On flapping flight mechanisms and their applications to wind and marine energy harvesting

The mechanical energy E of a system is the sum of its potential energy U and the kinetic energy K of the objects within it. What happens to this mechanical energy when only conservative forces cause energy transfers within the system—that is, when frictional and drag forces do not act on the objects in the system? Also assume that the system is isolated from its environment; in other words no external force from an object outside the system causes energy changes inside the system.
When a...

When solving problems using the energy conservation law, the object (system) to be studied should first be identified. Often, in applications of energy conservation, we study more than one body at the same time. Second, identify all forces acting on the object and determine whether each force doing work is conservative. If a non-conservative force (e.g., friction) is doing work, then mechanical energy is not conserved. The system must then be analyzed with non-conservative work. Third, for...

The application of the energy equation to centrifugal pumps is a fundamental principle in fluid dynamics and engineering. In this scenario, the energy equation is used to calculate the flow rate of a centrifugal pump responsible for transferring water between two reservoirs at different elevations. The pump applies an energy input of 7500 joules per second, and the vertical difference between the lower and upper reservoirs is 10 meters. Additionally, the head loss due to friction and other...

Three identical single-phase transformers can be configured to form a three-phase transformer connection, which involves high-voltage and low-voltage windings. The high-voltage windings are denoted by capital letters A-B-C, while the low-voltage windings are labeled with lowercase letters a-b-c, representing their respective phases. This notation helps distinguish between the high and low voltage sides of the transformer.
In the per-unit equivalent circuit of a grounded Y-Y three-phase...

The universe is composed of matter in different forms, and all forms of matter contain energy.  The different forms of energy on Earth originate from the Sun — the ultimate energy source. Plants capture light energy from the Sun, and, via the process of photosynthesis, convert it into chemical energy. This stored energy from plants can be harnessed in many ways. For example, eating plant products as food provides energy for our body to function, and burning wood or coal (fossilized...

One of the challenges of using the second law of thermodynamics to determine if a process is spontaneous is that it requires measurements of the entropy change for the system and the entropy change for the surroundings. An alternative approach involving a new thermodynamic property defined in terms of system properties only was introduced in the late nineteenth century by American mathematician Josiah Willard Gibbs. This new property is called the Gibbs free energy (G) (or simply the free...