Energy - What Is It?

Energy causes things to happen around us. Look out the window.
During the day, the sun gives out light and heat energy. At night, street
lamps use electrical energy to light our way.
When a car drives by, it is being powered by gasoline, a type of stored
energy.
The food we eat contains energy. We use that energy to work and play.

We learned the definition of energy in the introduction:

"Energy Is the Ability to Do Work."

Energy can be found in a number of different forms. It can be chemical energy, electrical energy, heat
(thermal energy), light (radiant energy), mechanical energy, and nuclear energy.

Stored and Moving Energy

Energy makes everything happen and can be divided into two types:
 Stored energy is called potential energy.
 Moving energy is called kinetic energy.
With a pencil, try this example to know the two types of energy.
Put the pencil at the edge of the desk and push it off to the floor. The moving pencil uses kinetic energy.
Now, pick up the pencil and put it back on the desk. You used your own energy to lift and move the
pencil. Moving it higher than the floor adds energy to it. As it rests on the desk, the pencil has potential
energy. The higher it is, the further it could fall. That means the pencil has more potential energy.

Changing Energy
Energy can be transformed into another sort of energy. But it cannot be created AND it cannot be
destroyed. Energy has always existed in one form or another.
Here are some changes in energy from one form to another.

Stored energy in a flashlight's batteries becomes light energy when the flashlight is turned on.
Food is stored energy. It is stored as a chemical with potential energy. When your body uses that
stored energy to do work, it becomes kinetic energy.
If you overeat, the energy in food is not "burned" but is stored as potential energy in fat cells.
When you talk on the phone, your voice is transformed into electrical energy, which passes over
wires (or is transmitted through the air). The phone on the other end changes the electrical energy into sound
energy through the speaker.
A car uses stored chemical energy in gasoline to move. The engine changes the chemical energy into
heat and kinetic energy to power the car.
A toaster changes electrical energy into heat and light energy. (If you look into the toaster, you'll see
the glowing wires.)
A television changes electrical energy into light and sound energy.

Heat Energy
Heat is a form of energy. We use it for a lot of things, like warming our homes and cooking our food.
Heat energy moves in three ways:
 1. Conduction
2. Convection
3. Radiation

Conduction occurs when energy is passed directly from one item to another. If you stirred a pan of
soup on the stove with a metal spoon, the spoon will heat up. The heat is being conducted from the hot area
of the soup to the colder area of spoon.
Metals are excellent conductors of heat energy. Wood or
plastics are not. These "bad" conductors are called insulators.
That's why a pan is usually made of metal while the handle is
made of a strong plastic.
Convection is the movement of gases or liquids from a
cooler spot to a warmer spot. If a soup pan is made of glass, we
could see the movement of convection currents in the pan. The
warmer soup moves up from the heated area at the bottom of the
pan to the top where it is cooler. The cooler soup then moves to
take the warmer soup's place. The movement is in a circular
pattern within the pan (see picture above).
The wind we feel outside is often the result of convection currents. You
can understand this by the winds you feel near an ocean. Warm air is
lighter than cold air and so it rises. During the daytime, cool air over
water moves to replace the air rising up as the land warms the air over it.
During the nighttime, the directions change - the surface of the water is
sometimes warmer and the land is cooler.
Radiation is the final form of movement of heat energy. The sun's
light and heat cannot reach us by conduction or convection because space
is almost completely empty. There is nothing to transfer the energy from
the sun to the earth.

The sun's rays travel in straight lines called heat rays. When it moves that way, it is called radiation.
When sunlight hits the earth, its radiation is absorbed or reflected. Darker surfaces absorb more of the
radiation and lighter surfaces reflect the radiation. So you would be cooler if you wear light or white clothes
in the summer.
What is Electricity?
Electricity figures everywhere in our lives. Electricity lights up our homes, cooks our food, powers our
computers, television sets, and other electronic devices. Electricity from batteries keeps our cars running and
makes our flashlights shine in the dark.

