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Apr 14 2015

It Is National Library Week!

It is National Library Week!!

National_Library_week

 

Do you know how much your Engineering Library has to offer?

Stack_of_books

 

The Lichtenberger Engineering Library – YOUR library – has a collection of more than 150,000 books! We also provide access to over 5,000 current electronic journal titles, and over 100 engineering-related DVDs!

On or off-campus, you have access to multiple databases, including Web of Science, Compendex and PubMed.  Compendex is the most comprehensive bibliographic database of scientific and technical engineering research available, covering all engineering disciplines. It includes millions of bibliographic citations and abstracts from thousands of engineering journals and conference proceedings. When combined with the Engineering Index Backfile (1884-1969), Compendex covers well over 120 years of core engineering literature. And that is just one of the available databases!

That’s a lot of information to sift through.  Where do you even start? We have resource/subject guides related to specific departments or resources. Looking for information on patents or biomedical engineering? We’ve got the subject guides to help you get started.  Still at a bit of a loss? Come to us for personal assistance! From locating resources within the library to demonstrations on resources and services for individuals, classes or groups, we can help.  Please interrupt us!

What is a research project or paper without Standards or Patents? We have electronic access to standards from various agencies, including International Standard Organization (ISO), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), ASTM International and many others. You also have access to the patents from many different countries – all available electronically!

Even with all these resources, we might not have exactly what you are looking for right here in the Engineering Library. Never fear, there are several ways to get resources to you. If what you are looking for is in another of our on-campus libraries, you may request to have that book delivered to the Engineering Library, ready for you to check out. Is that article or book chapter fewer than 50 pages? You can have it copied and a pdf will be emailed directly to you – for free! That resource in an off-campus library? InterLibrary Loan can help with that.

Pyle PLMT68 Light Meter
Pyle PLMT68 Light Meter

 

Sometimes you need more than books and articles for an assignment or project. Do you need a light meter, sound meter, eyeball webcam or wrenches, pliers and screwdrivers for that project? We have them, and more! Check out all the tools are available in our Tool Library!

 

Group_Study_Room4_small

 

We have two new group study rooms available for you to reserve for those group projects. They both have whiteboard walls and one includes a large-screen TV with laptop connections.  Besides the group study rooms there are several other areas in which to study.  Tables, individual carrels – both upstairs and down, beanbag chairs downstairs, and comfy chairs throughout the library all provide both spaces for collaboration and for quiet study.

When you are ready to pull that research paper or project together we have several software programs available that will create bibliographies and citations in a wide variety of formatting styles. One of the software packages is Endnote and it, along with the others, will help you wind up that paper in style!

Kari_and_Koala3
Kari Kozak, Head, Lichtenberger Engineering Library
Qianjin (Marina) Zhang, studio portrait
Qianjin (Marina) Zhang, Engineering & Informatics Librarian

 

Want more information?

Visit our website

email lib-engineering@uiowa.edu

call 319.335.6047

or stop in and meet the staff!

 

 

Kari Kozak, Head, Lichtenberger Engineering Library:  Collections, Instruction, Reference

Qianjin (Marina) Zhang, Engineering and Informatics Librarian: Data Management, Informatics

Carol Dewey: Library Assistant IV, Circulation, Course Reserves, InterLibrary Loan

Carol Johnk: Library Assistant III, Social Media, PR

Celebrate National Library Week by stopping in and discovering your Engineering Library!

Apr 10 2015

National Submarine Day

We all live in a yellow submarine....
We all live in a yellow submarine….

 

When you think of submarines, you might think of sub sandwiches, or start singing “…We all live in a yellow submarine, yellow submarine, yellow submarine….”1

But, as we recognize April 11th as National Submarine Day, it is good to remember that living on a US Naval Submarine is a hazardous place to be. On April 11, 1900 the first commissioned submarine, the USS Holland, was acquired by the United States Navy. The Holland was not the first Navy sub, however. That honor goes to the Alligator which was the first submarine ordered and built by the Navy, although it was never commissioned.

