Newsgroup: it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
Titolo: Some short scientific translations

Hi all.
How should I say the following short scientific sentences in English?
V/m  (volt su metro)
a/b  (a diviso b)
10^10  (dieci alla dieci)
10^-1  (dieci alla meno uno)
SiO2  (Si O 2, ossido di silicio)
ln3  (logaritmo naturale di tre)
Is there any site where I can find the translation of other similar
scientific sentences?
Ciao
Franco
--
As always, please correct my English errors  ^_^

 ln3  (logaritmo naturale di tre)
Natural logrithm of three


Some people find it more convenient to use log(subscript "e") x (I
can't do subscripts in email), instead of ln x.
Thus ln 3 becomes log(subscript e) 3 = Log base e three, when spoken.
Joe from Massachusetts


that was supposed to be ".one" :>)   (point one)
.



Speaking of field strength:
An AM radio station in the US, with a directional antenna and a 50kW
transmitter, WWL in  New Orleans, generates a reported 3,934.902 mV/m
at 1 km.
I read somewhere that Radio Luxembourg uses a 2 megawatt transmitter
in the Long Wave band.
Where does such a small country put such a transmitter and antenna?
I wonder if the neighbors' fluorescent lights are on all the time?
Does Radio Monte Carlo still broadcast in the Long Wave band? Those
long-wave antennas must be almost as big as the country, but they
probably have the transmitter in France, where there's more room, and
they won't interfere with the gambling.
Joe from Massachusetts

silicon dioxide
I was referring to the translation of "SiO2", not "ossido di silicio".
Maybe the correct translation is "es ai o two"... or "si o two"...
Ciao
Franco

they won't interfere with the gambling.
In Italy there is an old issue regarding Radio Vaticana and its
radiations... Its transmission antennas lay on a foreign country
(Vatican City State), therefore Italian laws can't be applied to them.
Radio Vaticana transmissions exceed Italian safety limits by far, but
nothing can be done. Its radiations travel over the Italian terrain.
It has been proved that people living in the closenesses of the
antennas have a high possibility to contract bad illnesses.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been proved so far that there is a direct
correspondence between these illnesses and electromagnetic fields. My
Electromagnetic Compatibility Professor at university said that too. 
He said that in the daily life there are many more dangerous sources
of illnesses than those caused by electromagnetic fields coming from
antennas or high-voltage power lines.
I'm not very convinced...


 I'm not very convinced...
In fact... It'd be like a doctor telling his patient: "You certainly know
that being shot with a machine gun is *way* more dangerous than having a
cancer. And, by the way, I am happy to tell you that your tests show no
evidence that you have been shot with a machine gun!"
--
Cingar
--------------------------------
Inviato via 
http://arianna.libero.it/usenet/

 I'm not very convinced...
I used to work with an engineer from Raytheon who installed microwave
transmitters.
There were always two transmitters in a link - the active and the
standby. When he was troubleshooting the standby transmitter, he would
often put the palm of his hand over the end of the waveguide, to see
if the transmitter was putting out power. If his hand got warm, the
transmitter was functioning. It was too much trouble for him to set up
a bolometer. The output was only 10 to 20 watts, but I would never try
that.
What do you think of cell phone radiation and fried brains? My wife
uses a hands-free headset all the time.  :>)



A more appropriate word might be "transliteration" instead of
"translation".
When Senator Barry Goldwater ran for President of the United States in
1964, there were many bumper stickers which simply stated "AuH2O", "Ai
you aitch two oh", Au being "gold", and H2O being "water". It didn't
help, He lost.
H2SO4 = aitch two ess oh four, sulphuric acid, is very common.
So I guess SiO2 would be "Ess eye oh two".
Not being a chemist, I don't know if there are any ambiguities where
"Si" and "SI" could be confused.
Joe from Massachusetts

"Si" and "SI" could be confused.
I am (sort of) and I don't think there is something like SIO2. If
there's some kind of ambiguity, it's quite rare.
You can have this, though: CO - carbon monoxide - and Co (Cobalt). But
that means nitpicking. :)
Sebastiano

 wrote in message
news:8bi7h016k3q4dhvt7...@4ax.com...

