Earring - Modern standard pierced earrings. Regardless of the type, modern standard pierced earrings have two primary means of attachment: posts and wires. Stud earrings - The main characteristic of stud earrings is the appearance of floating on the ear or earlobe without a visible (from the front) point of connection. Studs are invariably constructed on the end of a post, which penetrates straight through the ear. The post is held in place by a removable friction back or clutch. ...

See also:

Earring, Earring - Types of earrings, Earring - Modern standard pierced earrings, Earring - Body piercing jewelry used as earrings, Earring - Clip-on and other non-pierced earrings, Earring - Permanent earrings, Earring - Ear piercing, Earring - History, Earring - Piercing techniques

Read more here: » Earring: Encyclopedia II - Earring - Types of earrings

An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust against abutments at either side. A viaduct (a long bridge) may be made from a series of arches, although other more economical structures are now typically used. Multiple arch bridges are seen in ancient Roman aqueducts. Arch bridges were first invented by the ancient Greeks, who built them out of stone. Later, the Romans used cement in their arch br ...

Including:

• Arch bridge - Simple compression arch bridges
• Arch bridge - Advantage in use of simple materials
• Arch bridge - Construction sequence
• Arch bridge - Aqueducts and canal viaducts
• Arch bridge - Use of modern materials

Read more here: » Arch bridge: Encyclopedia - Arch bridge

Composite materials (or composites for short) are engineered materials made from two or more constituent materials that remain separate and distinct on a macroscopic level while forming a single component. There are two categories of constituent materials: matrix and reinforcement. At least one portion (fraction) of each type is required. The matrix material surrounds and supports the reinforcement materials by maintaining their relative positions. The reinforcements impart their special mechanical, electrical and physical prop ...

Including:

• Composite material - Examples of composite materials:

Read more here: » Composite material: Encyclopedia - Composite material

Aggregate is the component of a composite material used to resist compressive stress. For efficient filling, aggregate should be much smaller than the finished item, but have a wide variety of sizes. For example, the particles of stone used to make concrete typically include both sand and gravel. Aggregate composite - Comparison to fiber. Aggregate composites tend to be much easier to fabricate, and much more predictable in their finished properties, than fiber composites. This is because fibe ...

Including:

• Aggregate composite - Comparison to fiber
• Aggregate composite - Aggregate properties
• Aggregate composite - Aggregate size
• Aggregate composite - Toughened composites
• Aggregate composite - Nanocomposites

Read more here: » Aggregate composite: Encyclopedia - Aggregate composite

Resonance is an important consideration for instrument builders as most acoustic instruments use resonators, such as the strings and body of a violin, the length of tube in a flute, and the shape of a drum membrane. Acoustic resonance - Resonance of a string. Lute (harp, guitar, piano, violin etc.) strings have a fundamental resonant frequency directly related to the length and tension of the string. The wavelength that will create the first resonance on the string is equal to twice the length of the string. This frequency is related to the speed v of a wave trave ...

Including:

• Acoustic resonance - Resonance of a string
• Acoustic resonance - Resonance of a tube of air

Read more here: » Acoustic resonance: Encyclopedia - Acoustic resonance

Steel is a metal alloy whose major component is iron, with carbon being the primary alloying material. Carbon acts as a hardening agent, preventing iron atoms, which are naturally arranged in a lattice, from sliding past one another. Varying the amount of carbon and its distribution in the alloy controls qualities such as the hardness, elasticity, ductility, and tensile strength of the resulting steel. Steel with increased carbon content can be made harder and stronger than iron, but is also more brittle. One classical definition is t ...

Including:

• Steel - Iron and steel
• Steel - History of iron and steelmaking
• Steel - The Iron Age
• Steel - Developments in China
• Steel - India
• Steel - Middle East
• Steel - Ironworking in medieval Europe
• Steel - Ironworking in early modern Europe
• Steel - Industrial steelmaking
• Steel - Types of steel
• Steel - Production methods

Read more here: » Steel: Encyclopedia - Steel

An amorphous metal is a metallic material (usually an alloy rather than a pure metal) with a disordered atomic-scale structure. In contrast to most metals, which are crystalline and therefore have a highly ordered arrangement of atoms, amorphous alloys are non-crystalline. Materials in which such a disordered structure is produced directly from the liquid state during cooling are called "glasses", and so amorphous metals are commonly referred to as "metallic glasses" or "glassy metals". However, there are several other ways in which a ...

