Surface/volume : how geometry explains why grain elevators explode, hummingbirds hover, and asteroids are colder than ice / Alan E. Rubin.
2023
TA418.7
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Unlimited
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Can lend chapters, not whole ebooks
Details
Title
Surface/volume : how geometry explains why grain elevators explode, hummingbirds hover, and asteroids are colder than ice / Alan E. Rubin.
ISBN
9783031237492 (electronic bk.)
3031237498 (electronic bk.)
9783031237485 (print)
303123748X
3031237498 (electronic bk.)
9783031237485 (print)
303123748X
Published
Cham, Switzerland : Springer, 2023.
Language
English
Description
1 online resource (xvii, 182 pages) : illustrations (some color)
Item Number
10.1007/978-3-031-23749-2 doi
Call Number
TA418.7
Dewey Decimal Classification
620/.44
Summary
This book explains that diffusion, osmosis, dissolution, evaporation, and heat loss all preferentially affect small bodies due to their high surface/volume ratios. Because surface area increases as the square of length, but volume (and mass) increase as the cube, large objects have low surface/volume ratios and small objects have high surface/volume ratios. This simple physical constraint governs much of the physical world. It accounts for why the Earth has active volcanoes, but the Moon does not, why the human brain has numerous folds, why deciduous trees lose their leaves every Fall, and why nanoparticles of gold melt at surprisingly low temperatures. It is a phenomenon well known to every scientist, but this book is the first comprehensive treatment of this effect.
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access Note
Access limited to authorized users.
Source of Description
Online resource; title from PDF title page (SpringerLink, viewed March 6, 2023).
Available in Other Form
Print version: 9783031237485
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Table of Contents
Introduction
A Truncated History of Geometry
Middle School Math
Asteroids, Moons, Planets, and Meteorites
Geologic Processes
Geometry of Life
Biochemistry
Chemical Reactions
Ecology
Manufacturing.
A Truncated History of Geometry
Middle School Math
Asteroids, Moons, Planets, and Meteorites
Geologic Processes
Geometry of Life
Biochemistry
Chemical Reactions
Ecology
Manufacturing.