I know about CO2 (burp), but does Co2 mean anything?  :>)
Joe from Massachusetts

 when spoken.
I think matematicians use log and engineers were used to 
use ln because they also used Brigg's logarithms (do you 
remember good old sliding ruler, the analogic computer with 
no batteries?)
-- 
oggi no, domani sì

 Franco
Were those houses there before the aerials or were they 
built after?


 ambiguities where "Si" and "SI" could be confused.
Sulphur Iodide, or Iodium Sulphide?


 built after?
Shouldn't you say "were they built afterwards?"? I'm not sure, though.
Bye, FB
-- 
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)

 Bye, FB
Not necessarily. 
You could assume that "were they built after?" implies "the aerials [were
built]?"
"Afterwards" is also correct, however.
(faccina-just-trying-to-avoid-the-need-for-another-question)
-- 
If you feel the need to e-mail me, un-not my address first.

 (faccina-just-trying-to-avoid-the-need-for-another-question)
Riesci davvero ad assumere quest'espressione? Com'è? (faccina
just-trying-to-picture-you-trying-to-avoid-the-need-for-another-question)
Ciao, FB
-- 
"Nasalization is just a part of life"
(Joey DoWop Dee on it.cultura.linguistica.inglese)

I know about CO2 (burp), but does Co2 mean anything?  :>)
Nope. Co2 is quite a nonsense.
Sebastiano

 Maybe the correct translation is "es ai o two"... or "si o two"...
Yes, S - I - O - 2, pronouncece "ess aye oh two"

 uses a hands-free headset all the time.  :>)
Well, there are different kinds of radiation, of course.
I believe mobile phones radiation and the like is far less dangerous
than the possible risk of high-voltage power lines, for instance. 

joscurtin | it.cultura.linguistica.inglese
in <news:10EQc.24522$cv5.18904@lakeread07>

We have the Vatican Radio broadcasting station in the countryside near
Rome.
It includes many huge antennas on a large area, as large as a village
I would say. I think they broadcast all round the world or something
like that. 



It was said that there is a link between Vatican Radio radiation and
leukemia cases in the population around the  site,  but such link has
not been clearly proved yet, as far as I know.

uses a hands-free headset all the time.  :>)
Sincerely, I don't know.
Many scientists are still studying this topic...
In the doubt, when I am at home I prefer to leave my mobile phone a
little far from me, as it is known that EM fields rapidly decrease
with the distance from the antenna...
Anyway, cellular phones and high-voltage power lines aren't the only
source of EM fields. Some examples:
campo magnetico TERRESTRE: 45 uT
ELETTRODOTTI: 1 uT (a 50 m)
RASOIO ELETTRICO: 200 uT (sul viso)
asciugacapelli: 10 uT (a 15 cm)
lavabiancheria: 4 uT (a 50 cm)
trapano 600W: 2 uT (sul busto)
frullatore: 1 uT (a 40 cm)
campo elettrico NATURALE con bel tempo: 100 V/m
campo elettrico NATURALE con perturbazioni atmosferiche: 20,000 V/m
elettrodotti: 500 V/m (a 50 metri)
telefoni cellulari: 100 V/m (a 1 cm)
forni a microonde: 20 V/m (a 30 cm)
antenne radio AM, FM e televisive: 2 V/m (a 1,5 km)
antenne per telefonia cellulare: 1 V/m (a 50 m)
I don't know the transmission levels of Radio Vaticana...
Anyway, I remember a journalist with a microphone near Radio
Vaticana's antennas, I could hear the air like it was frying...  :-((
Ciao
Franco

built after?
I don't think Radio Vaticana is very old.
Probably the adjacent towns are far older than it.
Ciao
Franco

Is mho ever used in Italy?
I usually use Ohm^-1, sometimes Siemens.
I had never heard of Mho.
Ciao
Franco

I've never heard of it, but I would guess 'volts times meters'.
It was only a fast example, I don't know if it has an actual
meaning... Maybe (V/m) * (m^2)  -> electric field * area, electric
field flow through a given area... :-))
Ciao
Franco

