Part II

1. What is a cable train?

Ans : Cable trains are specially designed to run on tracks with a steep incline. Since it's difficult for a conventional train to climb the incline, the train, especially freight trains, are pulled by cable lines attached at the top and bottom. Cable trains very useful for transporting goods in mines and quarries.

2. Who were the first people to fly across the Atlantic Ocean?

Ans : Charles A. Lindbergh, an American pilot was the first person who flew non-stoop across the Atlantic Ocean. On May 20,1927, he took off in his airplane. “The Spirit of St. Louis’ from Roosevelt Field near New York City . Flying northeast along the coast, he flew over Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He headed out over the Atlantic, aided by a magnetic compass and airspeed indicator towards Ireland. When he landed in less than 34hrs after his departure from New York. Lindbergh became the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Amelia Earhart was the first women to fly across the Atlantic in 1932. She received many honors throughout her life. She was a writer as well and founded “The Ninety Nines”, an organization for female pilots. She disappeared during a solo flight across the globe over the central Pacific Ocean in 1937, and was declared dead.

3. What fuels do cars use?

Ans : The most commonly used fuel is petrol or gasoline, a fossil fuel. Diesel is also made from petroleum and is also used as a cheaper option to petrol. However , there are alternative bio-fuels that are produced from organic waste, like animal and vegetable fats, and other natural waste products. Alcohol fuels, such as ethanol,methanol,butanol and propanol are also used, but vehicle engines have to be specially designed to run on these fuels. These alcohols can also be mixed with petrol and diesel. The racing car circuit, the Indy, used methanol for 40 years, before switching to ethanol. This is far more efficient than petrol and diesel. Electricity is also used to power cars and often hybrid versions with electricity and petrol engines are made. A serious effort is being made to make hydrogen powered vehicles. In these cars, hydrogen fuel cells take in Hydrogen and water and convert it into electricity. In the future , it seems likely that cars will be powered by electricity, bio-fuels and hydrogen cells, once the fossil fuels are exhausted.

4. Can cars run on steam?

Ans : The development of the steam engine helped speed up transport greatly. But it took a lot of exparimentation until a steam engine was designed that was small and efficient enough to run a car. The earliest steam powered car was built by Ferdinand Verbiest in 1672. Next came the steam wagon built by Nicholas-Joseph Cugnot in 1769 that hauled cannons for the French Army. In 1801, Richard Trevithick made a steam car that had an internal heat boiler and a vertical cylinder, with a piston moving the wheels. It weighed about 1520 KG when fully loaded and attained a speed of 9 miles per hour on a flat road. In England in the 1830s, a regular intercity steam powered bus service was started, but the heavy taxes did not allow them to survive.

Steam cars could take some time to warm up, but once they were ready, they could be driven off at once. In 1923, Abner developed an automatic boiler and burner that allowed the card to be started with the turn of a key. The first usable steam car was built in 1899 in Connecticut. The best selling steam car was the ‘Stanley Steamer’, produced from 1896-1924. The World Land speed record was broken by a steam powered ‘Stanley’, driven by Fred Marriot in 1906. This car achieved 127 miles per hour at Ormond Beach, Florida.

5. How high can airplanes fly?

Ans : The Karaman Line at an altitude of 328,000 feet/62.1 miles high, is considered by many to be the edge of space . Most airplanes, however, fly much below this altitude, at about 20,000-40,000 feet. Even though most aircrafts can fly till an altitude of 50,000 feet or more, it is not commercially viable.

6. What is a snow avalanche?

Ans : A snow avalanche is a natural force, much like tornadoes,hailstorms and earthquakes. It's begun with loose snow sliding down a slope. As this loose snow slides, it gathers more snow. Thus, it becomes larger, wider and more massive. A snow avalanches with dry snow are the fastest ones, as the dry snow comes loose easily. In fact particles of dry snow even form loose easily. In fact, particles of dry snow even from a cloud-like mass of snow dust in the air, around the avalanche. Thus, an avalanche of cry snow, along with sliding down a slope, also half-flies in the air!

7. What is fog?

Ans : Fog is actually a form of cloud, but lies much closer to the ground level. Like clouds, fog consists of tiny droplets of water suspended in the air. Normally, through evaporation, water vapor rises high up in the air. Only when it reaches a high altitude does the vapor cool enough to condense into tiny water drops or clouds. However, sometimes, during cool nights the vapor condenses nearer to the surface of the Earth, formation fog. The greater the saturation of the air, denser is the fog. Sometimes, when the saturation is even larger, it results in drizzling, much like that by an actual cloud.

8. What do muscles do?

Ans : The basic and foremost function of muscles is to cause locomotion or movement. All our movement in the body takes place because of the presence of muscles. It may be simple and voluntary movement, such as, lifting our arm, walking and running or an involuntary movement, such as, the pumping of our heart, the working of the digestive system, and so on. Either way, muscles provide force and motion to the body and internal organs.

9. What is the function of blood?

Ans : The main function of blood is to act as a carrier for oxygen, from the lungs to the various body tissues. Oxygen, as we know, is vital for living. It also takes care of the nutrients, hormones and enzymes from our metabolism. Further, it controls our body temperature, water content, acid-base balance and blood clotting. Blood contains antibodies and white cells too, which protect us from parasites and diseases.

10. What are teeth for?

Ans : We know that teeth help us chew and grind our food. There are four types of teeth- incisors, canines, molars and pre-molars. Incisors help us bite into our food. Canines are sharp and pointed, so they help us tear the food. Next , the pre-molars help us grind the food. Finally, molars help us chew the ground food. However, the teeth are not for eating food. As jaws, they provide a structure to our facial muscles. It's because of this that we are able to form certain expressions, like a frown. In fact, when we smile, it shows on the lips, with the help of jaws! Our teeth also work with our tongue movements when we speak, to help us make sounds.

11. What work does our heart do?

Ans : Our heart is made up of muscles and is a little larger than our fist. Its actually a pump that generates healthy blood that is rich in oxygen, to be sent to the rest of the body. Blood Floows from all parts of the body to the heart, through the veins. This blood is devoid of oxygen. The heart pumps oxygen into it. This oxygen-rich blood then travels to the rest of our body through arteries. The beat that we hear and feel is actually the sound of our pumping heart. It beats around 100,000 tomes each day!

12. What happens when we breathe?

Ans : As we breathe are in, or inhale, our diaphragm becomes smaller. This increases the space for our chest cavity, so that our lungs can expand to the fullest and take in maximum amount of air. The inhaled air then travels through our wind pipeand inside our lungs. Here , air sacks, or alveoli are present. These diffuse the oxygen that we breathe in, into our body, through blood vessels known as capillaries. However , people who smoke have weak lungs that cannot take in maximum air. This greatly reduces oxygen in the body and makes us weak. Hence , we should never smoke.

13. What makes us yawn?

Ans : Yawning occurs mainly because of tiredness. In fact, even when we are bored, we breathe in slower than usual. Thus, our body is not getting as much oxygen as it usually does. So, in order to release extra carbon dioxide, yawning occurs. It's actually a huge gulp of air, as the body attempts to make up for the slow intake of oxygen.

14. Can we feel our heart beating?

Ans : Yes, we can feel our heart beating. Under normal conditions, we can place a hand on the left side of our chest and feel the beats. We can also put our ear to another person’s chest and hear their heartbeats. We can especially hear and feel our heart when we exercise, or feel nervous or scared. Our heart beats much faster, then. Thus, we can feel it more easily.