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Compound Lever
The compound lever is a simple machine operating on the premise that the resistance from one lever in a system of levers acts as effort for the next, and thus the applied force is transferred from one lever to the next. Almost all scales use some sort of compound lever to work. Other examples include nail clippers and piano keys. Mechanical advantage A lever arm uses the fulcrum to lift the load using and intensifying an applied force. In practice, conditions may prevent the use of a single lever to accomplish the desired result, e.g., a restricted space, the inconvenient location of the point of delivery of the resultant force, or the prohibitive length of the lever arm needed. In these conditions, combinations of simple levers, called compound levers, are used. Compound levers can be constructed from first, second and/or third-order levers. In all types of compound lever, the rule is that force multiplied by the force arm equals the weight multiplied by the weight arm. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fingernail Clippers
A nail is a claw-like plate found at the tip of the fingers and toes on most primates. Nails correspond to the claws found in other animals. Fingernails and toenails are made of a tough protective protein called alpha-keratin, which is a polymer. Alpha-keratin is found in the hooves, claws, and horns of vertebrates. Structure The nail consists of the nail plate, the nail matrix and the nail bed below it, and the grooves surrounding it. Parts of the nail The matrix, sometimes called the ''matrix unguis'', keratogenous membrane, nail matrix, or onychostroma, is the active tissue (or germinal matrix) that generates cells, which harden as they move outward from the nail root to the nail plate. It is the part of the nail bed that is beneath the nail and contains nerves, lymph and blood vessels. The matrix produces cells that become the nail plate. The width and thickness of the nail plate is determined by the size, length, and thickness of the matrix, while the shape of the finge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Wyatt (inventor)
John Wyatt (April 1700 – 29 November 1766), an English inventor, was born near Lichfield and was related to Sarah Ford, Doctor Johnson's mother. A carpenter by trade he began work in Birmingham on the development of a spinning machine. In 1733 he was working in the mill at New Forge (Powells) Pool, Sutton Coldfield attempting to spin the first cotton thread ever spun by mechanical means. His principal partner was Lewis Paul (who was sponsored by the Duke of Shrewsbury) and together they developed the concept of elongating cotton threads by running them through rollers and then stretching them through a faster second set of rollers. They produced the first ever roller spinning machine but it was very successful. Paul took out thread in 1738 and in 1758, the year before he died. In 1757 the Rev. John Dyer of Northampton recognised the importance of the Paul and Wyatt cotton spinning machine in his poem ''The Fleece'' (Dyer, p. 99): :A circular machine, of new d ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands metropolitan county, and approximately 4.3 million in the Birmingham metropolitan area, wider metropolitan area. It is the ESPON metropolitan areas in the United Kingdom, largest UK metropolitan area outside of London. Birmingham is known as the second city of the United Kingdom. Located in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England, approximately from London, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midlands. Distinctively, Birmingham only has small rivers flowing through it, mainly the River Tame, West Midlands, River Tame and its tributaries River Rea and River Cole, West Midlands ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Han Dynasty
The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–207 BC) and a warring interregnum known as the ChuHan contention (206–202 BC), and it was succeeded by the Three Kingdoms period (220–280 AD). The dynasty was briefly interrupted by the Xin dynasty (9–23 AD) established by usurping regent Wang Mang, and is thus separated into two periods—the Western Han (202 BC – 9 AD) and the Eastern Han (25–220 AD). Spanning over four centuries, the Han dynasty is considered a golden age in Chinese history, and it has influenced the identity of the Chinese civilization ever since. Modern China's majority ethnic group refers to themselves as the "Han people", the Sinitic language is known as "Han language", and the written Chinese is referred to as " Han characters". The emperor was at the pinnacle of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Archimedes
Archimedes of Syracuse (;; ) was a Greek mathematician, physicist, engineer, astronomer, and inventor from the ancient city of Syracuse in Sicily. Although few details of his life are known, he is regarded as one of the leading scientists in classical antiquity. Considered the greatest mathematician of ancient history, and one of the greatest of all time,* * * * * * * * * * Archimedes anticipated modern calculus and analysis by applying the concept of the infinitely small and the method of exhaustion to derive and rigorously prove a range of geometrical theorems. These include the area of a circle, the surface area and volume of a sphere, the area of an ellipse, the area under a parabola, the volume of a segment of a paraboloid of revolution, the volume of a segment of a hyperboloid of revolution, and the area of a spiral. Heath, Thomas L. 1897. ''Works of Archimedes''. Archimedes' other mathematical achievements include deriving an approximation of pi, defining ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cochlea