 I don't think Radio Vaticana is very old.
It dates from the 50s. 
http://www.epicentro.iss.it/ben/precedenti/ottobre/1_en.htm
| In the 1950s, a large radio installation (Radio Vatican) was built
| in the north-east periphery of Rome that contained several
| transmitters varying in power from 50 to 500kw that transmit radio
| broadcasts throughout the world. The installation covers an area of
| approximately 450 hectares in the area of Cesano. In the years
| following construction of the transmission installation, housing
| was constructed in the immediate vicinity. 
Also see 
http://www.bambinisenzaonde.it/radio_vaticana.htm

 uses a hands-free headset all the time.  :>)
Some Bluetooth headsets look very nice on a pretty head :-)
-- 
Xakero

Many scientists are still studying this topic...
Have a look at Gianni Comoretto's web pages on electromagnetic pollution.
I have not the link at hand right now but a quick search in Google with
keywords "Comoretto", "inquinamento elettromagnetico", should carry you
there.
Many papers and links are in English.
The conclusions so far are that there is no evidence that an 'ordinary' EM
field exposure can be more dangerous than the exposure to 'ordinary' air. On
the contrary, pollutants such as lead and benzene are way more harmful [1]
than electromagnetic waves generated by commercial appliances and
telecommunication equipments.
At any rate, keep your mobile away from the family jewels.
Heck, who knows for sure? ; )
cheers,
Peltio
writing this less than a meter from the low voltage (380 V) power line
servicing its block.
PS
Can one say "more harmful"?

meaning...
Besides, the English 'per' has nothing to do with the Italian 'per' intended
as a multiplication. But Italians sometimes use an Italian 'per' with the
same meaning as the English 'per' (which, I suspect, is not English at all
in the first place).
I usually say 'metri al secondo per secondo' to express the acceleration's
dimensions . The 'per', here, has the same meaning as the 'al', that is it
means 'for each...'.
I would also say 'volt per metro' to express the electric field strength,
since I do not like the sound of 'volt su metro' and I've never heard anyone
uttering the awful expression 'volt al metro'.
cheers,
Peltio

telecommunication equipments.
This was the point of view of my university Professor too...
In particular, he talked about benzene and radon, which are supposed
to cause many more diseases than EM fields every year... Only a few
people have complained about these pollutants so far, as their risk
perception is far lower than the one caused by EM fields... It's a
commercial matter too...
Ciao
Franco

| approximately 450 hectares in the area of Cesano.
Cesano!
Now I remember the name of the town!!
Surely I will never go to Cesano for my holidays!
Ciao
Franco

uttering the awful expression 'volt al metro'.
Anyway, I still find it difficult to read long expressions such as:
f(m,s)=1/(s*sqrt(2*pi))*exp(-1/2*((a-m)/s)^2)
which is the gaussion probability density.
In Italian I would say:
"effe di emme esse uguale a uno su esse per radice quadrata di due
pigreco, per l'esponenziale di meno un mezzo per a meno emme su esse
al quadrato"
How would you read it in English?  ^_^
Ciao
franco



Well, that's a pleasant spot, though. Not Cesano itself; I mean the 
surrounding countryside. A few miles from Cesano we have the Bracciano 
and Martignano lakes, both make a  nice outing from Rome.,  

that it isn't harmful in all the possible situations...
In fact, it is logically impossible to prove a negative.
cheers,
Peltio
--
And the skeptic's FAQs 
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/skeptic-faq/

How would you read it in English?  ^_^
"The above expression"
Cheers,
Peltio

al quadrato"
Attenzione che "x su y" puo' anche voler dire qualcos'altro, e' meglio
"uno diviso..." :-)
'bye

 wrote in message
news:8qcestr52mko$.dlg@news.lillathedog.net...