In 1863, the Alligator was being towed by the Sumpter, with the plan for the two ships to join the Union attack on Charleston, South Carolina. They were caught in a Nor’easter and the captain of the Sumpter made the decision to cut the ties to the Alligator. The submarine was lost in the “Graveyard of the Atlantic” and was forgotten for nearly 140 years. 2

No lives were lost when the Alligator sank, but there have been many submarine disasters since then. As submarines become larger and more sophisticated, more and more crew are needed, and the loss of life becomes more dramatic.

"Potent, lethal, secret. The ultimate war machine."
“Potent, lethal, secret. The ultimate war machine.”

 

“Potent, lethal, secret. The ultimate war machine. Nothing else on earth is so densely packed with men and firepower. Submarines truly fought the Cold War. Yet for all their might they are no match for the power of the sea. The submariner’s deadliest enemy is not the other side, it is the ocean itself.” 3

 

The Civil War submarine HL Hunley was the first submarine to sink a ship in combat. It is known as the “murdering ship,” not because of the lives she took, but because her own crew died when she sank. So many lives were lost that World War I submarines became known as the “coffin service.“ 3

There are many causes of submarine disasters and loss of life, including water rushing in through cracks in the submarine’s hull, torpedoes exploding, valves not sealing, electrical problems, and a loss of power. The intense pressure of the deep seas can crush a submarine, causing a “humane,” instantaneous death. Most of the submarine deaths are much less humane and include suffocation and drowning.  After nuclear powered subs were introduced, radiation poisoning also became a threat. 3

Safety was a concern about submarines from the very beginning. The earliest patents were often for safety equipment on submarines. In 1907 a patent was granted for “Means of Escape from Sunken Submarines.”4 But ways to more reliably rescue crews from downed subs weren’t developed until 1927 when the “Momsen Lung” was developed. The Momsen Lung recycled exhaled air and was hung around the sailors’ neck. It provided oxygen for the ascent and allowed the submariner to slowly rise to the surface, thus avoiding the bends.5

The Steinke Hood.
The Steinke Hood.

 

In 1962, the U.S. Navy introduced the Steinke Hood, an inflatable life jacket with a hood that trapped a bubble of breathing air and completely enclosed the submariner’s head. The Steinke Hood was standard equipment on all Navy submarines throughout the Cold War. The Navy then began replacing the Steinke Hood with the Submarine Escape Immersion Equipment (SEIE). This was a combination whole-body suit and one-man life raft. It provided protection against hypothermia in the freezing water – which is something that neither the Momsen Lung nor Steinke Hood was equipped to do. 6

Currently the Navy is working not only to improve survival rates on submarines but  also means of escape and rescue. One improvement are the  Deep Submergence Rescue Vehicles (DSRV) which are capable of rescues down to 2000 feet. Another one of the future rescue systems will include the ability to transfer personnel under pressure. This would allow crew members to be rescued at deep depths under immense pressure and then be transferred to a decompression chamber. 7 

Cross section of a submarine
Cross section of a submarine

For more information on this fascinating subject, check out the resources listed below, and the others we have here in the library.

Engineering Library video record 39620 DVD
Engineering Library video record 39620 DVD

 

REFERENCES:

  1. George Martin, Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison. Copyright: Sony/ATV Tunes LLC, Sony/ATV Music Publishing (UK) Limited, Northern Songs
  2. Undersea Warfare. Spring 2006. The Official Magazine of the U.S. Submarine Force. vol. 8, no. 3.
  3. Lost Subs: disaster at sea. 2002. National Geographic Television & Film : Burbank CA. Engineering Library video record 39620 DVD
  4. Means of escape from sunken submarines. 1907 patent.
  5. Swede Momsen: Diving & Rescue – Momsen Lung. Science & Technology Focus, Office of Naval Research. Date accessed: March 2015.
  6. Steinke Hood. 2000-2015. Global Security.org. Date accessed: March 2015.
  7. Submarine rescue: ready for the unthinkable. Fall 2000. Undersea Warfare: the Official Magazine of the U.S. Submarine Force, vol. 3, no. 1

