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146-559: In the United States , the exact ratio of fuel ethanol to hydrocarbon may vary according to ASTM 5798 that specifies the allowable ethanol content in E85 as ranging from 51% to 83%. This is due to the lower heating value of neat ethanol making it difficult to start engines in relatively cold climates without pre-heating air intake, faster cranking, or mixing varying fractions of gasoline according to climate. Cold starting in cold climates

292-424: A glow discharge , an arc has little discernible structure, since the positive column is quite bright and extends nearly to the electrodes on both ends. The cathode fall and anode fall of a few volts occur within a fraction of a millimeter of each electrode. The positive column has a lower voltage gradient and may be absent in very short arcs. A low-frequency (less than 100 Hz) alternating current arc resembles

438-577: A lower house based on population; and the Senate , an upper house based on equal representation for each state. Federalism provides substantial autonomy to the 50 states, while the country's political culture promotes liberty , equality , individualism , personal autonomy , and limited government . One of the world's most developed countries , the United States has had the largest nominal GDP since about 1890 and accounted for over 15% of

584-403: A short circuit and tripping protective devices ( fuses and circuit breakers ). A similar situation may occur when a lightbulb burns out and the fragments of the filament pull an electric arc between the leads inside the bulb, leading to overcurrent that trips the breakers. An electric arc over the surface of plastics causes their degradation. A conductive carbon-rich track tends to form in

730-580: A " Special Relationship " with the United Kingdom and strong ties with Canada , Australia , New Zealand , the Philippines , Japan , South Korea , Israel , and several European Union countries ( France , Italy , Germany , Spain , and Poland ). The U.S. works closely with its NATO allies on military and national security issues, and with countries in the Americas through

876-402: A bypass switch engaged), the arc will not reignite. The arc can be also broken by a blast of compressed air or another gas. An undesirable arc can also occur when a high-voltage switch is opened and is extinguished in similar ways. Modern devices use sulphur hexafluoride at high pressure in a nozzle flow between separated electrodes within a pressurized vessel. The arc current is interrupted at

1022-542: A coordinated, continent-wide military effort. Finally, deteriorating relations between the British military establishment and the colonists, relations that were already less than positive, set the stage for further distrust and dislike of British troops. Following their victory in the French and Indian War, Britain began to assert greater control over local colonial affairs, resulting in colonial political resistance ; one of

1168-534: A decentralized government that operated until 1789. After the British surrender at the siege of Yorktown in 1781 American sovereignty was internationally recognized by the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which the U.S. gained territory stretching west to the Mississippi River, north to present-day Canada, and south to Spanish Florida . The Northwest Ordinance (1787) established the precedent by which

1314-626: A decrease or no statistically relevant difference between E85 and gasoline. EPA's stringent tier-II vehicle emission standards require that FFVs achieve the same low emissions level regardless whether E85 or gasoline is used. However, E85 can further reduce emissions of certain pollutants as compared to conventional gasoline or lower-volume ethanol blends. For example, E85 is less volatile than gasoline or low-volume ethanol blends, which results in fewer evaporative emissions. Using E85 also reduces carbon-monoxide emissions and provides significant reductions in emissions of many harmful toxics, including benzene,

1460-536: A direct current arc; on each cycle, the arc is initiated by breakdown, and the electrodes interchange roles, as anode or cathode, when current reverses. As the frequency of the current increases, there is not enough time for all ionization to disperse on each half cycle, and the breakdown is no longer needed to sustain the arc; the voltage vs. current characteristic becomes more nearly ohmic. The various shapes of electric arcs are emergent properties of non-linear patterns of current and electric field . The arc occurs in

1606-407: A few prominent industrialists , largely by their formation of trusts and monopolies to prevent competition. Tycoons led the nation's expansion in the railroad , petroleum , and steel industries. The United States emerged as a pioneer of the automotive industry . These changes were accompanied by significant increases in economic inequality , slum conditions , and social unrest , creating

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1752-497: A fixed-voltage supply until the apparatus is destroyed. Industrially, electric arcs are used for welding , plasma cutting , for electrical discharge machining , as an arc lamp in movie projectors , and spotlights in stage lighting . Electric arc furnaces are used to produce steel and other substances. Calcium carbide is made in this way as it requires a large amount of energy to promote an endothermic reaction (at temperatures of 2500 °C). Carbon arc lights were

1898-638: A founding member of the World Bank , Organization of American States , NATO , and the United Nations , as well as a permanent member of the UN Security Council . The first documented use of the phrase "United States of America" is a letter from January 2, 1776. Stephen Moylan , a Continental Army aide to General George Washington , wrote to Joseph Reed , Washington's aide-de-camp , seeking to go "with full and ample powers from

2044-475: A glow discharge or by momentarily touching the electrodes then separating them), increased current results in a lower voltage between the arc terminals. This negative resistance effect requires that some positive form of impedance (as an electrical ballast ) be placed in the circuit to maintain a stable arc. This property is the reason uncontrolled electrical arcs in apparatus become so destructive, since once initiated an arc will draw more and more current from

2190-477: A glow discharge, and current is higher. An arc in gases near atmospheric pressure is characterized by visible light emission, high current density, and high temperature. An arc is distinguished from a glow discharge partly by the similar temperatures of the electrons and the positive ions; in a glow discharge, the ions are much colder than the electrons. A drawn arc can be initiated by two electrodes initially in contact and drawn apart; this can initiate an arc without

2336-572: A hazard to people and equipment. Undesired arcing in electrical contacts of contactors , relays and switches can be reduced by devices such as contact arc suppressors and RC snubbers or through techniques including: Arcing can also occur when a low resistance channel (foreign object, conductive dust , moisture...) forms between places with different voltage. The conductive channel then can facilitate formation of an electric arc. The ionized air has high electrical conductivity approaching that of metals, and it can conduct extremely high currents, causing

2482-577: A known human carcinogen. However, E85 in certain engine operating conditions may increase emissions of acetaldehyde . EPA is conducting additional analysis to expand our understanding of the emissions impacts of E85. A study by Purdue University found that the economic benefit of E85 is highly dependent on the price of crude oil . E85 critics contend that production of ethanol from corn (maize) drives up world food prices , causing corn to be unaffordable or even unavailable. E85 advocates counter that concern by pointing out that over 93% of all corn grown in

2628-457: A method to control the path of an arc between two electrodes by firing laser beams at the gas between the electrodes. The gas becomes a plasma and guides the arc. By constructing the plasma path between the electrodes with different laser beams, the arc can be formed into curved and S-shaped paths. The arc could also hit an obstacle and reform on the other side of the obstacle. The laser-guided arc technology could be useful in applications to deliver

