UNIT 7

READING COMPREHENSION
THE ATOM
The atom is a system. It consists of a nucleus and one or more electrons. The nucleus is the
center of the atom and consists of protons and neutrons. The electrons move around the
central nucleus.There is only one electron in the hydrogen atom. There are seven electrons in
the nitrogen atom and eight in the oxygen atom. An atom of iron contains twenty-six
electrons.
The concept of atom first emerged in Ancient Greece. In 400 B.C. the philosopher
Democritus theorized that matter could be divided into smaller and smaller particles until a
point was reached beyond which no further subdivision was possible. These indestructible
particles were called atomos, a Greek word meaning indivisible. We know today that atoms
are so small that it would take more than a million of them to equal the thickness of this sheet
of paper. Democritus theory, however, was not universally accepted in the ancient world, or
many believed in Aristotles theory that matter is composed of four elements: earth, fire air,
and water.
During the middle Agesin Europe, the concept of atoms was considered too abstract and was
accordingly rejected. Finally, in 1804 the Englishman John Dalton formulated an atomic
theory based on his experimentation. He claimed that all matter is made of atoms; that all
atoms of a single element have the same shape size, weight, and behavior; and that atoms of
each elements are different from those of any other element. He said that atoms are not
created or destroyed but rather form new combination in chemical reactions.
Dalton thought that atoms were solid, but today atoms are believed to consist mainly of
space, with a dense nucleus at the center. The size of the nucleus inside an atom is
comparable to the size of an ant on a football. Each nucleus contains proton, which have
positive electric charge, and neutrons, which have no charge. The nucleus is surrounded by
electrons, which have a negative electric charge. The number of protons equal to the number
of electrons in each atom, and therefore in the entire atom has no charge. In 1913, the Danish
physicist Niels Bohr proposed a model of the atom in which the electrons revolved around
the nucleus like the planets revolved around the sun. Today the movement of electrons is
thought to be more like bees hovering around a hive. The force of attraction between the
positive atoms in the nucleus and the negative electrons whirling around keeps the electrons
in their paths.
What is it that makes iron hard, oxygen a gas, and mercury a liquid? The properties of an
elements are determined by a number of electrons in an atom, which is called the atomic
number. All atoms of the same element are alike. If youve seen one atom of oxygen, youve
seen them all. Hydrogen, the lightest element, has one proton and one electron. In fact, the
hydrogen atom, the most common atom in the universe, is the basis on which our entire
universe was formed. Hydrogen has eight protons and eight electrons. Uranium, one of
heaviest, has 92 protons and 92 electrons. All the world is made of atoms: Everything we see
and know of is made of the billion and billion of these infinitesimal specks of matter. All life
exists because atoms are continually moving, combining, separating, colliding, giving of f
energy and absorbing energy.

UNIT 8
READING COMPREHENSION
SOUND
Sound waves cannot travel through empty space because they need a solid, liquid or gas to
pass through. Astronauts on the moon cannot talk to each other like they do on Earth as there
is no air for sound to pass through, so they have radios to speak to each other.
Sound waves can be produced in several different ways by hitting; blowing, plucking or
rubbing, for example a drummer hits the skin of a drum with his drumstick. When you rub
your hand a long the tablet it makes a noise. They way that a wind instrument makes a noise
is by blowing air through a pipe so that the air inside the instrument has to vibrate in a
number of different ways. The strings of a guitar are plucked.
The human voice is a wind instrument. Two thin pieces of skin, the vocal chords, are at the
back of the throat. Breathing out between these stretched membranes makes them vibrate and
produce sound waves. Different sounds can be made by using muscles to alter the tightness of
the vocal cords.
Any movement sets up vibrations that cause changes of pressure in the surrounding air.
Everything that vibrates at a Frequency of between about 50-20000 vibration per second
makes sound waves which humans can hear. A shrill, high note is produced by rapid
vibration, a deep, low one called its pitch, and the pitch of a note depends on the number of
times the sound producer vibrates in one second. The human ear cannot detect very low or
very high frequency sounds. It is sensitive to frequencies of from about 20-20,000 hertz but
the range varies from the person to person. One hertz is equal to one vibration per second.
The loudness of a sound is the effect it has on the human ear. It depends on the size of the
vibrations. The larger the vibration will be the louder the sound. The amount of energy
needed to produce the vibrations controls the intensity of the sound.