 

OTHER RESOURCES:

  1. The nuclear pioneers: atomic subs and nuclear missiles. 2007. Periscop Film. Engineering Circulation Desk Video Record 39515 DVD
  2. Coen, Ross Allen. 2012. Breaking ice for Arctic oil : the epic voyage of the SS Manhattan through the Northwest Passage. Fairbanks : University of Alaska Press. Engineering Library HE595 .P4 C64 2012.
  3. Fossen, Thor I. 2011. Handbook of marine craft hydrodynamics and motion control. Chichester, West Sussex, U.K. ; Hoboken N.J. : Wiley. Engineering Library VM156 .F67 2011
  4. The story of the Alligator. The Hunt for the Alligator, The Navy & Marine Living History Association (NMLHA), in cooperation with the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Association (NOAA) and the Office of Naval Research (ONR). Date accessed: March 2015.
  5. Delgado, James P. 2011. Silent killers: submarines and underwater warfare. Oxford : New York : Osprey. Engineering Library V210 .D45 2011.
  6. Submarine Frequently Asked Questions. Chief of Naval Operations, Submarine Warfare Division. Date accessed, March 2015. (some of the answers are dated – #10, women are, as of 2010, now allowed to be Naval submariners. See Navy Policy Will Allow Women to Serve Aboard Submarines. America’s Navy. 4/29/2010

 

Mar 30 2015

Get the Lead Out

Ticonderoga pencil“Eeyore was saying to himself, “This writing business. Pencils and what-not. Over-rated, if you ask me. Silly stuff. Nothing in it.” — Winnie the Pooh.

A long time ago, in a far away place, before apps and texts and even typewriters, pencils were used to convey the written word. As you purchase a new box of Ticonderogas to mark your bubble answer sheet, consider the invention of the pencil.

History

Pencils are made with graphite. Therefore, graphite mining had to exist before the pencil was created. The first graphite was mined at Seathwaite Fell in Cumbria, England in 1564. Since graphite has similar properties to lead, it was first called, “plumbago,” derived from the Latin word for lead ore. The first pencils were produced by sawing the graphite into sheets, shaping the graphite sheets into square rods, and inserting the graphite rods into a wood casement. However, the first pencils were fragile because the graphite broke easily.

Patent

H.L. Linman Pencil & Eraser PatentTo prevent the graphite from breaking, French chemist, Nicolas-Jacques Conté, discovered the process of mixing the graphite with clay. The soft material was pressed into sticks and kiln-fired. At which point, the dry graphite & clay rod was inserted into a wooden case. By varying the ratio of graphite to clay, Conté discovered that he could manufacture a pencil for a specific hardness to differentiate the marks on paper. For example, No.2 pencils are popular because of its midrange hardness which leaves dark marks without smudging. No.1 is the softest graphite and leaves a darker, smudgier mark , and No.3 pencils leave a fainter mark. Conté’s 1795 patent is the basic process for manufacturing pencils today.

To learn more about the manufacturing of pencils, watch this video from the Science Channel, How It’s Made : Pencils.

Trivia

Try answering these questions:

A. What chemical is graphite composed of?

B. What television personality regularly played with specially made pencils with erasers at both ends?

C. Which inventor had his pencils specially designed to be three inches long with abnormally soft graphite?

D. Who received the first patent for attaching an eraser to the end of a pencil?

E. The majority of pencils manufactured in the United States are what color?

F. How long is the Guinness Book of Work Records largest pencil?

References & Resources

New Carbons book
Inagaki, Michio. New Carbons: Control of Structure and Functions. New York : Elsevier Science, 2000. Engineering Library TA455.C3 I53 2000
Graphite Graphene and Their Polymer Nanocomposites book cover
Mukhopadhyay, Prithu and Gupta, Rakesh K., editors. Graphite, graphene, and their polymer nanocomposites. Boca Raton, FL : CRC Press, 2013. Engineering Library TA455 .G7 G73 2013

National Day Calendar: National Pencil Day, March 30. 2015.