Here's something you can do to see the importance of electricity. Take a walk through your school, house or
apartment and write down all the different appliances, devices and machines that use electricity. You'll be
amazed at how many things we use each and every day that depend on electricity.

But what is electricity? Where does it come from? How does it work? Before we understand all that, we need
to know a little bit about atoms and their structure.

All matter is made up of atoms, and atoms are made up of smaller particles. The three main particles making
up an atom are the proton, the neutron and the electron.

Electrons spin around the center, or nucleus, of atoms, in the same way the moon spins around the earth. The
nucleus is made up of neutrons and protons.

Electrons contain a negative charge, protons a positive charge. Neutrons are neutral – they have neither a
positive nor a negative charge.

There are many different kinds of atoms, one for each type of element. An atom is a single part that makes up
an element. There are 118 different known elements that make up every thing! Some elements like oxygen
we breathe are essential to life.

Each atom has a specific number of electrons, protons and neutrons. But no matter how many particles an
atom has, the number of electrons usually needs to be the same as the number of protons. If the numbers are
the same, the atom is called balanced, and it is very stable.

So, if an atom had six protons, it should also have six electrons. The element with
six protons and six electrons is called carbon. Carbon is found in abundance in the
sun, stars, comets, atmospheres of most planets, and the food we eat. Coal is made of
carbon; so are diamonds.

Some kinds of atoms have loosely attached electrons. An atom that loses electrons has
more protons than electrons and is positively charged. An atom that gains electrons
has more negative particles and is negatively charge. A "charged" atom is called an
"ion."
Electrons can be made to move from one atom to another. When those electrons move between the atoms, a
current of electricity is created. The electrons move from one atom to another in a "flow." One electron is
attached and another electron is lost.

This chain is similar to the fire fighter's bucket brigades in olden times. But instead of passing one bucket
from the start of the line of people to the other end, each person would have a bucket of water to pour from
one bucket to another. The result was a lot of spilled water and not enough water to douse the fire. It is a
situation that's very similar to electricity passing along a wire and a circuit. The charge is passed from atom
to atom when electricity is "passed."

Scientists and engineers have learned many ways to move electrons off of atoms. That means that when you
add up the electrons and protons, you would wind up with one more proton instead of being balanced.

Since all atoms want to be balanced, the atom that has been "unbalanced" will look for a free electron to fill
the place of the missing one. We say that this unbalanced atom has a "positive charge" (+) because it has too
many protons.

Since it got kicked off, the free electron moves around waiting for an unbalanced atom to give it a home. The
free electron charge is negative, and has no proton to balance it out, so we say that it has a "negative charge"
(-).

So what do positive and negative charges have to do with electricity?

Scientists and engineers have found several ways to create large numbers of positive atoms and free negative
electrons. Since positive atoms want negative electrons so they can be balanced, they have a strong attraction
for the electrons. The electrons also want to be part of a balanced atom, so they have a strong attraction to the
positive atoms. So, the positive attracts the negative to balance out.

The more positive atoms or negative electrons you have, the stronger the attraction for the other. Since we
have both positive and negative charged groups attracted to each other, we call the total attraction "charge."

Energy also can be measured in joules. Joules sounds exactly like the word jewels, as in diamonds and
emeralds. A thousand joules is equal to a British thermal unit.

When electrons move among the atoms of matter, a current of electricity is created. This is what happens in a
piece of wire. The electrons are passed from atom to atom, creating an electrical current from one end to
other, just like in the picture.

Electricity is conducted through some things better than others do. Its resistance measures how well
something conducts electricity. Some things hold their electrons very tightly. Electrons do not move through
them very well. These things are called insulators. Rubber, plastic, cloth, glass and dry air are good insulators
and have very high resistance.

Other materials have some loosely held electrons, which move through them very easily. These are called
conductors. Most metals – like copper, aluminum or steel – are good conductors.
Where Does the Word 'Electricity' Come From?

Electrons, electricity, electronic and other words that begin with "electr..." all originate from the Greek word
"elektor," meaning "beaming sun." In Greek, "elektron" is the word for amber.