The cochlea is the part of the inner ear involved in hearing. It is a spiral-shaped cavity in the bony labyrinth, in humans making 2.75 turns around its axis, the modiolus. A core component of the cochlea is the Organ of Corti, the sensory organ of hearing, which is distributed along the partition separating the fluid chambers in the coiled tapered tube of the cochlea. The name cochlea derives . Structure The cochlea (plural is cochleae) is a spiraled, hollow, conical chamber of bone, in which waves propagate from the base (near the middle ear and the oval window) to the apex (the top or center of the spiral). The spiral canal of the cochlea is a section of the bony labyrinth of the inner ear that is approximately 30 mm long and makes 2 turns about the modiolus. The cochlear structures include: * Three ''scalae'' or chambers: ** the vestibular duct or ''scala vestibuli'' (containing perilymph), which lies superior to the cochlear duct and abuts the oval window ** the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Oval Window
The oval window (or ''fenestra vestibuli'' or ''fenestra ovalis'') is a membrane-covered opening from the middle ear to the cochlea of the inner ear. Vibrations that contact the tympanic membrane travel through the three ossicles and into the inner ear. The oval window is the intersection of the middle ear with the inner ear and is directly contacted by the ''stapes''; by the time vibrations reach the oval window, they have been reduced in amplitude and increased in force due to the lever action of the ossicle bones. This is not an amplification function, as often incorrectly reported. Rather, it is an impedance-matching function, allowing sound to be transferred from air (outer ear) to liquid (cochlea). It is a reniform (kidney-shaped) opening leading from the tympanic cavity into the vestibule of the internal ear; its long diameter is horizontal and its convex border is upward. It is occupied by the base of the ''stapes'', the circumference of which is fixed by the annular l ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eardrum
In the anatomy of humans and various other tetrapods, the eardrum, also called the tympanic membrane or myringa, is a thin, cone-shaped membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear, and then to the oval window in the fluid-filled cochlea. Hence, it ultimately converts and amplifies vibration in the air to vibration in cochlear fluid. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles. Rupture or perforation of the eardrum can lead to conductive hearing loss. Collapse or retraction of the eardrum can cause conductive hearing loss or cholesteatoma. Structure Orientation and relations The tympanic membrane is oriented obliquely in the anteroposterior, mediolateral, and superoinferior planes. Consequently, its superoposterior end lies lateral to its anteroinferior end. Anatomically, it relates superiorly to the middle cranial fossa, posteriorly t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Middle Ear
The middle ear is the portion of the ear medial to the eardrum, and distal to the oval window of the cochlea (of the inner ear). The mammalian middle ear contains three ossicles, which transfer the vibrations of the eardrum into waves in the fluid and membranes of the inner ear. The hollow space of the middle ear is also known as the tympanic cavity and is surrounded by the tympanic part of the temporal bone. The auditory tube (also known as the Eustachian tube or the pharyngotympanic tube) joins the tympanic cavity with the nasal cavity (nasopharynx), allowing pressure to equalize between the middle ear and throat. The primary function of the middle ear is to efficiently transfer acoustic energy from compression waves in air to fluid–membrane waves within the cochlea. Structure Ossicles The middle ear contains three tiny bones known as the ossicles: '' malleus'', '' incus'', and ''stapes''. The ossicles were given their Latin names for their distinctive shapes; they ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stapes
The ''stapes'' or stirrup is a bone in the middle ear of humans and other animals which is involved in the conduction of sound vibrations to the inner ear. This bone is connected to the oval window by its annular ligament, which allows the footplate to transmit sound energy through the oval window into the inner ear. The ''stapes'' is the smallest and lightest bone in the human body, and is so-called because of its resemblance to a stirrup ( la, Stapes). Structure The ''stapes'' is the third bone of the three ossicles in the middle ear and the smallest in the human body. It measures roughly , greater along the head-base span. It rests on the oval window, to which it is connected by an annular ligament and articulates with the '' incus'', or anvil through the incudostapedial joint. They are connected by anterior and posterior limbs ( la, crura). Development The ''stapes'' develops from the second pharyngeal arch during the sixth to eighth week of embryological life. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Incus
The ''incus'' (plural incudes) or anvil is a bone in the middle ear. The anvil-shaped small bone is one of three ossicles in the middle ear. The ''incus'' receives vibrations from the ''malleus'', to which it is connected laterally, and transmits these to the ''stapes'' medially. The ''incus'' is so-called because of its resemblance to an anvil ( la, Incus). Structure The incus is the second of the ossicles, three bones in the middle ear which act to transmit sound. It is shaped like an anvil, and has a long and short crus extending from the body, which articulates with the malleus. The short crus attaches to the posterior ligament of the incus. The long crus articulates with the stirrup at the lenticular process. The superior ligament of the incus attaches at the body of the incus to the roof of the tympanic cavity. Function Vibrations in the middle ear are received via the tympanic membrane. The malleus, resting on the membrane, conveys vibrations to the incus. This in tu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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