Wikipedia: Pencil. March 26, 2015.

Cumberland Pencil Museum.2011. Southey Works. Date accessed March 2015

Trivia Answers:

A. It is made almost entirely of carbon atoms.
B. Johnny Carson
C. Thomas Edison
D. Hymen Lipman, U.S. Patent 19,783, March 30, 1858
E. Yellow
F. 65 feet tall

Mar 27 2015

March Winds

A field of wind turbines located west of Williams, Iowa Source: Wikimedia Commons
A field of wind turbines located west of Williams, Iowa Source: Wikimedia Commons

It is the proverbially windy month of March, when the weather is widely variable, blowing in warmer temperatures and creating spring storms.

If you want to see how windy Iowa (or the entire country) is, check out the Wind Map.

How can Mother Natures’s ferocious power be harnessed and tamed?

Driving along Interstate 80, acres of wind turbines rise majestically over the corn fields and blink in the midnight sky making the wind industry a vital economic resource. The state of Iowa has more than 80 wind installations with over 2,500 turbines capable of producing 3,670 megawatts of power. The turbines generated nearly 27% of Iowa’s total electricity in 2013,2 and more than 50 companies are responsible for employing 3,626 people3 whose jobs are to manufacture, transport, or assemble the giant blades and towers, rotors and generators. Even farmers are compensated for leasing their land, furthering the benefits to the Iowa economy.

With towers standing over 200 feet tall and spinning two or three 116-feet propeller-like blades, how do these behemoth, industrial-sized wind turbines generate electricity? Simply stated, the energy in the wind turns the blades around a rotor. The rotor is connected to a shaft which spins a generator to create electricity. However, to learn more, see how a wind turbine works.4 Be sure to hover over the different parts for more information.

As you are out in the last few days of the blustery month of March, consider all the power and energy those winds produce.

Xu, Xuegen, Yu, Kai, and He, Guorong. Downwind Variable Pitch Wind Turbine Generator. U.S. Patent 20130011262. Filed May 22, 2011. Assigned January 10, 2013. Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20130011262
Xu, Xuegen, Yu, Kai, and He, Guorong. Downwind Variable Pitch Wind Turbine Generator. U.S. Patent 20130011262. Filed May 22, 2011. Assigned January 10, 2013. Source: http://www.google.com/patents/US20130011262

References & Resources

1 Craig, Ashely, et al. The Wind Energy Supply Chain in Iowa. Chicago, IL: The Environmental Law & Policy Center, November 2010

2 U.S. Energy Information Administration. Iowa. Quick Facts

3 “Iowa projected to add 1,330 energy jobs in 2015.” The Des Moines Register, December 15, 2014

4 How Does a Wind Turbine Work? Source: U.S. Department of Energy. Office of Energy Efficiency & Renewable Energy

5 Iowa Wind Energy Association

6 American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) TC 88 Wind turbine systems

Books & Standards

Newton, David E. Wind energy: a reference handbook. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015. Engineering Library On order

Edited by Panos M. Pardalos, et al. Handbook of wind power systems. Berlin: Spring, 2014. Engineering Library TJ820 .H36 2014

Harvest the Wind book cover
Engineering Library TK1541 .W36 2012

Warburg, Philip. Harvest the wind: America’s journey to jobs, energy independence, and climate stability. Boston: Beacon Press, 2012. Engineering Library TK1541 .W36 2012

Edited by Charalambos C. Baniotopoulos et al. Environmental wind engineering and design of wind energy structures. New York: Springer Verlag, 2011. Engineering Library QC931 .E58 2011

Burthchen, Marco, et al. Material Qualification of Main Bearings for Large Wind Energy Turbines. November 21, 2014. STP 1580, 2014. http://www.astm.org

Index of Wind turbine standards. Source: International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC)

Mar 20 2015

Flying into Spring

Optimized-IMG_20150319_142825285
Welcome Spring! The Lichtenberger Engineering Library exhibit is now highlighting the dream of flight. The idea was inspired by Hayao Miyazaki’s last film The Wind Rises. The film is a look at the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the man who designed Japanese fighter planes during World War II, and his love of flight.