2774-425: A normally nonconductive medium such as air produces a plasma , which may produce visible light . An arc discharge is initiated either by thermionic emission or by field emission . After initiation, the arc relies on thermionic emission of electrons from the electrodes supporting the arc. An arc discharge is characterized by a lower voltage than a glow discharge . An archaic term is voltaic arc , as used in

2920-598: A period of heightened, overt racism following Reconstruction, a time often called the nadir of American race relations . A series of Supreme Court decisions, including Plessy v. Ferguson , emptied the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments of their force, allowing Jim Crow laws in the South to remain unchecked, sundown towns in the Midwest, and segregation in communities across the country , which would be reinforced by

3066-488: A prominent leader in the early 1960s. The Great Society plan of President Lyndon Johnson 's administration resulted in groundbreaking and broad-reaching laws, policies and a constitutional amendment to counteract some of the worst effects of lingering institutional racism . The counterculture movement in the U.S. brought significant social changes, including the liberalization of attitudes toward recreational drug use and sexuality . It also encouraged open defiance of

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3212-645: A range of 100-105, and a document at the Texas State Energy Conservation Office titled "Ethanol", which cites a 113 rating. Some vehicles can be converted to use E85 despite not being specifically built for it. As the lower heating value E85 has a cooler intake charge—which, coupled with its high stability level from its high octane rating—has also been used as a "power adder" in turbocharged performance vehicles. These modifications have not only resulted in lower GHG emissions, but typically resulted in 10-12% power and torque increase at

3358-526: A sense of manifest destiny . The Missouri Compromise attempted to balance the desire of northern states to prevent the expansion of slavery into new territories with that of southern states to extend it, admitting Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It further prohibited slavery in all other lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of the 36°30′ parallel . As Americans expanded further into land inhabited by Native Americans,

3504-614: A sense of American identity as well. Men who otherwise never left their own colony now traveled across the continent to fight alongside men from decidedly different backgrounds but who were no less "American". British officers trained American officers for battle, most notably George Washington ; these officers would lend their skills and expertise to the colonists' cause during the American Revolutionary War to come. In addition, colonial legislatures and officials found it necessary to cooperate intensively in pursuit of

3650-408: A short distance apart. The demonstration produced a "feeble" arc, not readily distinguished from a sustained spark , between charcoal points. The Society subscribed for a more powerful battery of 1,000 plates, and in 1808 he demonstrated the large-scale arc. He is credited with naming the arc. He called it an arc because it assumes the shape of an upward bow when the distance between the electrodes

3796-420: A small-scale arc flash , is the foundation of exploding-bridgewire detonators . Electric arcs are used in arcjet , a form of electric propulsion of spacecraft. They are used in the laboratory for spectroscopy to create spectral emissions by intense heating of a sample of matter . Arc is still being used in high voltage switchgear for protection of extra high voltage transmission networks. To protect

3942-404: A spark gap can be fitted with arcing horns − two wires, approximately vertical but gradually diverging from each other towards the top in a narrow V shape. Once ignited, the arc will move upwards along the wires and will break down when the distance between the wires will become too large. If the arc is extinguished and the original trigger condition no longer exists (a fault has been resolved or

4088-411: A spark of electricity to a precise spot. Undesired or unintended electric arcing can have detrimental effects on electric power transmission , distribution systems and electronic equipment. Devices which may cause arcing include switches, circuit breakers, relay contacts, fuses and poor cable terminations. When an inductive circuit is switched off, the current cannot instantaneously jump to zero:

4234-632: A status solidified after its involvement in World War I . After Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the U.S. entered World War II . Its aftermath left the U.S. and the Soviet Union as the world's two superpowers and led to the Cold War , during which both countries struggled for ideological dominance and international influence . Following the Soviet Union's collapse and

4380-517: A transient arc will be formed across the separating contacts. Switching devices susceptible to arcing are normally designed to contain and extinguish an arc, and snubber circuits can supply a path for transient currents, preventing arcing. If a circuit has enough current and voltage to sustain an arc formed outside of a switching device, the arc can cause damage to equipment such as melting of conductors, destruction of insulation, and fire. An arc flash describes an explosive electrical event that presents

4526-472: A unit (e. g., a series capacitor in a transmission line) against overvoltage, an arc-inducing device, so called spark gap , is connected in parallel to the unit. Once the voltage reaches the air-breakdown threshold, an arc ignites across the spark plug and short-circuits the terminals of the unit, thus protecting the latter from the overvoltage. For the reinsertion of a unit, the arc needs to be extinguished, this can be achieved in multiple ways. For example,

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4672-401: A year). Juvenile correctional facilities are operated by local or state governments and serve as longer-term placements for any minor adjudicated as delinquent and ordered by a judge to be confined. As of January 2023, the United States has the sixth-highest per capita incarceration rate in the world—531 people per 100,000 inhabitants—and the largest prison and jail population in

4818-632: Is a device for producing a continuous train of electric arcs that rise upwards. The device is named for the Jacob's Ladder leading to heaven as described in the Bible. Similarly to the arcing horns, the spark gap is formed by two wires diverging from the base to the top. When high voltage is applied to the gap, a spark forms across the bottom of the wires where they are nearest each other, rapidly changing to an electric arc. Air breaks down at about 30 kV/cm, depending on humidity, temperature, etc. Apart from

4964-537: Is a mistake to base ethanol engine design on gasoline engine design, and that ethanol engines should be based on diesel engine design parameters instead. Using this approach, the EPA has produced an ethanol-only engine which achieves much higher brake thermal efficiency levels than gasoline engines achieve. Mileage is dependent upon the composition of the ethanol-gasoline blend, transmission, state of engine tune (primarily fuel-air mixture , spark timing and compression ratio). In

5110-591: Is believed to be the first widespread culture in the Americas. Over time, indigenous North American cultures grew increasingly sophisticated, and some, such as the Mississippian culture , developed agriculture , architecture , and complex societies . In the post-archaic period , the Mississippian cultures were located in the midwestern , eastern , and southern regions, and the Algonquian in

5256-399: Is dispersed rapidly to the heavier particles by elastic collisions , due to their great mobility and large numbers. Current in the arc is sustained by thermionic emission and field emission of electrons at the cathode. The current may be concentrated in a very small hot spot on the cathode; current densities on the order of one million amperes per square centimeter can be found. Unlike

5402-498: Is known as the presidential system , in contrast to the parliamentary system , where the executive is part of the legislative body. Many countries around the world imitated this aspect of the 1789 Constitution of the United States , especially in the Americas. The Constitution is silent on political parties. However, they developed independently in the 18th century with the Federalist and Anti-Federalist parties. Since then,