Amber is a very pretty goldish brown "stone" that sparkles orange and yellow in sunlight. Amber is actually
fossilized tree sap! It's the stuff used in the movie "Jurassic Park." Millions of years ago insects got stuck in
the tree sap. Small insects which had bitten the dinosaurs, had blood with DNA from the dinosaurs in the
insect's bodies, which were now fossilized in the amber.

Ancient Greeks discovered that amber behaved oddly - like attracting feathers - when rubbed by fur or other
objects. They didn't know what it was that caused this phenomenon. But the Greeks had discovered one of
the first examples of static electricity

The Latin word, electricus, means to "produce from amber by friction."

So, we get our English word electricity from Greek and Latin words that were about amber.

Resistance and Static Electricity

As we have learned, some kinds of atoms contain loosely attached electrons.

Electrons can be made to move easily from one atom to another. When those
electrons move among the atoms of matter, a current of electricity is created.

Take a piece of wire. The electrons are passed from atom to atom, creating an
electrical current from one end to the other. Electrons are very, very small. A single
copper penny contains more than 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (1x1022)
electrons.

Electricity "flows" or moves through some things better than others do. The measurement of how well
something conducts electricity is called its resistance.

Resistance in wire depends on how thick and how long it is, and what it's made of.
The thickness of wire is called its gauge. The smaller the gauge, the bigger the wire.
Some of the largest thicknesses of regular wire is gauge 1.

Different types of metal are used in making wire. You can have copper wire,
aluminum wire, even steel wire. Each of these metals has a different resistance; how
well the metal conducts electricity. The lower the resistance of a wire, the better it
conducts electricity.

Copper is used in many wires because it has a lower resistance than many other metals. The wires in your
walls, inside your lamps and elsewhere are usually copper.

A piece of metal can be made to act like a heater. When an electrical current occurs, the resistance causes
friction and the friction causes heat. The higher the resistance, the hotter it can get. So, a coiled wire high in
resistance, like the wire in a hair dryer, can be very hot.
Some things conduct electricity very poorly. These are called insulators. Rubber is a good insulator, and
that's why rubber is used to cover wires in an electric cord. Glass is another good insulator. If you look at the
end of a power line, you'll see that it is attached to some bumpy looking things. These are glass insulators.
They keep the metal of the wires from touching the metal of the towers.

Static Electricity
Another type of electrical energy is static electricity. Unlike current electricity that moves, static electricity
stays in one place.

Try this experiment...

Rub a balloon filled with air on a wool sweater or on your hair. Then hold it up to a wall. The balloon will
stay there by itself.

Tie strings to the ends of two balloons. Now rub the two balloons together, hold them by strings at the end
and put them next to each other. They'll move apart.

Rubbing the balloons gives them static electricity. When you rub the balloon it picks up extra electrons from
the sweater or your hair and becomes slightly negatively charged.

The negative charges in the single balloon are attracted to the positive charges in the wall.

The two balloons hanging by strings both have negative charges. Negative charges always repel negative
charges and positive always repels positive charges. So, the two balloons' negative charges "push" each other
apart.

Static electricity can also give you a shock. If you walk across a carpet, shuffling your feet and touching
something made of metal, a spark can jump between you and the metal object. Shuffling your feet picks up
additional electrons spread over your body. When you touch a metal doorknob or something with a positive
charge the electricity jumps across the small gap from your fingers just before you touch the metal knob. If
you walk across a carpet and touch a computer case, you can damage the computer.

One other type of static electricity is very spectacular. It's the lightning in a
thunder and lightning storm. Clouds become negatively charged as ice crystals
inside the clouds rub up against each other. Meanwhile, on the ground, the
positive charge increases. The clouds get so highly charged that the electrons
jump from the ground to the cloud, or from one cloud to another cloud. This
causes a huge spark of static electricity in the sky that we call lightning.

But What Is Static Electricity?