A few years ago, before I went on vacation to California, I purchased
a book entitled "The California Catalog", in order to learn a little
about California before I went there.
In addition to the usual travel highlights, the book also had details
about pollution and radiation for different areas of the state, and
nearby places.
The level and type of particulate pollution (mainly from agriculture)
was listed for each area.
The level and type of pollution from automobiles and power plants was
also listed for each area.
Most surprising of all, the level of background radiation was listed
for each area of the state, and for nearby Nevada.
The book warned travellers to avoid the roads between California and
Nevada which bordered the Nuclear Test Site located 65 miles northwest
of Las Vegas, Nevada. Along these roads, the background radiation
(according to this book) is 100 times the normal level of background
radiation, and this is on the upwind side of the nuclear test site!
A week later, I was staying in Death Valley, California, and couldn't
find a restaurant open late in the evening.
I was told that most people drove to Beattie, Nevada (about 40 miles
distant), if they wanted to find restaurants, bars, and night life. We
drove to Beattie, found a nice restaurant, listened to some good
music, gambled a few dollars in one of the many mini-casinos which
seem to be everywhere in Nevada, then drove back to California.
Later I learned that Beattie is the site of one of the worst nuclear
waste dump sites in the U.S.
Joe from Massachusetts

 wrote in message
news:asjfh0hgv7ggr1j9m...@4ax.com...

Gaussian.  :>))
My knowledge of the "area under the curve" is very limited, to say the
least.
Do you use any programs such as Mathcad, or Autocad?
Joe from Massachusetts

 waste dump sites in the U.S.
Waste dumping must be big business. That's where the money to gamble
and dine came from, perhaps ;)

 and dine
O forse, meglio,
"the money for gambling and dining"
visto che sarebbe difficile "to dine money" :)



Not necessarily; "the money to gamble and [to] dine" is okay.
(or if you're a purist: "...to gamble and [with which to] dine."
"I need money to eat! I'm hungry." (But I'm not going to eat the money.)
-- 
If you feel the need to e-mail me, un-not my address first.

Do you use any programs such as Mathcad, or Autocad?
I can use Matlab better than the two you mentioned above.
Why did you ask?
Ciao
Franco


I was just curious what programs are used for design drafting.
"Autocad" is the
most common drawing program here, but it is rather expensive, unless
you buy a "Lite" version, or a "student" or "educational" version.
There is a program called "Intellicad" which has most of the features
of "Autocad", but is much cheaper. The 2000 version of "Intellicad"
was
freeware. I was working in a place which had only one "Autocad"
license,
so everyone downloaded "Intellicad 2000", and we were all able to
legally work with ".dwg" files which were generated by the "Autocad"
program . I still use "Intellicad" occasionally. Too bad the newer
versions are not freeware.
There is also a program called "Pro-Engineer", which is very complex
and expensive, used to design complex mechanical parts. The files
generated by this program can be input directly to CNC (Computerized
Numerically Controlled) machines.
Interestingly, most of the modern CNC machines I have seen here are
manufactured in Germany.
One of the problems in manufacturing is finding people who are skilled
machinists, and who are willing to learn to program the CNC machines.
Machinists like making things by hand, using lathes and milling
machines, and are reluctant to learn CNC programming, while
programmers like working with CNC machines, but they don't have the
mechanical experience of the machinist.
Joe from Massachusetts

"Pro-Engineer"
All these are mechanical softwares, I have very little knowledge of
them... Have you ever worked with Ansys? THIS is a software directly
come from hell, expecially if one tries to use it to solve
electromagnetic problems... Fortunately, they have recently developed
an extension called Ansys Emax which helps a lot, but its licence
costs about 40,000 Euro per year... My university has bought a couple
of these licences, I haven't. I can leave without them. ^_^
Ciao
Franco