5548-415: Is limited only by the external circuit, not by the arc itself. An arc between two electrodes can be initiated by ionization and glow discharge, when the current through the electrodes is increased. The breakdown voltage of the electrode gap is a combined function of the pressure, distance between electrodes and type of gas surrounding the electrodes. When an arc starts, its terminal voltage is much less than

5694-535: Is manufactured from Finnish bio-waste. By way of international price comparison, in the Cook Islands as with many of the Pacific Islands, cost of producing 100% ethanol from coconut biomass is a fraction of obtaining fossil fuels . In France, about 30% of gas stations supply E85, or about 2,725 stations, and the number of flex-fuel kits installed doubled in 2021 to 30,000 kits from the previous year. E85

5840-406: Is much more beneficial, but not yet economically practical at large scale. Others say that the world can easily replace all of its use of petroleum by simply making ethanol from the many crops that yield more ethanol per acre than corn yields, with existing technology, not future technology, and that certain elements in the cellulosic ethanol field are more interested in patent rights than in producing

5986-460: Is not small. This is due to the buoyant force on the hot gas. The first continuous arc was discovered independently in 1802 and described in 1803 as a "special fluid with electrical properties", by Vasily V. Petrov , a Russian scientist experimenting with a copper-zinc battery consisting of 4200 discs. In the late nineteenth century, electric arc lighting was in wide use for public lighting . The tendency of electric arcs to flicker and hiss

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6132-438: Is now the United States experienced conflicts with Native Americans, they also engaged in trade, exchanging European tools for food and animal pelts. Relations ranged from close cooperation to warfare and massacres. The colonial authorities often pursued policies that forced Native Americans to adopt European lifestyles, including conversion to Christianity. Along the eastern seaboard, settlers trafficked African slaves through

6278-404: Is predominantly ethanol, the exhaust emissions are very different from those of regular gasoline. Numerous studies have compared and contrasted the different emissions and the effects these emissions have on the environment, but the tests have been inconclusive. The tests have shown very little consistency if any at all because there are too many variables involved. The make and model of the vehicle,

6424-568: Is the elimination of bare magnesium , aluminum , and rubber parts in the fuel system. Fuel injection control systems have a wider range of pulse widths to inject up to 34% more fuel (which in turn produces more power). Stainless steel fuel lines, sometimes lined with plastic, and stainless-steel fuel tanks in place of terne ( tinplate ) fuel tanks have been used. In some cases, FFVs use specific engine oil that neutralises acidity. For vehicles with in-tank-mounted fuel pumps, precautions to prevent arcing , as well as flame arrestors positioned in

6570-552: Is the federal agency charged with addressing most environmental-related issues . The idea of wilderness has shaped the management of public lands since 1964, with the Wilderness Act . The Endangered Species Act of 1973 provides a way to protect threatened and endangered species and their habitats. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service implements and enforces the Act. In 2024, the U.S. ranked 34th among 180 countries in

6716-479: Is the primary reason ethanol fuel is blended with any gasoline fraction. In Brazil, ethanol fuel is neat at the pumps, hence flexible-fuel vehicles (FFV) including trucks, tractors, motorbikes and mopeds run on E100. The 85% fraction is commonly sold at pumps worldwide (outside the US), and when specifically supplied or sold as E85 is always 85% ethanol (at pumps or in barrel). Having a guaranteed ethanol fraction obviates

6862-603: The Allies of World War I , helping to turn the tide against the Central Powers . In 1920, a constitutional amendment granted nationwide women's suffrage . During the 1920s and '30s, radio for mass communication and the invention of early television transformed communications nationwide. The Wall Street Crash of 1929 triggered the Great Depression , which President Franklin D. Roosevelt responded to with

7008-553: The Atlantic slave trade . The original Thirteen Colonies that would later found the United States were administered as possessions of Great Britain , and had local governments with elections open to most white male property owners . The colonial population grew rapidly, eclipsing Native American populations; by the 1770s, the natural increase of the population was such that only a small minority of Americans had been born overseas. The colonies' distance from Britain allowed for

7154-549: The Environmental Performance Index . The country joined the Paris Agreement on climate change in 2016 and has many other environmental commitments. The United States is a federal republic of 50 states and a separate federal capital district, Washington, D.C. It also asserts sovereignty over five unincorporated territories and several uninhabited island possessions . The U.S. is

7300-500: The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the U.S. Marshals Service have national jurisdiction and specialized duties, such as protecting civil rights , national security and enforcing U.S. federal courts ' rulings and federal laws. State courts conduct most civil and criminal trials, and federal courts handle designated crimes and appeals of state court decisions . There is no unified "criminal justice system" in

7446-720: The Great Lakes , Mississippi River and Gulf of Mexico . British colonization of the East Coast began with the Virginia Colony (1607) and Plymouth Colony (1620). The Mayflower Compact and the Fundamental Orders of Connecticut established precedents for representative self-governance and constitutionalism that would develop throughout the American colonies. While European settlers in what

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7592-719: The Great Lakes region and along the Eastern Seaboard , while the Hohokam culture and Ancestral Puebloans inhabited the southwest . Native population estimates of what is now the United States before the arrival of European immigrants range from around 500,000 to nearly 10 million. Christopher Columbus began exploring the Caribbean for Spain in 1492, leading to Spanish-speaking settlements and missions from Puerto Rico and Florida to New Mexico and California . France established its own settlements along

7738-536: The Midwest . E85 promoters and the Society of Automotive Engineers contend that automotive manufacturers currently fail to equal the fuel consumption of gasoline because they fail to take advantages of characteristics which are superior in ethanol-based fuel blends. They claim that some ethanol engines have already produced 22% more miles per gallon than identical gasoline engines. Ethanol advocates also state that it

7884-542: The Midwest . At the same time, about one million French Canadians migrated from Quebec to New England . During the Great Migration , millions of African Americans left the rural South for urban areas in the North. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867. The Compromise of 1877 effectively ended Reconstruction and white supremacists took local control of Southern politics . African Americans endured

8030-688: The National Park Service and other agencies. About 28% of the country's land is publicly owned and federally managed, primarily in the Western States . Most of this land is protected , though some is leased for commercial use, and less than one percent is used for military purposes. Environmental issues in the United States include debates on non-renewable resources and nuclear energy , air and water pollution , biodiversity , logging and deforestation , and climate change . The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

