Footnotes
[1]Systems for Nuclear Auxiliary Power.
[2]Described in this booklet.
[3]Magnetohydrodynamics.
[4]The Kelvin temperature scale starts with zero at absolute zero instead of at the freezing point of water. Therefore, °K = °C + 273; °K = ⁵/₉ (°F + 460).
[5]Termed valence or conduction electrons, these are responsible for chemical properties, bonds with other atoms, and the conduction of electricity.
[6]See the companion Understanding the Atom booklet, Power from Radioisotopes.
[7]Discovered by Thomas Edison in 1883.
[8]An electron volt is equal to the kinetic energy acquired by an electron accelerated through a potential difference of 1 volt. It is equal to 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ joule.
[9]In outer space, waste heat must be radiated away. The rate at which heat is radiated is proportional to the fourth power of Tc (Stefan-Boltzmann law).
[10]The newton and the weber are mks (meter-kilogram-second) units.
[11]An angstrom unit (A) is a unit of distance measurement equal to 10⁻¹⁰ meter.
[12]Dielectric materials are nonconductors such as are those used between the plates of a condenser to increase its electrical capacity.
[13]The Curie point is the temperature at which a material’s crystalline structure radically changes and becomes less orderly.
[14]Ferroelectricity and ferromagnetism are very similar. The equations describing these phenomena are almost identical except that capacitance is replaced by its magnetic analog, inductance, and so on.
This booklet is one of the “Understanding the Atom” Series. Comments are invited on this booklet and others in the series; please send them to the Division of Technical Information, U. S. Atomic Energy Commission, Washington, D. C. 20545.
Published as part of the AEC’s educational assistance program, the series includes these titles:
Accelerators
Animals in Atomic Research
Atomic Fuel
Atomic Power Safety
Atoms at the Science Fair
Atoms in Agriculture
Atoms, Nature, and Man
Careers in Atomic Energy
Computers
Controlled Nuclear Fusion
Cryogenics, The Uncommon Cold
Direct Conversion of Energy
Fallout From Nuclear Tests
Food Preservation by Irradiation
Genetic Effects of Radiation
Index to the UAS Series
Lasers
Microstructure of Matter
Neutron Activation Analysis
Nondestructive Testing
Nuclear Clocks
Nuclear Energy for Desalting
Nuclear Power and Merchant Shipping
Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear Propulsion for Space
Nuclear Reactors
Nuclear Terms, A Brief Glossary
Our Atomic World
Plowshare
Plutonium
Power from Radioisotopes
Power Reactors in Small Packages
Radioactive Wastes
Radioisotopes and Life Processes
Radioisotopes in Industry
Radioisotopes in Medicine
Rare Earths
Reading Resources in Atomic Energy
Research Reactors
SNAP, Nuclear Space Reactors
Sources of Nuclear Fuel
Synthetic Transuranium Elements
The Atom and the Ocean
The Chemistry of the Noble Gases
The First Reactor
Whole Body Counters
Your Body and Radiation
A single copy of any one booklet, or of no more than three different booklets, may be obtained free by writing to:
USAEC, P. O. BOX 62, OAK RIDGE, TENNESSEE 37830
Complete sets of the series are available to school and public librarians, and to teachers who can make them available for reference or for use by groups. Requests should be made on school or library letterheads and indicate the proposed use.
Students and teachers who need other material on specific aspects of nuclear science, or references to other reading material, may also write to the Oak Ridge address. Requests should state the topic of interest exactly, and the use intended.
In all requests, include “Zip Code” in return address.
Printed in the United States of America
USAEC Division of Technical Information Extension, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
May 1968