulfur and phosphorus. It is made by reducing iron ore in a blast furnace.…
Coal gasification
Coal gasification, any process of converting coal into gas for use in illuminating and heating. The first illuminating gas was manufactured from coal in England in the late 18th century by the process of…
Chemical element
Chemical element, also called element, any substance that cannot be decomposed into simpler substances by ordinary chemical processes. Elements are the fundamental materials of which all matter is composed. General Observations…
Industrial ceramics
Industrial ceramics, Ceramics are broadly defined as inorganic, nonmetallic materials that exhibit such useful properties as high strength and hardness, high melting temperatures, chemical inertness, and low thermal and electrical conductivity…
Man-made fibre
Man-made fibre, fibre whose chemical composition, structure, and properties are significantly modified during the manufacturing process. Man-made fibres are spun and woven into a huge number of consumer and industrial products, including garments…
Plastic
Plastic, polymeric material that has the capability of being molded or shaped, usually by the application of heat and pressure. This property of plasticity, often found in combination with other special…
Elastomer
Elastomer, any rubbery material composed of long chainlike molecules, or polymers, that are capable of recovering their original shape after being stretched to great extents—hence the name elastomer, from “elastic polymer.”…
Transportation
Transportation, the movement of goods and persons from place to place and the various means by which such movement is accomplished. The growth of the ability—and the need—to transport large…
Nuclear power
Nuclear power, electricity generated by power plants that derive their heat from fission in a nuclear reactor. Except for the reactor, which plays the role of a boiler in a fossil-fuel power plant,…
Principles of Electron Tubes
An electron tube has two or more electrodes separated either by vacuum (in a vacuum tube) or by ionized gas at low pressure (in a gas tube). Its operation depends on the…