8176-596: The New Deal , a series of sweeping programs and public works projects combined with financial reforms and regulations . All were intended to protect against future economic depressions. Initially neutral during World War II , the U.S. began supplying war materiel to the Allies of World War II in March 1941 and entered the war in December after the Empire of Japan 's attack on Pearl Harbor . The U.S. developed

8322-778: The Organization of American States and the United States–Mexico–Canada Free Trade Agreement . In South America, Colombia is traditionally considered to be the closest ally of the United States. The U.S. exercises full international defense authority and responsibility for Micronesia , the Marshall Islands , and Palau through the Compact of Free Association . It has increasingly conducted strategic cooperation with India , but its ties with China have steadily deteriorated. Since 2014,

8468-648: The Pentium microprocessor in accordance with Moore's law , rechargeable lithium-ion batteries , the first gene therapy trial, and cloning either emerged in the U.S. or were improved upon there. The Human Genome Project was formally launched in 1990, while Nasdaq became the first stock market in the United States to trade online in 1998. In the Gulf War of 1991, an American-led international coalition of states expelled an Iraqi invasion force that had occupied neighboring Kuwait . The September 11 attacks on

8614-591: The Spanish–American War . (The Philippines was granted full independence from the U.S. on July 4, 1946, following World War II. Puerto Rico and Guam have remained U.S. territories.) American Samoa was acquired by the United States in 1900 after the Second Samoan Civil War . The U.S. Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917. The United States entered World War I alongside

8760-623: The United States ( U.S. ) or America , is a country primarily located in North America . It is a federal union of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous states border Canada to the north and Mexico to the south, with the states of Alaska to the northwest and the archipelagic Hawaii in the Pacific Ocean . The United States also asserts sovereignty over five major island territories and various uninhabited islands . The country has

8906-700: The cotton gin made the institution increasingly profitable for Southern elites . This sectional conflict regarding slavery culminated in the American Civil War (1861–1865). Eleven slave states seceded and formed the Confederate States of America , while the other states remained in the Union . War broke out in April 1861 after the Confederates bombarded Fort Sumter . After

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9052-523: The end of the Cold War in 1991, the U.S. emerged as the world's sole superpower , wielding significant geopolitical influence globally . The U.S. national government is a presidential constitutional federal republic and liberal democracy with three separate branches : legislative , executive , and judicial . It has a bicameral national legislature composed of the House of Representatives ,

9198-537: The fall of communism and the collapse of the Soviet Union , which marked the end of the Cold War and left the United States as the world's sole superpower . The 1990s saw the longest recorded economic expansion in American history , a dramatic decline in U.S. crime rates , and advances in technology . Throughout this decade, technological innovations such as the World Wide Web , the evolution of

9344-400: The global economy in 2023. It possesses by far the largest amount of wealth of any country and has the highest disposable household income per capita among OECD countries. The U.S. ranks among the world's highest in economic competitiveness , productivity , innovation , human rights , and higher education . Its hard power and cultural influence have a global reach. The U.S. is

9490-483: The 10,000–30,000-volt range, such as a neon sign transformer (5–15 kV) or a television picture tube circuit ( flyback transformer ) (10–28 kV), and two coat hangers or rods built into a V shape. For larger ladders, microwave oven transformers connected in series, voltage multipliers and utility pole transformers (pole pigs) run in reverse (step-up) are commonly used. [REDACTED] Media related to Jacob's ladder at Wikimedia Commons Scientists have discovered

9636-813: The 1775 Battles of Lexington and Concord , igniting the American Revolutionary War . At the Second Continental Congress , the colonies appointed George Washington commander-in-chief of the Continental Army , and created a committee that named Thomas Jefferson to draft the Declaration of Independence . Two days after passing the Lee Resolution to create an independent nation the Declaration

9782-520: The 2010s, political polarization in the country increased between liberal and conservative factions. This polarization was capitalized upon in the January 2021 Capitol attack , when a mob of insurrectionists entered the U.S. Capitol and sought to prevent the peaceful transfer of power in an attempted self-coup d'état . The United States is the world's third-largest country by total area behind Russia and Canada. The 48 contiguous states and

9928-596: The American West have an alpine climate . The climate is arid in the Southwest, Mediterranean in coastal California , and oceanic in coastal Oregon , Washington , and southern Alaska . Most of Alaska is subarctic or polar . Hawaii , the southern tip of Florida and U.S. territories in the Caribbean and Pacific are tropical . States bordering the Gulf of Mexico are prone to hurricanes, and most of

10074-475: The Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. The term "United States" and the initialism "U.S.", used as nouns or as adjectives in English, are common short names for the country. The initialism "USA", a noun, is also common. "United States" and "U.S." are the established terms throughout the U.S. federal government , with prescribed rules. In English, the term "America" rarely refers to topics unrelated to

10220-573: The District of Columbia occupy a combined area of 3,119,885 square miles (8,080,470 km ). The coastal plain of the Atlantic seaboard gives way to inland forests and rolling hills in the Piedmont plateau region. The Appalachian Mountains and the Adirondack massif separate the East Coast from the Great Lakes and the grasslands of the Midwest . The Mississippi River System ,

10366-573: The Elder concluded that major military resources needed to be devoted to North America to win the war against France. For the first time, the continent became one of the main theaters of what could be termed a " world war ". The British colonies' position as an integral part of the British Empire became more apparent during the war, with British military and civilian officials becoming a more significant presence in American life. The war increased

10512-683: The January 1863 Emancipation Proclamation , many freed slaves joined the Union army . The war began to turn in the Union's favor following the 1863 Siege of Vicksburg and Battle of Gettysburg , and the Confederacy surrendered in 1865 after the Union's victory in the Battle of Appomattox Court House . The Reconstruction era followed the war. After the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln , Reconstruction Amendments were passed to protect

10658-611: The Rocky Mountains, the Yellowstone Caldera , is the continent's largest volcanic feature. In 2021, the United States had 8% of global permanent meadows and pastures and 10% of cropland. With its large size and geographic variety, the United States includes most climate types. East of the 100th meridian , the climate ranges from humid continental in the north to humid subtropical in the south. The western Great Plains are semi-arid . Many mountainous areas of

10804-647: The U.S. has become a key ally of Ukraine ; it has also provided the country with significant military equipment and other support in response to Russia's 2022 invasion . The president is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces and appoints its leaders, the secretary of defense and the Joint Chiefs of Staff . The Department of Defense , which is headquartered at the Pentagon near Washington, D.C., administers five of

