科普知识3.doc

科普知识3 21 To the ordinary man, one kind of oil may be as important as another. But when the engineer refers to oil, he almost always means mineral oil, the oil that drives tanks, planes and ships, motorcars; the oil that is used to lubricate(润滑) all kinds of machinery. This is the oil that has changed the life of the common man. To it we owe the existence of the motorcar, which has replaced the private carriage drawn by the horse. To it we owe the possibility of flying. It has changed the methods of war. This kind of oil comes out of the earth. Because it burns well, it is used as fuel and in some ways it is better than coal. Many big ships now burn oil instead of coal. Because it burns brightly, it is used for lighting; countless homes are still lighting with oil burning lamps. Because it is very slippery, it is used for lubrication. Two metal surface rubbing together cause friction(摩擦) and heat; but if they are separated by a thin film of oil, the friction and heat are reduce. No machine would work for long if it were not properly lubricated. The oil used for this purpose must be of the correct thickness; if it is too thin, it will not give enough lubrication, and if it is too thick, it will not reach all parts that must be lubricated. 22 The earth is not the only body that travels around the sun. With it are eight other planets, fellow members of the suns family. Two of them are nearer while the other six are farther from the sun than the earth is. The farther they are, the longer trips they make around the sun. People noticed long ago that these travelling bodies moved around in the sky in definite paths. It is a force called gravity that holds them in their paths. We know that every little bit of matter in the universe pulls upon every other bit of matter. Because the sun is so large the pulls(拉力,引力) between the sun and the planets are thus great. If it were not for these pulls, the planets would fly off into space. In the same way there exists a pull