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radiator

(Encyclopedia)radiator, device used to heat an area surrounding it or to cool a fluid circulating within it. The familiar radiators of steam and hot water heating systems in buildings are misnamed, as they operate ...

Croydon

(Encyclopedia)Croydon, outer borough of Greater London, SE England. It is London's second largest shopping and cultural center after West End. London's first airport,...

chemical equation

(Encyclopedia)chemical equation, group of symbols representing a chemical reaction. There are a number of other symbols used in chemical equations. A symbol written above or below the reaction arrow indicates spe...

conduction

(Encyclopedia)conduction, transfer of heat or electricity through a substance, resulting from a difference in temperature between different parts of the substance, in the case of heat, or from a difference in elect...

Stahl, Georg Ernst

(Encyclopedia)Stahl, Georg Ernst gāˈôrkh ĕrnst shtäl [key], 1660–1734, German physician and chemist. He taught (1694–1716) at the Univ. of Halle, then went to Berlin as court physician. He is known for his...

explosive

(Encyclopedia)explosive, substance that undergoes decomposition or combustion with great rapidity, evolving much heat and producing a large volume of gas. The reaction products fill a much greater volume than that ...

automobile

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Automobile chassis CE5 Two views of a six-cylinder automobile engine automobile, self-propelled vehicle used for travel on land. The term is commonly applied to a four-wheeled vehicle desig...

Mayer, Julius Robert von

(Encyclopedia)Mayer, Julius Robert von, 1814–78, German physician and physicist, studied medicine at Tübingen, Munich, and Paris. From a consideration of the generation of animal heat, he was led to determine th...

cramp

(Encyclopedia)cramp, painful uncontrollable contraction of a muscle or group of muscles. The type that results from cold, strain, or disturbance of circulation (as experienced by swimmers) is eased by massage and t...

hardening

(Encyclopedia)hardening, in metallurgy, treatment of metals to increase their resistance to penetration. A metal is harder when it has small grains, which result when the metal is cooled rapidly. Sometimes small ar...