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=== Article of the Week <font size=1>[ [[CZ:Article of the Week|about]] ]</font> ===
=== Article of the Week <font size=1>[ [[CZ:Article of the Week|about]] ]</font> ===
[[Image:Johannes Diderik van der Waals photographic portrait.jpg|right|thumb|175px|{{Johannes Diderik van der Waals photographic portrait.jpg/credit}}<BR>Johannes Diderik van der Waals, most probably around 1910 when he was awarded the [[Nobel Prize]].]]
{{Image|Anthracite coal.jpg|right|275px|Anthracite coal (coin shown for scale).}}  
'''Johannes Diderik van der Waals''' ([[Leiden]], November 23, 1837 &ndash; [[Amsterdam]], March 8, 1923) was a [[Netherlands|Dutch]] [[theoretical physics|theoretical physicist]]. His name is primarily associated with the [[van der Waals equation]] of [[State (physics)|state]] that describes the behavior of [[gas]]es and their condensation to the [[liquid]] [[phase]]. His name is also associated with [[van der Waals forces]] (forces between stable [[molecule]]s),  with [[van der Waals molecule]]s (small molecular clusters bound by van der Waals forces), and with [[van der Waals radius|van der Waals radii]] (sizes of molecules). He became the first [[physics]] professor of the [[University of Amsterdam]] when it opened in 1877.


Johannes Diderik was the oldest of ten children born to Jacobus van der Waals and Elisabeth van den Berg. His father was a [[carpenter]] in the Dutch city of [[Leiden]]. As was usual for [[working class]] children in the 19<sup>th</sup> century, he did not go to the kind of secondary school that would have given him the right to enter university. Instead he went to a school of "advanced primary education", which he finished at the age of fifteen. He then became a teacher's apprentice in an elementary school. Between 1856 and 1861 he followed courses and gained the necessary qualifications to become a primary school teacher and head teacher.<font size=1>[[Johannes Diderik van der Waals/Draft|['''more...''']]]</font>
'''Coal''' is a [[Carbon|carbon-containing]] rock formed by the debris from the decay of ferns, vines, trees and other plants which flourished in swamps millions of years ago. Over time, the debris became buried and the actions of [[bacteria]], [[heat]] and [[pressure]] transformed the debris first into [[peat]] (a precursor of coal) and then into the various types of coal as we know them today.<ref name=Perry>{{cite book|author=Green, Don W. and Perry, Robert H. (Editors)|title=Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook|edition=6th Edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill|year=1997|id=ISBN 0-07-049479-7}}</ref><ref name=Marks>{{cite book|author=Eugene A. Avallone, Theodore Baumeister and Ali Sadegh (Editors)|title=Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers|edition=11th Edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill Professional|year=2006|id=ISBN 0-07-142867-4}}</ref><ref name=Kreith>{{cite book|author=Frank Kreith (Editor)|title=The CRC Handbook of Mechanical Engineering|edition=1st Edition|publisher=CRC Press|year=1998|id=ISBN 0-8493-9418-X}}</ref> In more technical terminology, that process of transformation is referred to as ''metamorphosis'', ''coalification'' or ''lithification''.
 
Coal is extracted by [[mine (resource extraction)|mining]] from deposits that exist deep underground as well as deposits that are essentially at or near the surface of the ground. Because of the various degrees of transformation that occurred during the forming of coal deposits in different locations, the composition of coal varies from one deposit to another. No two coals are the same in every respect. In general, coal consists of [[carbon]], [[hydrogen]], [[oxygen]], [[nitrogen]], [[sulfur]] and [[mineral]] matter (including compounds of [[silicon]], [[aluminum]], [[iron]], [[calcium]], [[magnesium]] and others).<font size=1>[[Coal|['''more...''']]]</font>


=== New Draft of the Week <font size=1>[ [[CZ:New Draft of the Week|about]] ]</font> ===
=== New Draft of the Week <font size=1>[ [[CZ:New Draft of the Week|about]] ]</font> ===
'''John Brock''' is a fictional British undercover agent created by [[Desmond Skirrow]].  He appeared in three fast-paced, witty, and irreverent spy novels written in the late 1960s. Like his creator, he is a successful advertising executive in London; but he is also a part-time agent coerced to work from time to time for a secret department on the Addison Road run by the fat man.<ref>Although he is invariably referred to as the fat man, and is called He and Him by some of his underlings, in neither the British nor American editions is he ever capitalized as The Fat Man or the Fat Man.</ref> Brock is tough, witty, combative, extremely competent, and supremely resilient. Even by fictional standards, he absorbs incredible amounts of physical damage at the hands of his adversaries before, after a few whiskeys and a few hours' sleep, he is ready for his next fight against overwhelming odds and, quite likely, yet another beating.
'''Gasoline''' or '''petrol''' is a fuel, derived from [[petroleum crude oil]], for use in spark-ignited [[internal combustion engine]]s. Conventional gasoline is mostly a blended mixture of more than 200 different [[hydrocarbon]] [[liquid]]s ranging from those containing 4 [[carbon]] [[atom]]s to those containing 11 or 12  carbon atoms. It has an initial [[boiling point]] at [[atmospheric pressure]] of about 35 °[[Celsius|C]] (95 °[[Fahrenheit|F]]) and a final boiling point of about 200 °C (395 °F).<ref name=FAQ>[http://www.faqs.org/faqs/autos/gasoline-faq/part4/ Gasoline FAQ - Part2 of 4], Bruce Hamilton, Industrial Research Ltd. (IRL), a [[Crown Research Institute]] of [[New Zealand]].</ref><ref name=Gary>{{cite book|author=Gary, J.H. and Handwerk, G.E.|title=Petroleum Refining Technology and Economics|edition=4th Edition|publisher=Marcel Dekker, Inc.|year=2001|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=eE3_IqDeeosC&pg=PP1&dq=%22Petroleum+Refining+Technology+and+Economics%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES|id=ISBN 0-8247-0482-7}}</ref><ref name=Assi>[http://hqweb.unep.org/pcfv/PDF/JordanWrkshp-Unleaded-Rafat.pdf The Relation Between Gasoline Quality, Octane Number and the Environment], Rafat Assi, National Project Manager of Jordan’s Second National Communications on Climate Change, presented at ''Jordan National Workshop on Lead Phase-out'', [[United Nations Environment Programme]], July 2008, [[Amman]], [[Jordan]].</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=James Speight|title=Synthetic Fuels Handbook|edition=1st Edition|publisher=McGraw-Hill|pages=pages 92-93|year=2008|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=E3pgqnGgHjIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22Synthetic+Fuels+Handbook%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&as_brr=0&as_pt=ALLTYPES|id=ISBN 0-07-149023-X}}</ref> Gasoline is used primarily as fuel for the internal combustion engines in automotive vehicles as well in some small airplanes.     
In [[Canada]] and the [[United States]], the word "gasoline" is commonly used and it is often shortened to simply "gas" although it is a liquid rather than a [[gas]]. In fact, gasoline-dispensing facilities are referred to as "gas stations".  