You'll remember from Chapter 2 that the word "electricity" came from the Greek words "elektor," for
"beaming sun" and "elektron," both words describing amber. Amber is fossilized tree sap millions of years
old and has hardened as hard as a stone.
Around 600 BCE (Before the Common Era) Greeks noticed a strange effect: When rubbing "elektron"
against a piece of fur, the amber would start attracting particles of dust, feathers and straw. No one paid much
attention to this "strange effect" until about 1600 when Dr. William Gilbert investigated the reactions of
magnets and amber and discovered other objects can be made "electric."

Gilbert said that amber acquired what he called "resinous electricity" when rubbed with fur. Glass, however,
when rubbed with silk, acquired what he termed "vitreous electricity."

He thought that electricity repeled the same kind and attracts the opposite kind of electricity. Gilbert and
other scientists of that time thought that the friction actually created the electricity (their word for the
electrical charge).

In 1747, Benjamin Franklin in America and William Watson in England both reached the same conclusion.
They said all materials possess a single kind of electrical "fluid." They didn't really know anything about
atoms and electrons, so they called how it behaved a "fluid."

They thought that this fluid can penetrate matter freely and couldn't be created or destroyed. The two men
thought that the action of rubbing (like rubbing amber with fur) moves this unseen fluid from one thing to
another, electrifying both.

Franklin defined the fluid as positive and the lack of fluid as negative. Therefore, according to Franklin, the
direction of flow was from positive to negative. Today, we know that the opposite is true. Electricity flows
from negative to positive. Others took the idea even further saying this that two fluids are involved. They
said items with the same fluid attract each other. And opposite types of fluid in objects will make them repel
each other.

All of this was only partially right. This is how scientific theories develop. Someone thinks of why
something occurs and then proposes an explanation. It can take centuries sometime to find the real truth.
Instead of electricity being a fluid, it is the movement of the charged particles between the objects... the two
objects are really exchanging electrons.

Circuits
Electrons with a negative charge, can't "jump" through them air to a positively charged atom. They have to
wait until there is a link or bridge between the negative area and the positive area. We usually call this bridge
a "circuit."

When a bridge is created, the electrons begin moving quickly. Depending on the resistance of the material
making up the bridge, they try to get across as fast as they can. If you're not careful, too many electrons can
go across at one time and destroy the "bridge" or the circuit, in the process.

In Chapter 3, we learned about electrons and the attraction between positive and negative charges. We also
learned that we can create a bridge called a "circuit" between the charges.

We can limit the number of electrons crossing over the circuit," by letting only a certain number through at a
time. And we can make electricity do something for us while they are on their way. For example, we can
"make" the electrons "heat" a filament in a bulb, causing it to glow and give off light.
When we limit the number of electrons that can cross over
our circuit, we say we are giving it "resistance". We "resist"
letting all the electrons through. This works something like a
tollbooth on a freeway bridge. Copper wire is just one type
of bridge we use in circuits.
Before electrons can move far, however, they can collide
with one of the atoms along the way. This slows them down
or even reverses their direction. As a result, they lose energy
to the atoms. This energy appears as heat, and the scattering
is a resistance to the current.

Think of the bridge as a garden hose. The current of electricity is the water flowing in the hose and the water
pressure is the voltage of a circuit. The diameter of the hose is the determining factor for the resistance.

Current refers to the movement of charges. In an electrical circuit – electrons move from the negative pole to
the positive. If you connected the positive pole of an electrical source to the negative pole, you create a
circuit. This charge changes into electrical energy when the poles are connected in a circuit – similar to
connecting the two poles on opposite ends of a battery.

Along the circuit you can have a light bulb and an on-off switch. The light
bulb changes the electrical energy into light and heat energy.

Circuit Experiment

As a boy, Thomas Edison built a small laboratory in his cellar. His early
experiments helped develop a very inquisitive mind. His whole life was
spent thinking about how things work and dreaming up new inventions.
The light bulb and movie projector are just two of dozens of inventions.

You can build a very basic electrical circuit similar to what Edison may have crafted as a boy. And you can
find out what happens when a current is "open" compared with when it's "closed."