10950-661: The U.S. territories." Despite disparate systems of confinement, four main institutions dominate: federal prisons , state prisons , local jails, and juvenile correctional facilities . Federal prisons are run by the Federal Bureau of Prisons and hold people who have been convicted of federal crimes, including pretrial detainees. State prisons, run by the official department of correction of each state, hold sentenced people serving prison time (usually longer than one year) for felony offenses. Local jails are county or municipal facilities that incarcerate defendants prior to trial; they also hold those serving short sentences (typically under

11096-672: The United States is never fed directly to people, but is instead used as livestock feed . Corn used to produce ethanol contains a high amount of starch and is not easily digestible by humans, like sweet corn . American farmers grow more corn than people purchase; there is an annual surplus of corn in the U.S. E85 advocates say that corn prices have increased due to manipulation of the commodities markets and because American corn companies sell more and more US-grown corn to Mexico and China , creating more competition for corn buyers, and therefore driving up its price. E85 critics contend that ethanol producers may not reduce carbon emissions due to

11242-464: The United States and the peaceful transfer of power , respectively. The Louisiana Purchase of 1803 from France nearly doubled the territory of the United States. Lingering issues with Britain remained , leading to the War of 1812 , which was fought to a draw. Spain ceded Florida and its Gulf Coast territory in 1819. In the late 18th century, American settlers began to expand westward , many with

11388-714: The United States entered the Cold War, where geopolitical tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union led the two countries to dominate world affairs . The U.S. utilized the policy of containment to limit the USSR's sphere of influence, and prevailed in the Space Race , which culminated with the first crewed Moon landing in 1969. Domestically, the U.S. experienced economic growth , urbanization , and population growth following World War II . The civil rights movement emerged, with Martin Luther King Jr. becoming

11534-666: The United States has operated as a de facto two-party system , though the parties in that system have been different at different times. The two main national parties are presently the Democratic and the Republican . The former is perceived as relatively liberal in its political platform while the latter is perceived as relatively conservative . In the American federal system , sovereign powers are shared between two levels of elected government: national and state. People in

11680-593: The United States in 2001 by the pan-Islamist militant organization al-Qaeda led to the war on terror , and subsequent military interventions in Afghanistan and Iraq . The cultural impact of the attacks was profound and long-lasting. The U.S. housing bubble culminated in 2007 with the Great Recession , the largest economic contraction since the Great Depression. Coming to a head in

11826-597: The United States of America to Spain" to seek assistance in the Revolutionary War effort. The first known public usage is an anonymous essay published in the Williamsburg newspaper, The Virginia Gazette , on April 6, 1776. By June 1776, the "United States of America" appeared in the Articles of Confederation and the Declaration of Independence . The Second Continental Congress adopted

11972-561: The United States to offset this difference in fuel consumption in vehicles not optimised for ethanol, legislation has been passed to subsidize its cost. In contrast, ethanol critics contest the benefits of E85 by focusing on the fact that E85 has 33% lower heating value compared to the higher heating value of gasoline. However comparing energy expressed as a value of heat does not reflect the total work from an Otto Cycle . As energy content does not factor certain latent or specific heat values, nor combustion pressure, looking at heat alone in

12118-593: The United States, despite the usage of "the Americas " as the totality of North and South America. "The States" is an established colloquial shortening of the name, used particularly from abroad; "stateside" is the corresponding adjective or adverb. The first inhabitants of North America migrated from Siberia across the Bering land bridge about 12,000 years ago; the Clovis culture , which appeared around 11,000 BC,

12264-624: The United States, except Iran , North Korea , and Bhutan . Though Taiwan does not have formal diplomatic relations with the U.S., it maintains close unofficial relations. The United States regularly supplies Taiwan with military equipment to deter potential Chinese aggression. Its geopolitical attention also turned to the Indo-Pacific when the United States joined the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue with Australia, India, and Japan. The United States has

12410-509: The United States. The American prison system is largely heterogenous, with thousands of relatively independent systems operating across federal, state, local, and tribal levels. In 2023, "these systems [held] almost 2 million people in 1,566 state prisons, 98 federal prisons, 3,116 local jails, 1,323 juvenile correctional facilities, 181 immigration detention facilities, and 80 Indian country jails, as well as in military prisons , civil commitment centers, state psychiatric hospitals, and prisons in

12556-531: The VEETC's 51-cent tax credit to 45 cents. Other measures taken by Congress to jump start ethanol production include the 2004 VEETC bill, which provided for a Small Ethanol Producer Tax Credit which gave tax credits to small ethanol producers. More recently, the Tax Relief Act, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization Act, and Job Creation Act of 2010 extended the tax cuts allowed by VEETC from the end of 2010 to

12702-400: The anode and cathode voltage drops, the arc behaves almost as a short circuit , drawing as much current as the electrical power supply can deliver, and the heavy load dramatically reduces the voltage across the gap. The heated ionized air rises, carrying the current path with it. As the trail of ionization gets longer, it becomes more and more unstable, finally breaking. The voltage across

12848-413: The arc is continuous and in an enclosed space such as a room. An arc that occurs outside is less of a hazard because the heated ionized gases will rise up into the air and dissipate into the atmosphere. Spark gaps which only intermittently produce short spark bursts are also minimally hazardous because the volume of ions generated is very small. Arcs can also produce a broad spectrum of wavelengths spanning

12994-958: The arc path, called "carbon tracking", negatively influencing their insulation properties. The arc susceptibility, or "track resistance", is tested according to ASTM D495, by point electrodes and continuous and intermittent arcs; it is measured in seconds required to form a track that is conductive under high-voltage low-current conditions. Some materials are less susceptible to degradation than others. For example, polytetrafluoroethylene has arc resistance of about 200 seconds (3.3 minutes). From thermosetting plastics , alkyds and melamine resins are better than phenolic resins . Polyethylenes have arc resistance of about 150 seconds; polystyrenes and polyvinyl chlorides have relatively low resistance of about 70 seconds. Plastics can be formulated to emit gases with arc-extinguishing properties; these are known as arc-extinguishing plastics . Arcing over some types of printed circuit boards , possibly due to cracks of

13140-501: The combustion equation does not determine efficiency or work according to the laws of thermodynamics . E85 ethanol is used in engines modified to accept higher concentrations of ethanol. In the US such FFVs are designed to run on any mixture of gasoline or ethanol up to 85% ethanol, whereas in countries such as Brazil where the climate is typically warmer, FFVs run on neat alcohol. There are a few major differences between FFVs and non-FFVs. One

13286-457: The contiguous United States are in the State of California, about 84 miles (135 km) apart. At an elevation of 20,310 feet (6,190.5 m), Alaska's Denali is the highest peak in the country and continent. Active volcanoes are common throughout Alaska's Alexander and Aleutian Islands , and Hawaii consists of volcanic islands. The supervolcano underlying Yellowstone National Park in

