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tachometer

(Encyclopedia)tachometer tăkŏmˈətər [key], instrument that indicates the speed, usually in revolutions per minute, at which an engine shaft is rotating. Some tachometers, especially those used in automobiles, ...

carbide

(Encyclopedia)carbide, any one of a group of compounds that contain carbon and one other element that is either a metal, boron, or silicon. Generally, a carbide is prepared by heating a metal, metal oxide, or metal...

physics

(Encyclopedia)physics, branch of science traditionally defined as the study of matter, energy, and the relation between them; it was called natural philosophy until the late 19th cent. and is still known by this na...

krypton

(Encyclopedia)krypton krĭpˈtŏn [key] [Gr.,=hidden], gaseous chemical element; symbol Kr; at. no. 36; at. wt. 83.798; m.p. −156.6℃; b.p. −152.3℃; density 3.73 grams per liter at STP; valence usually 0. Kr...

Giaever, Ivar

(Encyclopedia)Giaever, Ivar, 1929–, Norwegian-American physicist, Ph.D. Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 1964. He was a researcher at General Electric from 1954 to 1988, when he joined the faculty at his alma ma...

inductor

(Encyclopedia)inductor, electric device consisting of one or more turns of wire and typically having two terminals. An inductor is usually connected into a circuit in order to raise the inductance to a desired valu...

depilatory

(Encyclopedia)depilatory dĭpĭlˈətôrˌē [key], substance used to remove hair. In preparing hides for tanning, lime is the chief depilatory. For the removal of superfluous hair from the human body, metal sulfid...

Coulomb, Charles Augustin de

(Encyclopedia)Coulomb, Charles Augustin de ko͞oˈlŏm, ko͞olŏmˈ, Fr. shärl ōgüstăNˈ də ko͞olôNˈ [key], 1736–1806, French physicist. In 1789 he retired from his posts as military engineer and as super...

Davy, Sir Humphry

(Encyclopedia)Davy, Sir Humphry, 1778–1829, English chemist and physicist. The son of a woodcarver, he received his early education at Truro and was apprenticed (1795) to a surgeon-apothecary at Penzance. While d...

Clausius, Rudolf Julius Emanuel

(Encyclopedia)Clausius, Rudolf Julius Emanuel ro͞oˈdôlf yo͞oˈlyo͝os āmäˈno͞oĕl klouˈzēo͝os [key], 1822–88, German mathematical physicist. A pioneer in the science of thermodynamics, he introduced th...