Here's What You need:

1. Penlight bulb
2. Flashlight battery
3. Two 6" pieces of insulated wire (any kind will work)
4. Tape to keep the wire on the end of the battery
5. A small piece of thin flat metal to make a "switch"
6. Small block of wood

Here's What to Do

1. To make a switch:
 Take the block of wood and stick one thumb tack in.
 Push the other thumbtack through the thin piece of flat metal.
 Push the thumb tack into the wood so that the piece of metal can touch the other thumb tack (see
picture).
2. Connect the first piece of wire to a thumbtack on the switch.
3. Place the light bulb in the center of this wire piece.
4. Tape the end of the first piece of wire to one end of the battery.
5. Tape your second piece of wire to the opposite end of the battery.
6. Attach the end of your second piece of wire to the remaining thumbtack on the switch.

You've created an electrical circuit.

When you press the switch connecting the two thumbtacks, your circuit is "closed" and your current flows –
turning your light bulb on. When your switch is up, your circuit is "open" and your current can not flow –
turning your light bulb off, just like Thomas Edison's may have done.

The number of electrons we are willing to let across the circuit at one time is called "current". We measure
current using amperes, or "Amps".

One AMP is defined as 6,250,000,000,000,000,000 (6.25 x 1018) electrons moving across your circuit every
second!

Since no one wants to remember such a big number, that big number is called a "coulomb," after the scientist
Charles A Coulomb who helped discover what a current of electricity is.

The amount of charge between the sides of the circuit is called "voltage." We measure Voltage in Volts. The
word volt is named after another scientist, Alexader Volta, who built the world's first battery.

You'll remember that back in Chapter 1, we defined energy as the "ability to do work."

Well, one volt is defined as the amount of electrical charge needed to make one Coulomb
(625,000,000,000,000,000,000 electrons) do one a specific amount of work – which is labeled one joule.

Joule is also named after a scientist, James Prescott Joule. Do you remember him from Chapter 2?

Voltage, Current and Resistance are very important to circuits. If either voltage or current is too big you
could break the circuit. But if either is too small, the circuit will not be able to work enough to be useful to
us. In the same way, if the resistance is too big none of the electrons would be able to get though at all, but if
it were too small, they would rush though all at once breaking the circuit on their way.
 The Invention of the Light Bulb: Davy, Swan and Edison

The first electric light was made in 1800 by Humphry Davy, an English scientist. He
experimented with electricity and invented an electric battery. When he connected wires to his
battery and a piece of carbon, the carbon glowed, producing light. This is called an electric arc.

Much later, in 1860, the English physicist Sir Joseph Wilson Swan (1828-1914) was determined
to devise a practical, long-lasting electric light. He found that a carbon paper filament worked
well, but burned up quickly. In 1878, he demonstrated his new electric lamps in Newcastle,
England.

In 1877, the American Charles Francis Brush manufactured some carbon arcs to light a public
square in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. These arcs were used on a few streets, in a few large office
buildings, and even some stores. Electric lights were only used by a few people.

The inventor Thomas Alva Edison (in the USA) experimented with thousands of different
filaments to find just the right materials to glow well and be long-lasting. In 1879, Edison
discovered that a carbon filament in an oxygen-free bulb glowed but did not burn up for 40
hours. Edison eventually produced a bulb that could glow for over 1500 hours.

Lewis Howard Latimer (1848-1928) improved the bulb by inventing a carbon filament
(patented in 1881); Latimer was a member of Edison's research team, which was called "Edison's
Pioneers." In 1882, Latimer developed and patented a method of manufacturing his carbon
filaments.

In 1903, Willis R. Whitney invented a treatment for the filament so that it wouldn't darken the
inside of the bulb as it glowed. In 1910, William David Coolidge (1873-1975) invented a
tungsten filament which lasted even longer than the older filaments. The incandescent bulb
revolutionized the world.