13432-411: The continuous electric arc creates heat, which ionizes more gas molecules (where the degree of ionization is determined by temperature), and as per this sequence: solid-liquid-gas-plasma; the gas is gradually turned into a thermal plasma. A thermal plasma is in thermal equilibrium; the temperature is relatively homogeneous throughout the atoms, molecules, ions, and electrons. The energy given to electrons

13578-504: The cooling properties of ethanol. E85 has an octane rating higher than that of regular gasoline's typical rating of 87, or premium gasoline's 91-93. This allows it to be used in higher-compression engines, which tend to produce more power per unit of displacement than their gasoline counterparts. Examples of octane mis-citation can be found at the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association titled "E85 Facts" which cites

13724-556: The country's GDP. The U.S. has 42% of the world's nuclear weapons —the second-largest share after Russia. The United States has the third-largest combined armed forces in the world, behind the Chinese People's Liberation Army and Indian Armed Forces . The military operates about 800 bases and facilities abroad, and maintains deployments greater than 100 active duty personnel in 25 foreign countries. State defense forces (SDFs) are military units that operate under

13870-469: The country's territory would expand with the admission of new states , rather than the expansion of existing states. The U.S. Constitution was drafted at the 1787 Constitutional Convention to overcome the limitations of the Articles. It went into effect in 1789, creating a federal republic governed by three separate branches that together ensured a system of checks and balances . George Washington

14016-713: The development of self-governance, and the First Great Awakening , a series of Christian revivals , fueled colonial interest in religious liberty . For a century, the American colonists had been providing their own troops and materiel in conflicts with indigenous peoples allied with Britain's colonial rivals , especially France, and the Americans had begun to develop a sense of self-defense and self-reliance separate from Britain. The French and Indian War (1754–1763) took on new significance for all North American colonists after Parliament under William Pitt

14162-494: The difference in combined consumption on similar V8 variants in a family sedan is between 10% and 20%. In 2010, the cost of fuel in the US averaged US$ 3.42, while the cost for E85 averaged US$ 3.09, or 90% of the cost of gasoline. In another test, however, a fleet of Ford Tauruses averaged only about 6% fewer miles per gallon in ethanol-based vehicles when compared to traditional, gas-powered Tauruses. United States The United States of America ( USA ), commonly known as

14308-414: The dispossession of native inhabitants . As more states were admitted , a North–South division over slavery led to the secession of the Confederate States of America , which fought states remaining in the Union in the 1861–1865 American Civil War . With the victory and preservation of the United States, slavery was abolished nationally . By 1900, the country had established itself as a great power ,

14454-415: The electrodes then rises and the spark re-forms at the bottom of the device. This cycle leads to an exotic-looking display of electric white, yellow, blue or purple arcs, which is often seen in horror films and films about mad scientists . The device was a staple in schools and science fairs of the 1950s and 1960s, typically constructed out of a Model T spark coil or any other source of high voltage in

14600-490: The end of 2012. In the United States, to realize equivalent fuel economy at the pump with an FFV, the price of E85 must be much lower than gasoline. E85 was at least 20% less expensive in most areas as recently as 2011. In one US test, a 2007 Chevy Tahoe FFV averaged 18.3 MPG (U.S. gallons) for gasoline and 13.5 MPG for E85, 26.5% worse than gasoline. However, in Australia, where Holden has sold more than 70,000 FFVs since 2010,

14746-580: The environment for labor unions to begin to flourish . This period eventually ended with the advent of the Progressive Era , which was characterized by significant reforms. Pro-American elements in Hawaii overthrew the Hawaiian monarchy ; the islands were annexed in 1898. That same year, Puerto Rico , the Philippines , and Guam were ceded to the U.S. by Spain after the latter's defeat in

14892-541: The federal government often applied policies of Indian removal or assimilation . The Trail of Tears (1830–1850) was a U.S. government policy that forcibly removed and displaced most Native Americans living east of the Mississippi River to lands far to the west. These and earlier organized displacements prompted a long series of American Indian Wars west of the Mississippi. The Republic of Texas

15038-433: The first electric lights. They were used for street lights in the 19th century and for specialized applications such as searchlights until World War II. Today, electric arcs are used in many applications. For example, fluorescent tubes , mercury, sodium, and metal halide lamps are used for lighting; xenon arc lamps are used for movie projectors and theatrical spotlights. Formation of an intense electric arc, similar to

15184-606: The first nuclear weapons and used them against the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, ending the war. The United States was one of the " Four Policemen " who met to plan the post-war world , alongside the United Kingdom , Soviet Union , and China . The U.S. emerged relatively unscathed from the war, with even greater economic power and international political influence . After World War II,

15330-665: The first settlement of the Thirteen Colonies in Virginia in 1607. Clashes with the British Crown over taxation and political representation sparked the American Revolution , with the Second Continental Congress formally declaring independence on July 4, 1776. Following its victory in the 1775–1783 Revolutionary War , the country continued to expand westward across North America , resulting in

15476-406: The gas-filled space between two conductive electrodes (often made of tungsten or carbon) and it results in a very high temperature , capable of melting or vaporizing most materials. An electric arc is a continuous discharge, while the similar electric spark discharge is momentary. An electric arc may occur either in direct current (DC) circuits or in alternating current (AC) circuits. In

15622-466: The greatest amount of ethanol at the lowest price point. E85 is increasingly common in the United States , mainly in the Midwest where corn is a major crop and is the primary source material for ethanol-fuel production. As of July 1, 2014, there were more than 3,300 fuel stations that offered E85 fuel. E85 as a fuel is widely used in Sweden ; however, most of it is imported from Italy and Brazil. E85

15768-412: The high-voltage glow discharge. This is the way a welder starts to weld a joint, momentarily touching the welding electrode against the workpiece then withdrawing it until a stable arc is formed. Another example is separation of electrical contacts in switches, relays or circuit breakers; in high-energy circuits arc suppression may be required to prevent damage to contacts. Electrical resistance along

15914-463: The integration of Army National Guard units and personnel into the U.S. Army and (since 1947) the U.S. Air Force. There are about 18,000 U.S. police agencies from local to national level in the United States. Law in the United States is mainly enforced by local police departments and sheriff departments in their municipal or county jurisdictions. The state police departments have authority in their respective state , and federal agencies such as

16060-418: The invention of the automobile, favoured due to inherent combustion characteristics such as high thermal efficiency , high octane rating , raised torque and with some advanced engines, better specific fuel consumption. In the United States, government subsidies of ethanol in general and E85 in particular have encouraged a growing infrastructure for the retail sale of E85, especially in corn growing states in

