Surface/Volume: How Geometry Explains Why Grain Elevators Explode, Hummingbirds Hover, and Asteroids Are Colder Than Ice
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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.
Format:Paperback
Language:English
ISBN:303123748X
ISBN13:9783031237485
Release Date:March 2023
Publisher:Springer
Length:182 Pages
Weight:0.75 lbs.
Dimensions:0.4" x 5.8" x 9.0"
Related Subjects
Engineering Science Science & Math Science & Scientists Science & Technology TechnologyCustomer Reviews
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