Principles of Physics and Meteorology

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H. Bailliere, 1847 - Fisica - 581 pages
 

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Page 2 - A clever man, shut up alone and allowed unlimited time, might reason out for himself all the truths of mathematics, by proceeding from those simple notions of space and number of which he cannot divest himself without ceasing to think. But he could never tell, by any effort of reasoning, what would become of a lump of sugar if immersed in water, or what impression would be produced on his eye by mixing the colors yellow and blue.
Page v - Author has, however, by a system of most judicious selection and condensation, been enabled to introduce all the most important facts and theories relating to Statics, Hydrostatics, Dynamics, Hydrodynamics, Pneumatics, the Laws of the Motions of Waves in general, Sound, the Theory of Musical Notes, the Voice and Hearing, Geometrical and Physical Optics, Magnetism, Electricity and Galvanism, in all their subdivisions, Heat, and Meteorology, within the space of an ordinary middle-sized volume.
Page 93 - The preponderance of the external pressure of air raises the fluid within the tube, until the weight of this raised column of water equipoises the preponderance. If we entirely exhaust the air in the interior of the tube, the water must rise (provided the tube be high enough) until the weight of the raised column of water is equal to the weight of a column of air of the same base reaching to the limits of the atmosphere. In this manner we may ascertain the weight of a column of air, whatever be its...
Page 16 - ... the ratio of the ovendry weight of a sample to the weight of a volume of water equal to the volume of the sample at some specific moisture content, as green, air-dry, or ovendry.
Page v - Electricity and Galvanism, in all their subdivisions, Heat and Meteorology, within the space of an ordinary middlesized volume. Of the manner in which the translator has executed his task, it behoves him to say nothing ; he has attempted nothing more than a plain, and nearly literal version of the original.
Page v - In laying the following pages before the public, it seems necessary to state that the design of them is to render more easily accessible a greater portion of the general principles of Physics and Meteorology than is usually to be obtained, without the sacrifice of a greater amount of time and labour than most persons can afford, or are willing to make. The subjects of which this volume treats are very numerous— more numerous, in fact, than at first sight it would seem possible to embrace in so...
Page 58 - To shew that the resultant thrust on any plane surface under fluid pressure is equal to the weight of a column of the fluid whose base is the area of the surface and whose height is the depth of the centre of gravity of the surface.
Page 504 - December, January, and February ; " Spring " — March, April, and May ; " Summer " — June, July, and August ; and " Autumn " — September, October, and November.
Page 26 - In the arts and manufactures, wedges are used where an enormous force is to be exerted through a very small space. Thus it is resorted to for splitting masses of timber or stone. Ships are raised in docks by wedges driven under their keels. The wedge is the principal agent in the oil-mill. The seeds from which the oil is to be extracted are introduced into hair bags, and placed between planes of hard wood. Wedges inserted between the bags are driven by allowing heavy beams to fall on them. The...
Page 126 - ... quantity of total work, but drawing a light load at a great velocity, it is obvious that a much greater part of the work done will be absorbed in moving, at that velocity, the resistance which represents the friction of the engine, as well as the atmospheric pressure against the piston, and in overcoming the resistance of the air, which increases as the square of the velocity ; and consequently there will remain a much smaller portion of it applied to the producing of the useful effect. Hence,...

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