The fascinating exhibit items including aircraft models, a prototype helmet, an instrument panel, challenge coins, and patches are borrowed from the Operator Performance Laboratory. The Operator Performance Laboratory, a unit of the University of Iowa Center for Computer–Aided Design, is located at the Iowa City Municipal Airport. The laboratory, housed in a hangar, holds three aircraft and two simulators, and mainly conducts research on human-in-the-loop and intelligent autonomous systems. Believe it or not, when visiting the laboratory, we saw a big stuffed bear as a “pilot” in the cockpit of Beechcraft A-36 Bonanza!

The old-looking instrument panel in the exhibit case is from the rear cockpit of an Aero Vodochody L-29 Delfin. The Aero L-29 Delfin (dolphin), NATO designation Maya, is a military trainer aircraft. It was firstly designed and built by Aero Vodochody for the Czechoslovakian Air Force and Soviet Air Force. The laboratory’s L-29 can climb at the rate of 14 m/s (2,800 ft/min). The maximum speed of the aircraft is 820 km/h (510 mph). The range and service ceiling are 900 km (560 mi) and 11,500 m (37,700 ft).

For those who are passionate about flight, please check out related books and DVDs (https://www.pinterest.com/UIEnginLib/ ) from the Engineering Library. The library also holds non-technical books on aviation such as The Wright Brothers and the birth of aviation, and Women and flight: portraits of contemporary women pilots.

Come and see the exhibit to find more!

References

Operator Performance Laboratory website. Retrieved from https://hfdata.opl.uiowa.edu/opl/

Aero L-29 Delfin. Retrieved from http://www.military-today.com/aircraft/l29_delfin.htm

Research Aircraft Specification Sheet. Retrieved from https://hfdata.opl.uiowa.edu/opl/?q=l29

Mar 13 2015

PI DAY CELEBRATION! March 13, 2015

Tomorrow is the Pi Day to end all Pi Days!

3.1415! 

IMG_6724

 

Thanks to IEEE for the great freebies!!
Thanks to IEEE for the great freebies!!

 

 

We celebrated a day early with free apple pie bites, trivia and freebies from IEEE!

 

 

 

In 2 hours, 300 pie bites were consumed and many students bravely took on the 7 trivia games that were played.

Who hit the buzzer first?
Who hit the buzzer first?

 

Many students were in the Student Commons cramming for their next exam, but managed to take time out to either play a game of trivia or to cheer on those who were playing.

 

 

 

Stopping by on our way out of town for Spring Break!
Stopping by on our way out of town for Spring Break!

 

 Some stopped between classes and others stopped before they left town for spring break.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Check our facebook page for more photos (and be sure to like our page while you are there!)

And thanks so much for Tau Beta Pi for co-sponsoring and to members Handbin Tao, Molly Berringer, Austin Hangartner, Allison Kindig, and Erin Leppek!

Now, just how many digits of Pi have you memorized?

I memorized over 20....
I memorized over 20!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

See you next year!!! Plan to be there or be square!

Mar 12 2015

Waste to Water

Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft, and the world’s richest man, is known for changing how the world operates and functions. The mission of his non-profit, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, is to give all people the chance to live a healthy and productive life. To this end, during the mid-1990s, Bill Gates gave computers to libraries and schools, which made sense for the world’s largest software owner. But how did Bill Gates becomes interested in poop? Yes…human excrement. His philanthropic organization granted money to Janicki Bioenergy to build the OmniProcessor, a machine which transforms fecal sludge and solid waste into water and electricity. In places without treatment plants or clean water, the technology could be a low-cost solution to quench the world’s thirst.

