Wine goblets

The major alloy of tin recovered from archaeological sites is pewter. This can be divided into those containing lead and lead-free alloys. The former could have a lead content ranging from 67 % (equivalent to plumbers solder) down to 15%. The French in Elizabethan times kept the lead of their wine goblets to below 18% as above this, the wine would become tainted As the lead and tin are insoluble in one another, they are classed as a two-phase alloy and articles could only be manufactured by casting. The lead-tree pewter was invariably an alloy of tin with a small amount of copper (0.5-7% for pewter recovered from the Maty Rose). The copper dissolved in the tin crystal structure resulted in a single-phase structure, which was considerably harder than pure tin. Hence this class of pewter could be subjected to a limited amount of mechanical working to achieve the final shape. 

Hybrid vehicles, flashlights, and your laptop computer would not have been possible if not for an Italian physicist named Alessandro Volta. A professor at the Royal School in Como, Lombardy (Italy), Volta was interested in electricity and had studied the effects of dissimilar metals and electron flow. His studies led to the creation of the world s first battery, the voltaic pile (Figure 13-13). Volta placed alternating discs of zinc and copper in a wine goblet and then filled the goblet with saltwater. In 1801, Volta demonstrated his voltaic pile to Napoleon. Today we use the term volt to describe the pressure of electrons in a pathway. 

The wine in the goblet can be produced by the fermentation of glucose (present in all the fruits shown in the painting) to ethyl alcohol. 

The frequent allusion to wine, the praises bestowed upon it, tho flowing goblets, the luxurious banquets as described by the great Grecian poet one thousand years before the Christian era, exhibit its value and his attachment to the comforts of the table and to Jovial society. 

The Greek smiled again, ayou-won t-catch-me-that-way smile. No,messer. I am not yet permitted to trade. But I do have some interesting manuscripts if Your Excellency would care to inspect them Pulaki, bring goblets and wine for the noble lords. ... 

I granted our host a small bow. I see you have done us proud,lustrissimo. The hallway was cramped, but he had not spared on candles. Wine bottles and goblets of crimson glass were arrayed on a table, and the servant Benzon was waiting there. He was staring wistfully at my gold and amber. 

What Thompson had seen in his wine glass, and what others had noticed probably since the invention of the beverage, was evaporative convection driven by unbalanced surface tension. In a partially filled goblet of wine, a film of wine wetting the inside surface of the goblet will writhe, shrink into droplets, and run down. Thompson noted that the tensile force [surface tension] is not the same in different liquids. Thus it is found to be much less in alcohol than in water. He then explained the motions in the evaporating wine films in the following terms ... 

Meanwhile, the common folk were unable to afford the great wine and lovely goblets, and instead were only able to buy cheap wine flasks and poor quality wine. They were also unable to afford the bronze and copper pots for cooking, and were only able to buy cheap metallic pots. 

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