I am not familiar with Ansys.
The drawing package with which I am most familiar is a program called
"Vellum", from a company called "Ashlar". Unfortunately, after
spending a lot of time learing it on the job, I have never heard of
any other company which uses it, although Ashlar seems to be doing a
good business. I don't know who uses "Vellum".
"Autocad" is quite complex, and requires quite a long time before an
operator can be productive.
"Autocad", along with some add-ons, such as schematic symbol and logic
symbol template packages, is probably the most common software package
for creating electrical, electronic, and logic diagrams here in the
US, in addition
to being the most common software for creating mechanical drawings.
Every place I have ever worked has used this software for the creation
of electrical and mechanical drawings. Some of the advanced features
of the software allow users to create parts lists from the information
entered on schematic and logic diagrams. Thus, when a schematic is
modified, a new parts list would be output, reflecting any changes in
the type or number of
components that might have been changed.
Joe from Massachusetts

components that might have been changed.
Hence, in the field of electronics Autocad is used only to draw
schematics and at most to get the node list of a circuit... 
It can be considered a design tool, since you cannot perform
simulations with it. Maybe this is why they have never taught us to
work with this program at university...
ciao
Franco
PS: Should I have written: "Autocad is used to drawing... and to
getting..."?

I've never heard of it, but I would guess 'volts times meters'.
I'm still wondering: how should I say "0.2*1.33"?
Following your suggestions, I guess:
"nought point two times one point three three"
Is it right?
I don't think so, because to me it seems that "times" should be used
for integer values only... Am I right or not?
Ciao
Franco

 and to getting..."?
Con il "to" non ci va il participio/gerundio o come diavolo 
si chiama, casomai usa il "for".
Credo. Non so. Mah. Vedremo.
 
-- 
oggi no, domani sì

 I have never heard of it too...
"I have never heard of it either", I suppose.
Bye, FB
-- 
Se dico "siedi!" manca l'oggetto.
Siedo chi? Lei o me?
(da it.cultura.linguistica.italiano)

 for integer values only... Am I right or not?
È corretto ma direi 'zero-point-two times one-point-three-three'. Numero
intero o no, non c'entra.


Yes, Autocad is a design tool, not to be confused with the vastly more
complex and expensive programs such as you describe, but all the
engineers I know are at least familiar with it, and many of them are
quite proficient in it, so that they can make modifications to their
own designs (which would have been drawn in Autocad by designers who
do nothing but create schematics and mechanical drawings all day
long).
Joe from Massachusetts

 wrote in message
news:ojp4i0hgtbf4pupru...@4ax.com...

Here in the USA you will find nary a nought. I mean, we don't use
"nought" for "zero" here, although my father, who was from Ireland,
always used it.
0.2 *1.33 woud be (spoken) "Zero point two times one point three
three", and I would guess that in those areas under the British
linguistic influence, "nought" would be substituted for "zero", just
as you have already correctly stated.
Joe from Massachusetts

 wrote in message
news:ojp4i0hgtbf4pupru...@4ax.com...



si chiama
Not always...
Have you ever heard of " to be used to + gerundio " ?
Anyway, it wasn't may case...
Looking forward to hearing you :-)
Franco

"I have never heard of it either", I suppose.
You are perfectly right...
To be pedantic: "I have never heard of it, either"
Ciao
Franco

long).
Sorry to say this, but I totally disagree with you.
The work of an engineer is not to draw pictures all day.
High School  graduates are sufficient for this kind of job.
One purpose of an electronics engineer is to study circuits and their
behavior, not only to make drawings of them. To be sincere, I hardly
ever draw schematics of my circuits but directly write the node list
with a text editor and simulate the circuit with Pspice.
To me, it is absurd that a person who has studied so many difficult
subjects like an electronics engineer had a so reductive job...
Ciao
Franco

three"
Ok, thanks. :-)
My guess about the use of "times" was totally wrong...
Ciao
Franco



Ne sei certo? Ho visto diverse "politiche" nell'uso, o no, della virgola
davanti a "too" e "either".
Ciao, FB


 davanti a "too" e "either".
I think it's a matter of style. I would insert the comma in most cases,
even though in normal speech there isn't necessarily a pause before
"either."
To my eyes (but not ears) "I think so, too" begs for the comma. (Maybe in
expressions with "too" it feels more necessary, since "too" can mean "to
excess".)
If the sentence is inverted, no comma is needed:
"Neither have I heard of it."


davanti a "too" e "either".
I'm never sure about English grammar... ^_^
Anyway, my reference grammar book states that a comma must be
inserted. Di più nin zò.
Ciao
Franco