 

Bill Gates explains the process in this video.

References

American Chemical Society. “Converting Sewage Into Drinking Water: Wave Of The Future?” ScienceDaily, 30 January 2008. Source: TechStreet

American Water Works Association. Security Practices for Operation and Management. AWWA G430-14 November 1, 2014

Bill Gates’ latest passion: a machine that turns poop into water by Todd Wasserman. Mashable, January 6, 2015

Bill Gates 2.0 by 60 Minutes. CBS News, May 14, 2013

Career Opportunities at Janicki Bioenergy

U.S. Enviornmental Protection Agency. Current Drinking Water Regulations

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Drinking Water Contaminants

Mar 12 2015

Happy Pi Day (Eve) 3.13, 10:30!

IMG_20150223_142857590We gather and celebrate Pi Day (Eve) on Friday, March 13 at 10:30 AM-12:30 PM in front of the Lichtenberger Engineering Library in the Student Commons. There will be free apple pie bites, lemonade, and coffee as well as trivia competitions!

Pi, Greek letter, is defined as a constant — the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter – which is approximately 3.141592653. The first Pi Day was “invented” in 1988 by Larry Shaw, who worked in the electronics group at San Francisco Exploratorium. In 2009, the House of Representatives designated March 14 as National Pi Day. This year, we are excited to observe the special Pi Day on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53 AM and PM, with the sequential time representing the first ten digits of pi!

To celebrate this special Pi Day, check out the Pi Day exhibit and join us on March 13!

References:

How American celebrate Pi Day. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/14/tech/innovation/pi-day-math-celebrations/

Mar 6 2015

Ninety-nine Years of BMWs

Ninety-nine years ago on March 7, 1916, BMW was officially incorporated. Originally launched to make aircraft engines for Kaiser Wilhelm’s war machine during World War I, the company switched to making motorcycles in the 1920s and started producing cars in the 1930s. The first plant outside of Germany, located in Spartanburg, South Carolina, wasn’t built until 1992. BMW stands for Bayerische Motoren Werke or Bavarian Motor Works. It has often been said, however, that BMW stands for “Beauty. Money. Wealth.” And, BMW advertising executives have said that BMWs are meant to convey “unpretentious exclusivity.” They are also considered to be “the ultimate driving machine.”

If you aren’t quite ready to head out and put a new BMW in your garage, you can dream while paging through The BMW Book.  It is 303 pages of full-color photos of BMW vehicles. It is also packed with information about everything from motorsports, motorcycles, Heritage and Icon BMWs from the past, to the concept vehicles of the future. BMW has two electric cars on the market right now: the BMW i3 and the BMW i8.

 

One of the Heritage BMWs you’ll see in The BMW Book is the Isetta. The Italian firm, Iso SpA, which was known for building refrigerators, motor scooters and small three-wheeled trucks expanded in 1952 and built the Isetta, a small, egg-shaped car. BMW bought the license and the complete body tooling from Iso SpA, and then made the Isetta its own, re-engineering much of the car. The first BMW Isetta appeared in April 1955. That same year it became the top-selling single-cylinder car in the world. The “bubble car” had a single seat for driver and passenger and a front mounted door. The heater was optional and, in the event of a crash, the driver and passenger were expected to exit through the canvas sun roof.

Check out this youtube video to see an Isetta in action!

http://goo.gl/PtY8yP

Factories_DVD!
National Geographic’s Ultimate Factories DVD Collection

 

Want to go inside a BMW factory and see how the”ultimate driving machines” are manufactured?
Check out National Geographic’s Ultimate Factories Collection on DVD. You’ll be able to witness first-hand what it takes to build the powerful, high-performance cars and motorcycles. This 4-disc collection, available in the Engineering Library, will take you behind-the-scenes of many different types of factories, including factories for fire trucks, M-1 Tanks, Budweiser and others.