==Cigarettes and sweet white wine==
Most current or former [[Commonwealth of Nations|Commonwealth countries]] use the term "petrol" and their dispensing facilities are referred to as "petrol stations". The term "petrogasoline" is also used sometimes. In some European countries and elsewhere, the term "benzin" (or a variant of that word) is used to denote gasoline.


At the time of his first appearance in ''[[It Won't Get You Anywhere]]'', published in 1966, Brock is most likely in his early 40s, a large, tough, extremely strong man who had apparently served with British special forces in small boats during [[World War II]], probably with SIS ([[Secret Intelligence Service]]} or SOE ([[Special Operations Executive]]).<font size=1>[[John Brock|['''more...''']]]</font>  
In aviation, "mogas" (an abbreviation for "motor gasoline") is used to distinguish automotive vehicle fuel from aviation fuel known as "avgas".<font size=1>[[Gasoline/Draft|['''more...''']]]</font>
|}

Revision as of 23:03, 20 May 2009


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Article of the Week [ about ]

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Anthracite coal (coin shown for scale).

Coal is a carbon-containing rock formed by the debris from the decay of ferns, vines, trees and other plants which flourished in swamps millions of years ago. Over time, the debris became buried and the actions of bacteria, heat and pressure transformed the debris first into peat (a precursor of coal) and then into the various types of coal as we know them today.[1][2][3] In more technical terminology, that process of transformation is referred to as metamorphosis, coalification or lithification.

Coal is extracted by mining from deposits that exist deep underground as well as deposits that are essentially at or near the surface of the ground. Because of the various degrees of transformation that occurred during the forming of coal deposits in different locations, the composition of coal varies from one deposit to another. No two coals are the same in every respect. In general, coal consists of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur and mineral matter (including compounds of silicon, aluminum, iron, calcium, magnesium and others).[more...]

New Draft of the Week [ about ]

Gasoline or petrol is a fuel, derived from petroleum crude oil, for use in spark-ignited internal combustion engines. Conventional gasoline is mostly a blended mixture of more than 200 different hydrocarbon liquids ranging from those containing 4 carbon atoms to those containing 11 or 12 carbon atoms. It has an initial boiling point at atmospheric pressure of about 35 °C (95 °F) and a final boiling point of about 200 °C (395 °F).[4][5][6][7] Gasoline is used primarily as fuel for the internal combustion engines in automotive vehicles as well in some small airplanes.

In Canada and the United States, the word "gasoline" is commonly used and it is often shortened to simply "gas" although it is a liquid rather than a gas. In fact, gasoline-dispensing facilities are referred to as "gas stations".

Most current or former Commonwealth countries use the term "petrol" and their dispensing facilities are referred to as "petrol stations". The term "petrogasoline" is also used sometimes. In some European countries and elsewhere, the term "benzin" (or a variant of that word) is used to denote gasoline.

In aviation, "mogas" (an abbreviation for "motor gasoline") is used to distinguish automotive vehicle fuel from aviation fuel known as "avgas".[more...]

  1. ↑ Green, Don W. and Perry, Robert H. (Editors) (1997). Perry's Chemical Engineers' Handbook, 6th Edition. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-049479-7. 
  2. ↑ Eugene A. Avallone, Theodore Baumeister and Ali Sadegh (Editors) (2006). Marks' Standard Handbook for Mechanical Engineers, 11th Edition. McGraw-Hill Professional. ISBN 0-07-142867-4. 
  3. ↑ Frank Kreith (Editor) (1998). The CRC Handbook of Mechanical Engineering, 1st Edition. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-9418-X. 
  4. ↑ Gasoline FAQ - Part2 of 4, Bruce Hamilton, Industrial Research Ltd. (IRL), a Crown Research Institute of New Zealand.
  5. ↑ Gary, J.H. and Handwerk, G.E. (2001). Petroleum Refining Technology and Economics, 4th Edition. Marcel Dekker, Inc.. ISBN 0-8247-0482-7. 
  6. ↑ The Relation Between Gasoline Quality, Octane Number and the Environment, Rafat Assi, National Project Manager of Jordan’s Second National Communications on Climate Change, presented at Jordan National Workshop on Lead Phase-out, United Nations Environment Programme, July 2008, Amman, Jordan.
  7. ↑ James Speight (2008). Synthetic Fuels Handbook, 1st Edition. McGraw-Hill, pages 92-93. ISBN 0-07-149023-X. 
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