Energy Saving Bulbs and the Environment

It is universally agreed that energy saving light bulbs are good for the environment. Not only do they save
significant quantities of electricity but they last much longer and therefore do not result in the high levels of
landfill associated with incandescent bulbs. CFL bulbs are around four times as efficient as incandescent
light bulbs and last up to 10 times longer. Therefore a 20 Watt CFL will offer the same amount of light as a
100 Watt incandescent bulb and will last for around five years. Using an 18 Watt CFL in place of a 75 Watt
standard light bulb will save over 500 kWh over its lifetime offering savings of around £25 - far in excess of
the initial cost of the CFL - and will prevent half a ton of CO2 being pumped into the atmosphere by power
stations.
The environmental case for LEDs is even more outstanding. LEDs are not only mercury free, so they don't
contain any hazardous waste, but they're also 300% more energy efficient than fluorescent lights and about
1000% more efficient than incandescent lights. In a study by The Department of Energy in the US have
estimated that LED Bulbs could reduce their national energy consumption for lighting by 29% by 2025. That
would save households £80 billion on their electric bills and would have a significant positive impact on our
global warming, energy and emissions initiatives.

Greenpeace Say Change them Right Now... don't even wait for them to blow!!

Incandescent bulbs are going to end up in landfill anyway, so the question is: do you put them in the bin now
or later? If you continue to use them until they break, they'll still be using 80 per cent more electricity
compared to CFLs. If you throw them away now, the energy and materials used in their production will be
wasted but that will eventually be outweighed by the amount of energy saved from using CFLs. On balance,
the best thing you can do is to change your light bulbs now - the energy saved is more significant than
keeping those incandescents out of landfill for a few more months.

Recycling and Safety

Incandescent bulbs have no hazardous waste so they can be placed in landfill sites, but it is important to
recycle CFL's as they do contain small quantities of mercury and other hazardous waste. Although lighting
manufacturers have greatly reduced the amount of mercury used in lighting over the past 20 years, they are
not yet able to completely eliminate the need for mercury. While mercury-containing bulbs contain small
amounts of mercury (an average of 5 milligrams or about 1/100th of the amount of mercury found in a
mercury fever thermometer), they are one of numerous sources that collectively impact the environment
during disposal.

Does the mercury pose a risk?

The mercury cannot escape from an intact lamp and, even if the lamp should be broken, the very small
amount of mercury contained in a single, modern CFL is most unlikely to cause any harm. But it makes sense
to avoid unnecessary contact with mercury; and any light bulb, broken or intact, should be dealt with
sensibly.

How should I deal with a broken CFL?

Although the accidental breakage of a lamp is most unlikely to cause any health problems, it is good practice
to minimise any unnecessary exposure to mercury, as well as risk of cuts from glass fragments.
Revised advice issued by the Health Protection Agency is to:

 Ventilate the room

 Wipe the area with a damp cloth, place that in the plastic bag and seal it
 Sticky tape (e.g. duct tape or similar) can be used to pick up small residual pieces or powder from soft
furnishings and then placed in a sealed plastic bag. The plastic bag doesn't need to be air tight, but
should be reasonably sturdy.
 Place it in another, similar bag and seal that one as well (this minimises cuts from broken glass).

The public should contact the local authority for advice on where to dispose of broken or intact CFLs as they
should be treated as hazardous waste and should not be disposed of in the bin. All local councils have an
obligation to make arrangements for the disposal of household hazardous waste at a civic amenity site or
household waste recycling centre. The National Household Hazardous Waste Forum runs a website with
details of these centres for chemicals, but which also applies to other hazardous wastes (www.chem-
away.org.uk/). Alternatively contact your local council direct.

Engineering
Engineering is the discipline, art, skill, profession, and technology of acquiring and applying scientific,
mathematical, economic, social, and practical knowledge, in order to design and build structures, machines,
devices, systems, materials and processes.

The American Engineers' Council for Professional Development (ECPD, the predecessor of ABET) has
defined "engineering" as:

The creative application of scientific principles to design or develop structures, machines, apparatus, or
manufacturing processes, or works utilizing them singly or in combination; or to construct or operate the
same with full cognizance of their design; or to forecast their behavior under specific operating conditions;
all as respects an intended function, economics of operation and safety to life and property.