16206-438: The latter case, the arc may re-strike on each half cycle of the current. An electric arc differs from a glow discharge in that the current density is quite high, and the voltage drop within the arc is low; at the cathode , the current density can be as high as one megaampere per square centimeter. An electric arc has a non-linear relationship between current and voltage. Once the arc is established (either by progression from

16352-548: The latter method generally applies to devices such as electromechanical power switches, relays and contactors. In this context, arc suppression uses contact protection . Part of the energy of an electrical arc forms new chemical compounds from the air surrounding the arc: these include oxides of nitrogen and ozone , the second of which can be detected by its distinctive sharp smell. These chemicals can be produced by high-power contacts in relays and motor commutators, and they are corrosive to nearby metal surfaces. Arcing also erodes

16498-482: The military draft (leading to the end of conscription in 1973) and wide opposition to U.S. intervention in Vietnam (with the U.S. totally withdrawing in 1975). A societal shift in the roles of women was significantly responsible for the large increase in female paid labor participation during the 1970s, and by 1985 the majority of American women aged 16 and older were employed. The late 1980s and early 1990s saw

16644-401: The moment within an AC cycle when the current goes to zero and the highly electronegative SF6 ions quickly absorb free electrons from the decaying plasma. The SF6 technology mostly displaced the similar air-based one because many noisy air-blast units in series were required to prevent the arc inside the switch from re-igniting. A Jacob's ladder (more formally, a high voltage travelling arc )

16790-612: The most attractive to the population are the most vulnerable. The U.S. is one of 17 megadiverse countries containing large numbers of endemic species : about 17,000 species of vascular plants occur in the contiguous United States and Alaska, and over 1,800 species of flowering plants are found in Hawaii, few of which occur on the mainland. The United States is home to 428 mammal species, 784 birds, 311 reptiles, 295 amphibians , and around 91,000 insect species. There are 63 national parks , and hundreds of other federally managed parks, forests, and wilderness areas , managed by

16936-662: The most violent, the California genocide of thousands of Native inhabitants, lasted into the early 1870s, just as additional western territories and states were created. During the colonial period, slavery had been legal in the American colonies , though the practice began to be significantly questioned during the American Revolution. States in the North enacted abolition laws , though support for slavery strengthened in Southern states , as inventions such as

17082-440: The need for a vehicle system to calculate best engine tune accordingly to maximise performance and economy. In countries like Australia where E85 is always 85% ethanol (and pump fuel with varying fractions is called "flex fuel"), performance motoring enthusiasts and motor racing clubs/championships use E85 extensively (without the need for any FFV certification). Use of alcohol (ethanol and methanol) in motor racing history parallels

17228-428: The petroleum and natural gas used in raising corn and refining it. E85 advocates reply by pointing to ethanol producers who do not do so, but instead use E85 or biodiesel fuel to transport E85, and use biomass as a heat source for the distillation of ethanol instead of petro-products like natural gas. Some say that cellulosic ethanol produced from waste materials or fast growing non-food crops such as switchgrass

17374-632: The phrase "voltaic arc lamp". Techniques for arc suppression can be used to reduce the duration or likelihood of arc formation. In the late 19th century, electric arc lighting was in wide use for public lighting . Some low-pressure electric arcs are used in many applications. For example, fluorescent tubes , mercury, sodium, and metal-halide lamps are used for lighting; xenon arc lamps have been used for movie projectors . Electric arcs can be utilized for manufacturing processes, such as electric arc welding , plasma cutting and electric arc furnaces for steel recycling. Sir Humphry Davy discovered

17520-408: The policy of redlining later adopted by the federal Home Owners' Loan Corporation . An explosion of technological advancement accompanied by the exploitation of cheap immigrant labor led to rapid economic expansion during the late 19th and early 20th centuries , allowing the United States to outpace the economies of England, France, and Germany combined. This fostered the amassing of power by

17666-574: The primary colonial grievances was a denial of their rights as Englishmen , particularly the right to representation in the British government that taxed them . To demonstrate their dissatisfaction and resolve, the First Continental Congress met in 1774 and passed the Continental Association , a colonial boycott of British goods that proved effective. The British attempt to then disarm the colonists resulted in

17812-515: The rights of African Americans . National infrastructure, including transcontinental telegraph and railroads , spurred growth in the American frontier . From 1865 through 1917 an unprecedented stream of immigrants arrived in the United States, including 24.4 million from Europe. Most came through the port of New York City , and New York City and other large cities on the East Coast became home to large Jewish , Irish , and Italian populations, while many Germans and Central Europeans moved to

17958-614: The rocky Great Basin and Chihuahua , Sonoran , and Mojave deserts. In the northwest corner of Arizona , carved by the Colorado River over millions of years, is the Grand Canyon , a steep-sided canyon and popular tourist destination known for its overwhelming visual size and intricate, colorful landscape. The Sierra Nevada and Cascade mountain ranges run close to the Pacific coast . The lowest and highest points in

18104-628: The short-pulse electrical arc in 1800. In 1801, he described the phenomenon in a paper published in William Nicholson 's Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry and the Arts . According to modern science, Davy's description was a spark rather than an arc. In the same year Davy publicly demonstrated the effect, before the Royal Society , by transmitting an electric current through two carbon rods that touched, and then pulling them

18250-573: The six service branches, which are made up of the U.S. Army , Marine Corps , Navy , Air Force , and Space Force . The Coast Guard is administered by the Department of Homeland Security in peacetime and can be transferred to the Department of the Navy in wartime. The United States spent $ 916 billion on its military in 2023, which is by far the largest amount of any country , making up 37% of global military spending and accounting for 3.4% of

18396-545: The sole authority of a state government. SDFs are authorized by state and federal law but are under the command of the state's governor . They are distinct from the state's National Guard units in that they cannot become federalized entities. A state's National Guard personnel, however, may be federalized under the National Defense Act Amendments of 1933 , which created the Guard and provides for

18542-543: The states are also represented by local elected governments , which are administrative divisions of the states. States are subdivided into counties or county equivalents , and further divided into municipalities . The District of Columbia is a federal district containing the U.S. capital, Washington, D.C. . The federal district is an administrative division of the federal government. Federally recognized tribes govern 326 Indian reservations . The United States has an established structure of foreign relations, and it has

18688-510: The structure and responsibilities of the national federal government and its relationship with the individual states. The U.S. Constitution is the world's oldest national constitution still in effect (from March 4, 1789). Composed of three branches, all headquartered in Washington, D.C., the federal government is the national government of the United States. It is regulated by a strong system of checks and balances . The three-branch system

