Modern commercial airliners are largely made of aluminum, a light and strong metal. But the fact that aluminum is cheap enough that airplanes can be made out of it is a bit of historical luck. Before the discovery of the Hall-Héroult process in 1886, aluminum was as rare and expensive as gold. What would happen if airplanes had to be made of steel? The fuselage of the Boeing 747, which can carry 400 passengers, is approximately a hollow aluminum cylinder without ends, 70.7m long, 6.5m wide, and 2.5mm
Thermochemistry
Thermochemistry can be considered as a branch of thermodynamics that deals with the connections between warmth, work, and various types of energy, formed because of different synthetic and actual cycles. Thermochemistry describes the energy changes that occur as a result of reactions or chemical changes in a substance.
Exergonic Reaction
The term exergonic is derived from the Greek word in which ‘ergon’ means work and exergonic means ‘work outside’. Exergonic reactions releases work energy. Exergonic reactions are different from exothermic reactions, the one that releases only heat energy during the course of the reaction. So, exothermic reaction is one type of exergonic reaction. Exergonic reaction releases work energy in different forms like heat, light or sound. For example, a glow stick releases light making that an exergonic reaction and not an exothermic reaction since no heat is released. Even endothermic reactions at very high temperature are exergonic.
Modern commercial airliners are largely made of aluminum, a light and strong metal. But the fact that aluminum is cheap enough that airplanes can be made out of it is a bit of historical luck. Before the discovery of the Hall-Héroult process in 1886, aluminum was as rare and expensive as gold. What would happen if airplanes had to be made of steel?
The fuselage of the Boeing 747, which can carry 400 passengers, is approximately a hollow aluminum cylinder without ends, 70.7m long, 6.5m wide, and 2.5mm thick (see sketch at right).
Suppose this fuselage was made of steel (density 7.87/gcm3) instead of aluminum (density 2.70/gcm3), and let's say the average passenger has a mass of 81kg. We'll also assume the engines can't lift any greater mass than they already do.
Calculate the number of passengers that the Boeing 747 could carry if its fuselage was made of steel.
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps with 2 images