One who practices engineering is called an engineer, and those licensed to do so may have more formal
designations such as Professional Engineer, Chartered Engineer, Incorporated Engineer, Ingenieur or
European Engineer. The broad discipline of engineering encompasses a range of more specialized sub
disciplines, each with a more specific emphasis on certain fields of application and particular areas of
technology.

Main branches of engineering

Engineering, much like other science, is a broad discipline which is often broken down into several sub-
disciplines. These disciplines concern themselves with differing areas of engineering work. Although initially
an engineer will usually be trained in a specific discipline, throughout an engineer's career the engineer may
become multi-disciplined, having worked in several of the outlined areas. Engineering is often characterized
as having four main branches:
  Chemical engineering – The application of physics, chemistry, biology, and engineering principles in
order to carry out chemical processes on a commercial scale.
 Civil engineering – The design and construction of public and private works, such as infrastructure
(airports, roads, railways, water supply and treatment etc.), bridges, dams, and buildings.
 Electrical engineering – The design and study of various electrical and electronic systems, such as
electrical circuits, generators, motors, electromagnetic/electromechanical devices, electronic devices,
electronic circuits, optical fibers, optoelectronic devices, computer systems, telecommunications,
instrumentation, controls, and electronics.
 Mechanical engineering – The design of physical or mechanical systems, such as power and energy
systems, aerospace/aircraft products, weapon systems, transportation products engines, compressors,
powertrains, kinematic chains, vacuum technology, and vibration isolation equipment.

Beyond these four, sources vary on other main branches. Historically, naval engineering and mining
engineering were major branches. Modern fields sometimes included as major branches include aerospace,
petroleum, systems, audio engineering,architectural, biosystems, biomedical,[18] industrial, materials
science[19] and nuclear engineering.[20][citation needed]

New specialties sometimes combine with the traditional fields and form new branches. A new or emerging
area of application will commonly be defined temporarily as a permutation or subset of existing disciplines;
there is often gray area as to when a given sub-field becomes large and/or prominent enough to warrant
classification as a new "branch." One key indicator of such emergence is when major universities start
establishing departments and programs in the new field.

For each of these fields there exists considerable overlap, especially in the areas of the application of sciences
to their disciplines such as physics, chemistry and mathematics.

Computer use

As with all modern scientific and technological endeavors, computers and software play an increasingly
important role. As well as the typical business application software there are a number of computer aided
applications (Computer-aided technologies) specifically for engineering. Computers can be used to generate
models of fundamental physical processes, which can be solved using numerical methods.

One of the most widely used tools in the profession is computer-aided design (CAD) software which enables
engineers to create 3D models, 2D drawings, and schematics of their designs. CAD together with Digital
mockup (DMU) and CAE software such as finite element method analysis or analytic element method allows
engineers to create models of designs that can be analyzed without having to make expensive and time-
consuming physical prototypes.

These allow products and components to be checked for flaws; assess fit and assembly; study ergonomics;
and to analyze static and dynamic characteristics of systems such as stresses, temperatures, electromagnetic
emissions, electrical currents and voltages, digital logic levels, fluid flows, and kinematics. Access and
distribution of all this information is generally organized with the use of Product Data Management
software.[21]

There are also many tools to support specific engineering tasks such as Computer-aided manufacture (CAM)
software to generate CNC machining instructions; Manufacturing Process Management software for
production engineering; EDA for printed circuit board (PCB) and circuit schematics for electronic engineers;
MRO applications for maintenance management; and AEC software for civil engineering.
In recent years the use of computer software to aid the development of goods has collectively come to be
known as Product Lifecycle Management (PLM).

Technical lettering
Technical lettering is the process of forming letters, numerals, and other characters in technical drawing. It
is used to describe, or provide detailed specifications for, an object. With the goals of legibility and
uniformity, styles are standardized and lettering ability has little relationship to normal writing ability.

