1.         A physics student has an upcoming laboratory session on Ohm's Law and simple circuits. One of the experiments is the (classic) measurement of electrical resistance of a light bulb. The student wants another perspective on how the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance works.
            A Knovel keyword search of OHMS LAW will bring up Industrial Electronics for Engineers, Chemists, and Technicians - With Optional Lab Experiments. Within this text is The Water Analog, a comparison of water to electricity. The PDF text provides a memorable metaphor comparing a water pumping system and its component pieces to that of an electronic circuit.
 

2.         A plant engineer is re-tooling for a new a process that requires acetone (C3H60) at 100% concentration to be heated to 212° F and transported from one area of the plant to another. Can he use existing stainless steel pipes from a previous process, or will corrosion be an issue?
            A Knovel keyword search of STAINLESS STEEL and C3H6O will bring up the Corrosion Survey Database, which contains a Knovel Interactive Table showing that the corrosion value for exposure to acetone is < 2 mpy.  Therefore, acetone (C3H6O) at a 100% concentration, at 212° F, will work.
 

3.         An engineer working for an automotive company needs to install a “an attachment” near a load carrying strut in a new vehicle. The installation requires that a hole be drilled through the strut.  He needs to ascertain how big of a hole can be drilled and where.
            A Knovel keyword search of STRESS CONCENTRATION will bring up Peterson's Stress Concentration Factors, which contains a section on “Circular Holes with In-Plane Stresses.”  This section links to a live graph and allows the engineer to export critical data points to a spreadsheet, where he can perform several design what-if-scenarios.
 

4.         A manufacturing engineer at a medical device company needs to test a new pacemaker design.  He is concerned that the ceramic material used that may not have withstood the manufacturing process.  To test for any micro-cracks that would lead to a loss of hermeticity, the engineer wants to use helium leak detection because of helium's advantages--very light, inert, inexpensive, and present in very small amounts in the air.
            A Knovel keyword search of hermeticity and helium testing will bring up Hermeticity of Electronic Packages, which contains a section on Comparison of the Fixed and Flexible Methods. Here the engineer will find the information he needs.
 

5.         A civil engineer is designing a dam for a large farming operation to serve as a source of water for thousands of cattle. There is an abundance of limestone in the area and the engineer wants to know if the properties of this limestone (compressive strength, tensile strength, porosity, etc.) would make it an acceptable building material for the project.
            A Knovel keyword search of LIMESTONE will bring up International Critical Tables of Numerical Data, Physics, Chemistry and Technology. The first result called “Building Stones,” features an interactive table with properties information for building stones opens and shows 73 entries for limestone.
 

6.         The facilities manager at a university in the Southeast needs to reduce the operations budget by 20%. Working with the facilities engineer, the manager targets the university's aging chiller plant (air conditioning system) as the most likely candidate for improvement to reduce energy costs. What steps can be taken to increase efficiency in the chiller plant, thereby reducing the amount of energy needed?
            A Knovel keyword search of CHILLER will show the Energy Efficiency Manual. Opening the interactive table “Index To The Measures,” will yield 61 measures, each a cost saving technique with estimates on energy saved, cost to implement and payback period.
 

7.         An aeronautical engineer working for a major airline is investigating a heat transfer issue on a turbine component. The part in question is made from aluminum 5052 alloy and the engineer needs to find the thermal conductivity of the material to complete the study.
            Using Knovel, the engineer performs a keyword search using THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY and ALUMINUM 5052, limiting the search to “Aerospace and Radar Technology” Subject Area. The search retrieves information in Military Handbook-MIL-HDBK-5H: Metallic Materials and Elements for Aerospace Vehicle Structures. Because this book has been made interactive by Knovel, the engineer can quickly use the embedded Productivity Tools and Graph Digitizer to calculate the thermal conductivity at various temperatures.
 

8.         An aerospace company is producing antennas that change weighting as a function of the radar’s purpose.  This allows radars to be effective multi-purpose sensors, rather than being mission specific (i.e. air to air, surface to air, air to ground, etc…).  Engineers working on the project need to compare different weights commonly used in the industry.
           Using Knovel, the engineers perform a keyword search of TAYLOR WEIGHTING.  This search retrieves the Radar Handbook.  A chart in chapter 10.8 clearly shows a comparison of different weights commonly used in the industry.
 

9.          A technical writer working for a state advocacy group is preparing brochures that guide consumers on measures to avoid harmful pesticide intake and exposure. Part of the brochure explains how fruits and vegetables should be treated prior to consumption.
             Using Knovel, the writer performs a keyword search using apple and pesticide residue. The search retrieves information in Pesticide Residues in Food and Drinking Water - Human Exposure and Risks. The writer can quickly find up to date information on the effective procedures, such as washing with tap water, to remove various pesticides and can then browse the book to reference other fruits and vegetables.
 

10.       A first-line responder volunteering with a small city fire department is on the scene of a vehicle accident. One of the vehicles has overturned and spilled its contents into a small stream. The response team needs to determine if the material in one of the packages, labeled “ethyleneimine”, is water soluble.
          Finding a wireless connection at a nearby coffeehouse, the volunteer uses Knovel to perform a search. Using the keywords ethyleneimine and solubility, they find the Handbook of Environmental Data on Organic Chemicals (4^th Edition) - a Knovel interactive book. The Knovel Interactive Table shows the volunteer the information that they need and also provides toxicity and safe handling information on the material so that the response team can act quickly.
 

11.       A technician working at a personal electronics manufacturer has been tasked with investigating a product failure in a small hand-held CD player. Customer complaints and product returns are increasing. The problem has been isolated to one of the ceramic components that are produced by another vendor. Because the failure is not immediate, the technician must get some background on failures causes over lifetime of the component.
            Using Knovel, the technician performs a keyword search using aging and piezoelectric. The search retrieves information in Encyclopedia of Smart Materials, Volumes 1-2. The technician can now quickly assess the causes of premature aging of the component and work with the outsourcing vendor to correct the defect.
 

12.       An engineer working on the design of storage tanks at a processing plant wants to determine the Reynold’s Numbers and friction factors of the piping design.
            A Knovel keyword search of FRICTION FACTOR and FLOW will bring up the Mark’s Mechanical Engineer’s Handbook, which contains a section on Friction Factors for Flow in Pipes. An interactive graph will allow the engineer to roll the mouse over several curves to locate the exact point he is looking for. He can also print and export the results.