Discover the expert in you.
Discover the expert in you.
Since the invention of the sailing ship in ancient Egypt, mankind has harnessed wind power for transport, leisure, farming and energy generation. Wind turbines evolved from early windmills that ground grain and powered farm water pumps in rural areas. The blades of a vertical-axis wind turbine (VAWT) rotate around a shaft that is perpendicular to the ground; thus, VAWTs require no specific orientation for wind direction. The tip-speed ratio, a measure of the speed of rotation relative to the wind speed, is heavily dependent on blade design.
Qibla is the direction of Mecca in Saudi Arabia. Followers of the Islamic faith pray toward Mecca, and so finding qibla is important for religious practice. It can be difficult to determine qibla when traveling to a new location. The simplest way to find qibla is to visit a special website and apply the search results to a physical compass.
Consumers in the United States are most familiar with ounces and pounds in relation to the things they buy every day in the grocery -- 1 lb. of hamburger, 8 oz. of cheese. These are known as avoirdupois measurements, with 16 avoirdupois ounces to the pound. Precious metals like gold and silver, however, are usually measured in troy ounces, an entirely different system. A troy ounce is about 10 percent heavier than an avoirdupois ounce. Converting one to the other is a straightforward mathematical operation.
Kua numbers, also known as gua numbers, represent an essential part of feng shui. Kua numbers, determined by gender and year of birth, calculate the luckiest corners of an area and also categorize people into East and West groups. Kua numbers 1, 3, 4 and 9 qualify for the East group. Kua numbers 2, 6, 7 and 8 are considered the West group. Males with Kua numbers of 5 are categorized in the East group; females with 5 are categorized in the West group.
You no longer need to pull out a pen or use the calculator on your cell phone to figure a tip after dinner in a restaurant. You can easily figure how much to tip with a simple formula.