Including:

• Amorphous metal - History
• Amorphous metal - Properties
• Amorphous metal - External link

Read more here: » Amorphous metal: Encyclopedia - Amorphous metal

De-escalation is an approach to conflict resolution and reducing tension during the discussion of controversial topics. This often involves techniques such as taking a time-out, and deflecting the conversation to individuals in the group who are less passionately involved. Other related archivesconflict resolution, controversial, discussion, tension, time-out

Read more here: » De-escalation: Encyclopedia - De-escalation

In engineering, buckling is a failure mode of a structural member characterised by a failure to react to the bending moment generated by a compressive load. Buckling - Buckling in columns. The ratio of the length of a column to the least radius of gyration of its cross section is called the slenderness ratio (usually expressed with the Greek letter lambda - λ). This ratio affords a means of classifying columns. All the following are approximate values used for convenience. A short steel ...

Including:

• Buckling - Buckling in columns
• Buckling - Buckling of surface materials
• Buckling - Local Buckling
• Buckling - Lateral-Torsional Buckling
• Buckling - Plastic Buckling

Read more here: » Buckling: Encyclopedia - Buckling

Sir Isaac Newton's rotating bucket argument is aimed at showing that there is a meaningful difference between what he calls 'true motion' and 'relative motion'. Motion under the influence of a force is true motion, motion without the presence of a force is relative motion. (This article is based on a translation of Newton's writing from Latin to 17th century English (by A. Motte), and a later translation of this text to modern English (by F. Cajori). It is possible that the particular understanding of the translators has introduc ...

Read more here: » Bucket argument: Encyclopedia - Bucket argument

A material is brittle if it is subject to fracture when subjected to stress i.e. it has little tendency to deform (or strain) before fracture. This fracture absorbs relatively little energy, even in materials of high strength. When used in materials science, it is generally applied to materials that fail in tension rather than shear, or when there is no evidence of plastic deformation before failure. When a material has reached the limit of its strength, it usually has the option of either deformation or fracture. A natu ...

Read more here: » Brittle: Encyclopedia - Brittle

A bridge is a device for supporting the strings on a stringed instrument and transmitting the vibration of those strings to some other structural component of the instrument that transfers the sound to the surrounding air. Bridge instrument - Sound production mechanism. Most stringed instruments produce their sound through the application of energy to the strings, which sets them into vibratory motion. The strings alone, however, produce only a faint sound because they displace only a small volume of air as ...

Including:

• Bridge instrument - Sound production mechanism
• Bridge instrument - Positioning
• Bridge instrument - Construction
• Bridge instrument - Operation
• Bridge instrument - Electric guitar bridges
• Bridge instrument - Tremolo bridges
• Bridge instrument - Non-Tremolo bridges

Read more here: » Bridge instrument: Encyclopedia - Bridge instrument

A bicycle chain is a chain that transfers power from the pedals to the drive-wheel of a bicycle thus propelling it. The chain in use on modern bicycles is a roller chain with a 1/2" pitch. Chain comes in either 1/8" or 3/32" widths. 1/8" is used on the common low cost coaster, three speed, fixed gear and track bicycles, and 3/32" is used on derailleur-equipped road bicycles such as racing and touring models. Bicycle chain - History. Obsolete chain designs previously used on bicycles included the bloc ...

Including:

• Bicycle chain - History
• Bicycle chain - Maintenance

Read more here: » Bicycle chain: Encyclopedia - Bicycle chain

A wave is a disturbance that propagates in a periodically repeating fashion, often transferring energy. A mechanical wave exists in a medium (which on deformation is capable of producing elastic restoring forces) through which they travel and can transfer energy from one place to another without any of the particles of the medium being displaced permanently; there is no associated mass transport. Instead, any particular point oscillates around a fixed position. However, electromagnetic radiation, and probably gravitational radiation are not mechanical waves, and can ...

Including:

• Wave - The medium which carries a wave
• Wave - Examples of waves
• Wave - Characteristic properties
• Wave - Transverse and longitudinal waves
• Wave - Polarization
• Wave - Physical description of a wave
• Wave - Travelling waves
• Wave - Propagation through strings
• Wave - The wave equation

Read more here: » Wave: Encyclopedia - Wave

For the dentistry term, see Bridge (dentistry). A cantilever bridge is a form of bridge whereby the structure is supported using the technique of cantilevers. Unlike suspension bridges where the load is supported at either end of the bridge, the strength of a cantilever bridge comes from a structure or structures positioned towards the middle of the bridge. The bridge usually consists of three spans, with the ground or footing supports at either end of the bridge providing ...