Introduction
Engineering Graphics is said to be Engineers' language. In every language there are two primary
requirements viz. Grammar and Lettering. So Technical Lettering is indeed required while learning the
concepts of Engineering Graphics, Machine Drawing, Machine Design and all.
Engineering drawings use a Gothic sans-serif script, formed by a series of short strokes. Lower case letters
are rare in most drawings of machines.

Methods of forming letters

1. Freehand lettering is done without the assistance of tools. To regulate lettering height, commonly
3 mm (1/8"), guidelines are drawn.
2. Mechanical lettering is done using tools such as lettering guides, templates, or using a small
mechanical pantograph referred to by the Keuffel & Esser trademark "Leroy"
3. Modern drawings are lettered with computer-aided design software.

Technical drawing
Technical drawing, also known as drafting or draughting, is the act and discipline of composing plans that
visually communicate how something functions or has to be constructed.

Drafting is the visual language of industry and engineering.

A drafter, draftsperson, or draughtsman is a person who makes a drawing (technical or otherwise). A

professional drafter who makes technical drawings is sometimes called a drafting technician.

People who communicate with technical drawings, (those who design and those who are trades people), may
use technical standards that define practical symbols, perspectives, units of measurement, notation systems,
visual styles, or layout conventions. These enable a drafter to communicate more concisely by using a
commonly-understood convention. Together, such conventions constitute a visual language, and help to
ensure that the drawing is unambiguous and relatively easy to understand.

This need for unambiguous communication in the preparation of a functional document distinguishes
technical drawing from the expressive drawing of the visual arts. Artistic drawings are subjectively
interpreted; their meanings are multiply determined. Technical drawings are understood to have one intended
meaning.
 Sketching
A sketch is a quickly executed freehand drawing that is not intended as a finished work. In general, sketching
is a quick way to record an idea for later use. Architect's sketches primarily serve as a way to try out different
ideas and establish a composition before undertaking a more finished work, especially when the finished
work is expensive and time consuming.

Architectural sketches, for example, are a kind of diagrams. These sketches, like metaphors, are used by
architects as a mean of communication in aiding design collaboration. This tool helps architects to abstract
attributes of hypothetical provisional design solutions and summarize their complex patterns, hereby
enhancing the design process.

Engineering drawing
An engineering drawing, a type of technical drawing, is used to fully and clearly define requirements for
engineered items.

Engineering drawing (the activity) produces engineering drawings (the documents). More than just the
drawing of pictures, it is also a language—a graphical language that communicates ideas and information
from one mind to another. Most especially, it communicates all needed information from the engineer who
designed a part to the workers who will make it.

Relationship to artistic drawing

Engineering drawing and artistic drawing are both types of drawing, and either may be called simply
"drawing" when the context is implicit. Engineering drawing shares some traits with artistic drawing in that
both create pictures. But whereas the purpose of artistic drawing is to convey emotion or artistic sensitivity in
some way (subjective impressions), the purpose of engineering drawing is to convey information (objective
facts).

Relationship to other technical drawing types

The process of producing engineering drawings, and the skill of producing them, is often referred to as
technical drawing or drafting, although technical drawings are also required for disciplines that would not
ordinarily be thought of as parts of engineering (such as architecture, landscaping, cabinet making, and
garment-making).

Cascading of conventions by specialty

The various fields share many common conventions of drawing, while also having some field-specific
conventions. For example, even within metalworking, there are some process-specific conventions to be
learned—casting, machining, fabricating, and assembly all have some special drawing conventions, and
within fabrication there is further division, including welding, riveting, pipefitting, and erecting. Each of
these trades has some details that only specialists will have memorized.
 Legal instruments

An engineering drawing is a legal document (that is, a legal instrument), because it communicates all the
needed information about "what is wanted" to the people who will expend resources turning the idea into a
reality. It is thus a part of a contract; the purchase order and the drawing together, as well as any ancillary
documents (engineering change orders [ECOs], called-out specs), constitute the contract. Thus, if the
resulting product is wrong, the worker or manufacturer are protected from liability as long as they have
faithfully executed the instructions conveyed by the drawing. If those instructions were wrong, it is the fault
of the engineer.