 

BMW doesn’t just build cars that look great on the highway or in your driveway. They are expanding their line of cars within the BMW Sports Trophy Customer Racing program – this line is said to have “strong motorsport genes.” The BMW M4 DTM race car is a strong contender in the DTM racing circuit (Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters) which is considered by some to be some of the highest GT racing in the world.  BMW motorcycles have been winning championships since 1924 and have included, among others, sidecar racing (17 championship titles in a 20-year span), nine consecutive German championships, and the the US Superbike Championship.

 

 

 

 

References:

The BMW Book
The BMW Book

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For More Information:

  • Gebler, E., Suspension and Steering Fundamentals of the BMW 520.  SAE Technical Paper 741113, 1974, doi:10.4271/741113.
  • Isetta World. 2015. Isetta World. 

 

Feb 17 2015

Alkaline batteries, lithium-ion batteries, potato batteries, but frog batteries?

To celebrate National Battery Day, take a moment to think how many times a day and in how many different ways you rely on batteries … cell phones, computers and tablets, cameras, hearing aids, car batteries, children’s toys, games, smoke alarms (have you checked that battery recently?), the list goes on.  Image what the world would be like if we only had frog batteries on which to rely…

Matteucci's Frog Battery
Matteucci’s Frog Battery

Yup, frog batteries.  Carlo Matteucci developed the first well-known frog battery in 1845. A frog battery is an electrochemical battery and the general term of this class of battery is the “muscular pile.” But, long before there were frog batteries, Benjamin Franklin coined the term “battery” to describe an array of charged glass plates. His “Leyden Jars” were the early form of a capacitor. He not only came up with the theories, he had to create a new language to fit them. He coined the terms battery, charge, condenser, positively and negatively among others. These are the same terms that are used today. The rechargeable battery was developed in 1859 by the French inventor, Gaston Plante, and is the battery most commonly used in cars today. However, there is now a push for greener electric cars, and there are nearly 25 electric cars on the market today.  Now the race is on to create a SuperBattery – one that can power an electric car for 300 miles. The Tesla Models X and S are the only cars that come close so far. The Supercharger stations in China are among the world’s fastest and can fully recharge a Tesla in 75 minutes.

The Tesla Model S electric car next to the Tesla electric Roadster.
The Tesla Model S electric car next to the Tesla electric Roadster.

It is even possible to build your own electric car – building from the ground up or converting an internal combustion engine to electric. According to Seth Leitman, an industry leader in Green-Eco Friendly lifestyles, there are four reasons why EVs will be around a long time: They are fun to drive and own, they are cost efficient, they are performance efficient and they are environmentally efficient.  In the latest edition of his book, “Build Your Own Electric Vehicle,” he will take you, step-by-step through building your own electric vehicle.  His books, “Build Your Own Electric Vehicle,” and “Build Your Own Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle” are available here in the library. The Leddy Lab in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Iowa is doing research on several areas, one of which is Fuel Cells and Batteries.  Fuel Cells are efficient and have environmental advantages which make them attractive power sources for everything from cars to laptops. Researchers at Virginia Tech are working on perfecting a sugar-powered “biobattery.” Recharging may be as simple as adding sugar. And so the development of the battery continues. From the potato batteries used in science classes to molten salt batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, rechargeable alkaline batteries, vacuum tube batteries, the sugar battery and fuel cells. And so the development of the battery continues. From the potato batteries used in science classes to molten salt batteries, nickel-zinc batteries, rechargeable alkaline batteries, vacuum tube batteries, the sugar battery and fuel cells.  I’m glad we don’t have to rely on frog batteries….

car_frog

Engineering Library TL220 .B68 2013
Engineering Library TL220 .B68 2013

References:

For more information: