Element 16 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is sulfur. Known since ancient times, but only confirmed as an element in the late 1700s, it’s responsible for a host of bad smells we encounter, and also finds uses in car tyres and gunpowder. Got a whiff of a bad smell? There’s a …
The latest element in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is phosphorus – essential for life, found in several forms, and the element that helps safety matches light when you strike them. Phosphorus is essential for life, and is a part of the sugar-phosphate backbone of DNA. It crops up elsewhere, too – …
Element number 14 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is silicon. The second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust, silicon is found in almost all electronic devices, glass, and in some lubricants. Sand is silicon dioxide, and is the principal ingredient in glass. There’s more discussion of the different types of …
Titanium is a highly interesting material in engineering because of its unique combination of high strength to weight ratio, excellent resistance to corrosion, and biocompatibility. However, the material’s low wear resistance, which is its inherent nature, limits its application in highly erosive conditions. In order to enhance the wear resistance of biomedical grade titanium with …
The thirteenth element in our International year of the Periodic Table series is aluminium. The most abundant metal in Earth’s crust, aluminium finds use in drinks cans, aluminium foil, and aeroplane construction. Aluminium is the most abundant metal in the Earth’s crust, at 8.1% by mass. However, its higher reactivity compared to other metals like …
Most of us working in the lubricating grease industry know the NLGI mantra by now: A lubricating grease is a solid to semi-fluid dispersion of a thickening agent (thickener) in a liquid. This is directly from the NLGI website glossary. But what does this mean? Let’s start at the end of the definition and work …
Magnesium is element number 12 in our International Year of the Periodic Table elements series. It’s a key component of the pigment that plants use to photosynthesis, and also finds use in sparklers and fireworks. A single magnesium ion is bound at the centre of chlorophyll, the pigment that plants use to harvest energy from …
In honor of Pi day I am posting a link to a Python module to calculate Pi using Buffon’s needle method. He used needles but you can use anything. I’ve seen posts using frozen hotdogs to calculate Pi. Enjoy Pi day. https://www.101computing.net/estimating-pi-using-buffons-needle/
Element number 11 in our International Year of the Periodic Table series is sodium. Found in salt, and responsible for the traditional yellow glow of streetlights, sodium is also an important element for the normal function of our bodies. The best-known sodium compound is sodium chloride or table salt. As well as seasoning your food, …
The objective of this work is to study the tribological properties of natural fiber based composites using nanotechnology. The naturally available banana plant fibers were treated with nanoclay particles, and these treated fibers were then reinforced in an epoxy polymer to form composites. The friction and wear properties of nanoclay-treated banana fiber (NC-BF) reinforced composites …