UNIT 9
READING COMPREHENSION
POWER OF THE SUN
The sun radiates its energy in all directions. The minute fraction of the suns energy received
by the earth has provided the basis of all life both the incoming energy used to keep warm
and sustain life and the retained fossil energy in the form of coal, petroleum, and others types
of fuel. Evolving mankind has become increasingly dependent on using our stored energy
reserves to provide the light and heat which in the past were provided exclusively by the sun
and renewable energy sources. We have extended the hours of work and play and the level of
thermal comfort, independent of geography and climate. However, we have now learnt that
the supply of non-renewable energy is not infinite. We have also become aware of the cost in
pollution and other negative side effects that can result from the conversation of excessive
amount of energy. We must therefore examine the amount of free incoming solar energy we
can use to meet our current needs for light and heat and to allow us to extend the use of stored
energy for future generations.
At the edge of the earths atmosphere, the level of solar illumination is approximately 14.000
foot-candles. Even after passing through the atmosphere of clear sky to sea level, the level
can exceed 10.000 foot-candles of electric lighting. As a comparison, brightly-lit office might

have an average of 30-100 foot-candles of electrics lighting. Passing through the atmosphere
of clear sky to sea level, the level can exceed 10.000 foot-candles of electric lighting. As a
comparison, brightly-lit office might have an average of 30-100 foot-candles of electrics
lighting.
The instantaneous energy of one square foot of sunlight (on a horizontal surface at equinox
noon, see level, 40 degrees north latitude) is equivalent to the visible light of 3.340 watt
florescent lamps or 6100 watt incandescent lamps. As heat, this solar energy is equivalent to
88 watts from an electric heater. Even if used inefficiently, there is obviously an abundant
amount of radiant energy available from the sun.

UNIT 10
READING COMPREHENSION
ELECTRIC FIELD
Everything seems to be full of electricity when the weather is cold and dry. Even walking
across a rug will give your body a charge of electricity. If you then touch a metal object or
another person, you may see an electric spark and feel a small electric shock. Combing your
hair makes it crackle, and stroking a cat in the dark will produce showers of sparks.
On cold, dry days you can do many electrical experiments without any magnets, wires, or
batteries. A comb that has been rubbed with a cloth will attract a small stream of water
running from a faucet. A sheet of paper rubbed against your clothes will push each other a
part but will be attracted to your body.
Place bits of paper, popcorn, or puffed cereals underneath a sheet of glass resting on two
books. Rub the glass with a cloth to give it charge of electricity. The papers and other objects
are attracted by the glass because they have no electrical charge first. Within a short time they
drop off because some electrons jump from the paper to the glass. Then paper bits are
repelled by the glass because both have the same kind of electric charge.
Hold a charged comb bits of paper and see if you obtain the same result. On a most day, some
of these experiments may not work because the electric charges are drained off by water
particles in the.
Since electrically charged objects attract or reply each other, you might guess that they are
magnetized. We can be made quickly. Push a pin through the middle of a soda straw so
becomes charged with positive electricity and the other with negative electricity. Surrounding
each object there is an invisible something called an electric fields. Electric field is not the
same as a magnetic field.
Our understanding of electric fields is still incomplete, and scientists are not quite sure why
they behave as they do. For the remainder of our study of electricity, the kind that travels
through metal wires and other good conductors of electricity.

UNIT 11
READING COMPREHENSION
SOLID, LIQUIDS, GASES
Matter in physics means something that takes up space. Everything that is made of any
material is made of some of the elements. We could also say is better this way: All matter is
made of elements.

Matter may be in three different forms.

Matter may be a solid (a brick)
Matter may be a liquid (gasoline)
Matter may be a gas (air)
Some kinds of matter can easily be changed from a solid to a liquid and then to a gas. Water
is a liquid. Ice is a solid. Steam is a gas.
Ice is just water in the form of a solid. Steam is just water in the form of a gas. Air is a gas.
But if air is made cold enough it becomes a liquid. Iron is a solid. But if iron is made hot
enough it becomes a liquid. Here is a fact about solids, liquids, and gases that you already
know, but perhaps youve never thought about it in this way. A solid generally keeps its own
size and shape. A liquid keeps its own size but changes its shape to fit whatever holds it. A
gas changes not only its shape but its size to fit whatever holds it.
For instance, put a brick in a teapot. The brick remains the same size and shape. It is a solid.
Put some water in the teapot. The water doesnt take up any more space than it did before it
was in the teapot. The size of the water stays the same. But the water takes the shape of the
bottom and sides of the teapot. Water is a liquid.
Put some steam in the teapot (by boiling the water). The steam fills all the empty space in the
teapot. Steam not only takes the shape of the inside of the teapot but it changes its size so as
to fill the whole teapot. Steam is gas.
You can see from ice and water and steam that heat must have something to do with solids,
liquids, and gases. That brings us back to molecules. Molecules in a material arent jammed
solidly together. Molecules have spaces between them. The molecules move about in these
spaces. The more the molecules are heated the faster they move. In a solid molecules have
less freedom to move than in a liquid. In a gas the molecules have so much spaces to move in
that they go shooting off in every direction.
Perhaps you can get an idea of a solid by thinking of a haystack. There are plenty of spaces
between the pieces of hay but the pieces of hay havent much freedom to move about. A
liquid may be more like a bag of marbles or a quart of cranberries. The marbles or the
cranberries slide over and around each other when you pour them out. You cannot pour the
pieces of hay out of a haystack. The molecules in a liquid may be like the cranberries in the
quart box.
A gas is more like a lot of tennis balls flying and bouncing around in a big room. They
go in every direction and if you open the window some of the balls apt to fly out. The
molecules in a gas are something like the tennis balls in a room.