18834-436: The surfaces of the contacts, wearing them down and creating high contact resistance when closed. Exposure to an arc-producing device can pose health hazards. An arc formed in air will ionize oxygen and nitrogen, which then can re-form into reactive molecules such as ozone and nitric oxide . These products can be damaging to the mucous membranes . Plants are also susceptible to ozone poisoning. These hazards are greatest when

18980-469: The tank's fill pipe, are sometimes used. As more effort is put into maximizing an engine to take advantage of E85's higher octane rating, engines achieve greater power advantages. One car that has higher power on ethanol is the Koenigsegg CCXR , which on ethanol is the fifth-most powerful production car, with 20% more horsepower on E85 than on gasoline. According to the manufacturer, this is due to

19126-698: The traces or the failure of a solder joint, renders the affected insulating layer conductive as the dielectric is combusted due to the high temperatures involved. This conductivity prolongs the arcing due to cascading failure of the surface. Arc suppression is a method of attempting to reduce or eliminate an electrical arc. There are several possible areas of use of arc suppression methods, among them metal film deposition and sputtering , arc flash protection , electrostatic processes where electrical arcs are not desired (such as powder painting , air purification , PVDF film poling) and contact current arc suppression. In industrial, military and consumer electronic design,

19272-518: The way in which the ethanol was produced and the vehicle's overall fuel efficiency all play a large role in the overall outcome of each study. To address the problem of inaccuracy, engineers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory combined data from all applicable emissions studies and compiled them into one data set. This compiled set of data showed that on average all emissions that are federally regulated showed

19418-477: The wheels. Where the engine was previously knock limited by gasoline, power improvements are as high as 40%. Due to its low price and high availability in certain areas people have started to turn to using it in place of high-end racing fuels, which typically cost over US $ 10.00/gal. There are four primary types of pollutants scientists study. These emissions are hydrocarbons (HC), oxides of nitrogen (NO x ), carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ). As E85

19564-582: The world's fourth-longest river system , runs predominantly north–south through the heart of the country. The flat and fertile prairie of the Great Plains stretches to the west, interrupted by a highland region in the southeast. The Rocky Mountains , west of the Great Plains, extend north to south across the country, peaking at over 14,000 feet (4,300 m) in Colorado . Farther west are

19710-583: The world's second-largest diplomatic corps as of 2024 . It is a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council , and home to the United Nations headquarters . The United States is a member of the G7 , G20 , and OECD intergovernmental organizations. Almost all countries have embassies and many have consulates (official representatives) in the country. Likewise, nearly all countries host formal diplomatic missions with

19856-461: The world's third-largest land area , largest exclusive economic zone , and third-largest population , exceeding 334 million. Its three largest metropolitan areas are New York , Los Angeles , and Chicago , and its three most populous states are California , Texas , and Florida . Paleo-Indians migrated across the Bering land bridge more than 12,000 years ago, and formed various civilizations and societies . British colonization led to

20002-444: The world's oldest surviving federation, and its presidential system of national government has been adopted, in whole or in part, by many newly independent states worldwide following their decolonization . It is a liberal representative democracy "in which majority rule is tempered by minority rights protected by law ". The Constitution of the United States serves as the country's supreme legal document , also establishing

20148-553: The world's tornadoes occur in the country , mainly in Tornado Alley . Overall, the United States receives more high-impact extreme weather incidents than any other country. Extreme weather became more frequent in the U.S. in the 21st century, with three times the number of reported heat waves as in the 1960s. In the American Southwest , droughts became more persistent and more severe. The regions considered as

20294-557: The world, with almost 2 million people incarcerated . An analysis of the World Health Organization Mortality Database from 2010 showed U.S. homicide rates "were 7 times higher than in other high-income countries, driven by a gun homicide rate that was 25 times higher". Electric arc An electric arc (or arc discharge ) is an electrical breakdown of a gas that produces a prolonged electrical discharge . The current through

20440-575: Was annexed in 1845, and the 1846 Oregon Treaty led to U.S. control of the present-day American Northwest . Victory in the Mexican–American War resulted in the 1848 Mexican Cession of California, Nevada, Utah, and much of present-day Colorado and the American Southwest . The California gold rush of 1848–1849 spurred a huge migration of white settlers to the Pacific coast, leading to even more confrontations with Native populations. One of

20586-603: Was a major problem. In 1895, Hertha Marks Ayrton wrote a series of articles for the Electrician , explaining that these phenomena were the result of oxygen coming into contact with the carbon rods used to create the arc. In 1899, she was the first woman ever to read her own paper before the Institution of Electrical Engineers (IEE). Her paper was entitled "The Hissing of the Electric Arc". Shortly thereafter, Ayrton

20732-759: Was adopted on July 4, 1776. The political values of the American Revolution included liberty , inalienable individual rights ; and the sovereignty of the people ; supporting republicanism and rejecting monarchy , aristocracy , and all hereditary political power; civic virtue ; and vilification of political corruption . The Founding Fathers of the United States , who included Washington, Jefferson, John Adams , Benjamin Franklin , Alexander Hamilton , John Jay , James Madison , Thomas Paine , and many others, were inspired by Greco-Roman , Renaissance , and Enlightenment philosophies and ideas. The Articles of Confederation were ratified in 1781 and established

20878-583: Was elected the country's first president under the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights was adopted in 1791 to allay skeptics' concerns about the power of the more centralized government. His resignation as commander-in-chief after the Revolutionary War and his later refusal to run for a third term as the country's first president established a precedent for the supremacy of civil authority in

21024-527: Was elected the first female member of the IEE; the next woman to be admitted to the IEE was in 1958. She petitioned to present a paper before the Royal Society, but she was not allowed because of her gender, and "The Mechanism of the Electric Arc" was read by John Perry in her stead in 1901. An electric arc is the form of electric discharge with the highest current density. The maximum current through an arc

21170-574: Was formerly available from the Maxol chain in Ireland , where it was made from whey , a byproduct of cheese manufacturing. The availability ended in 2011, due to a severe excise-duty hike which rendered it economically unviable. In Finland E85 is available from 52 St1 chain locations and 71 ABC chain locations. The E85 sold by St1 is labeled as RE85 and as "Eko E85" in ABC-stations to indicate it

21316-615: Was launched in the United Kingdom on March 14 2006 by the Morrisons supermarket chain. The Morrisons branch in Norwich was the first forecourt to introduce E85. Take-up however was very low and E85 is now only available at a small number of outlets. The American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 created the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax Credit (VEETC) to subsidize production costs. The 2008 Farm Bill reduced

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