Including:

• Cantilever bridge - List by length

Read more here: » Cantilever bridge: Encyclopedia - Cantilever bridge

Badminton is a racquet sport played by either two opposing players (singles) or two opposing pairs (doubles). The game of badminton is superficially similar to that of tennis. Players at opposite ends of the court aim to hit a shuttlecock, more informally called a birdie, over the net so that it lands inside the marked boundaries of the court, and aim to prevent their opponents from doing the same. Unlike a tennis ball, the shuttlecock flies with a lot of drag, and will not bounce significantly. The shuttlecock is always volley ...

Including:

• Badminton - The service court
• Badminton - Equipment
• Badminton - Playing the game
• Badminton - The Rules
• Badminton - Strategy
• Badminton - History
• Badminton - Sources

Read more here: » Badminton: Encyclopedia - Badminton

A classical guitar, also called a Spanish guitar, is a musical instrument from the guitar family. Classical guitar - Background information. The classical guitar is distinguished by a number of features: It is an acoustic instrument. The sound is amplified by a sound box. It has six strings. A few classical guitars have eight or more strings to expand the bass scale, even out overtone production, and allow lute music written for lutes with more than six courses of strings to be ...

Including:

• Classical guitar - Background information
• Classical guitar - History of the classical guitar
• Classical guitar - The Golden Age
• Classical guitar - Guitarist-composers of the 20th century
• Classical guitar - Composers for the classical guitar
• Classical guitar - Modern performers

Read more here: » Classical guitar: Encyclopedia - Classical guitar

Wood derives from woody plants, notably trees but also shrubs. Wood from the latter is only produced in small sizes, reducing the diversity of uses. Wood is a hygroscopic, cellular and anisotropic material. Dry wood is composed of fibers of cellulose (40%–50%) and hemicellulose (20%–30%) held together by lignin (25%–30%). Wood is the xylem tissue of the plant. Wood - Uses. Wood has been used by man for millennia for many purposes, being many things to many people. One of its primary uses is as fuel. I ...

Including:

• Wood - Uses
• Wood - Formation
• Wood - Knots
• Wood - Heartwood and sapwood
• Wood - Different woods
• Wood - Color
• Wood - Structure
• Wood - Water content

Read more here: » Wood: Encyclopedia - Wood

A barostat is a pneumatic pump used in Neurogastroenterology research. Its main principle is providing constant pressures in a balloon by means of a piston pump. It is used for measuring gut wall tension or sensory thresholds in the gut. A specially designed instrument is needed in Neurogastroenterology research since the gut wall has an outstanding capacity to expand and contract spontaneously and by reflex. When this occurs, a balloon placed anywhere in the gut has to be inflated or deflated very rapidly in order t ...

Read more here: » Barostat: Encyclopedia - Barostat

A vibration in a string is a wave. Usually a vibrating string produces a sound whose frequency is constant. Therefore, since frequency characterizes the pitch, the sound produced is a constant note. Vibrating strings are the basis of any string instrument like guitar, cello, or piano. Vibrating string - Speed of propagation of the wave. Let L be the length of the string, m its mass and T the tension.< ...

Including:

• Vibrating string - Speed of propagation of the wave
• Vibrating string - Frequency of the wave
• Vibrating string - Miscellaneous

Read more here: » Vibrating string: Encyclopedia - Vibrating string

The word relaxation can mean the following: The opposite of stress or tension; the aim of recreation and leisure activities. The transition of an atom or molecule from a higher energy level to a lower one (as in dielectric relaxation). In music, the release following musical tension. Other related archivesatom, dielectric relaxation, energy level, leisure, molecule, music, recreation, stress, tension

Read more here: » Relaxation: Encyclopedia - Relaxation

In engineering mechanics, bending (also known as flexure) characterizes the behavior of a structural element subjected to a lateral load. A structural element subjected to bending is known as a beam. A closet rod sagging under the weight of clothes on clothes hangers is an example of a beam experiencing bending. Bending produces reactive forces inside a beam as the beam attempts to accommodate the flexural load: in the case of the beam in Figure 1, the material at the top of the beam is being compressed while the materia ...

Including:

• Bending - Stress in a beam

Read more here: » Bending: Encyclopedia - Bending