Oral Communication Essay

INTRODUCTION Making a business or social speech is more than just standing up and ‘saying a few words’. Experience has shown that the importance of oral presentations, especially in the business world, cannot be underestimated. This is because presentations are an opportunity to demonstrate knowledge, competence, and composure while making an impression on both superiors and subordinates. Although oral presentations are very important, they strike fear in the hearts of those who give them. This should not however be the case. The key to a successful oral presentation is preparation. Preparation alleviates apprehension, and helps identify potential problems in presentations. I hope this course will go a long way to prepare you for the task. ELEMENTS OF THE PUBLIC SPEAKING PROCESS SOURCE This is the origin of communication message. A public speaker is the source of ideas and information for an audience. The job of the speaker or source is to encode or translate images and ideas in his or her mind into a system of signals that will be recognized by an audience. For example, the speaker may encode into words â€Å"The new product should be two inches square† or into gestures (showing the size with hands). RECEIVER The receiver is the target of the message. The receiver’s task is to decode the sender’s verbal and non-verbal symbols, translating these codes back into mental ideas and images. Of course, the decoded message will never be exactly the thought or idea that the speaker intended to convey as the receiver’s perception is dependent on his or her own unique blend of past experiences, attitude beliefs and values. MESSAGE The message in public speaking is the speech itself – both what is said and what is heard. As said earlier, speaker’s intended message may differ from the meaning the audience decodes. If a speaker has trouble finding words to convey his or her ideas, the message suffers right away. And because the listener’s frame of mind may be different from that of the speaker’s, he may interpret what he hears and sees in a manner that was not all what the  speaker intended. In reality, an intended message will differ a little from the actual message perceived by an audience. However, the less distorted the message between the sender and receiver, the more accurate and successful the communication CHANNEL A channel in communication is the means used to communicate. Information can be communicated face-to-face, in writing, or by way of an audio tape or video tape. Note that although it is possible to hold the content of the message constant across channels, different modes or forms of communication will often vary in terms of some of the context factors. For instance, the audience obtains more information about physical and behavioral characteristics of the source from face-to-face or video messages than when the information is presented in written or oral form. The message is usually transmitted from sender via to channels; visual and auditory (or a combination). The audience sees the speaker and decodes his or her non-verbal message – eye contact (or lack of it), facial expressions, posture/gestures and dress. This is the visual channel. The auditory channel, on the other hand, opens as the speaker speaks. Then audience hears his or her words and such vocal cues as inflection, rate and voice quality. FEEDBACK In public speaking, the speaker does most or all the talking. But public speaking is still an interactional process. Remembering the old question of whether a falling tree can make noise if there is no around to hear, we may as well ask whether one can engage in public speaking without an audience to hear and provide feedback. The answer is no, skillful speakers are audience-centered. They depend on the nods, facial expressions, and murmuring of the audience to adjust their rate of speaking, volume, vocabulary, type and amount of supporting materials and other variables in order to maximize the success of their communication. CONTEXT The context of public speaking experience is the environment or situation in which the speech occurs. It includes such elements as time, place and the physical and psychological factors affecting both speaker and listener. As John Donne said, â€Å"No speech is an island†. No speech occurs in a vacuum.  Rather, each speech is a unique blend of circumstances that can never occur in exactly the same conjunction again. For example, if the room is too hot, crowned or poorly lit, these conditions affect both speaker and audience. This audience who hears a speaker at 10.00 in the morning is likely to be fresher and more receptive than the audience who hears the speaker at 4.30 in the afternoon. Likewise, if the speaker is coming down with a cold, this malaise is likely to affect his or her performance. These factors make up the element of public speaking process that e call context. NOISE When variables interfere with the communication of a message, we call them noise. Noise may be literal or external. For example, if your 8.00 am Public speaking class is frequently interrupted by campaigning students or the roar of a lawn mower, it may be difficult to hear a speaker. Noise may also be â€Å"Internal†, a term that refers to some of the other factors we have discussed. An internal noise may affect either the source or the receiver. For example, a speaker’s bad cold may cloud his or her memory or subdue a usually enthusiastic delivery. An audience member who is worried about an examination later in the day is unlikely to remember what speaker says. Just before lunch, they may also be too hungry to pay much attention. All these factors interfere with the transmission of a message from sender to receiver. 1. GETTING STARTED A. SELECT AND LIMIT THE TOPIC Choosing a topic for a speech can be a problem. However, there are two methods by which you can choose a speech topic. i. The first is brainstorming which involves thinking of as many topics as you can in a limited time so that you can select one topic that will be appropriate for your audience. First, give yourself a limited time. Get a list of a number of possible topics for yourself. Next, pick about three of the topics which have the most appeal. Then you choose the most appropriate of the three topics. ii. The other methods of selection are personal inventories where you conduct personal inventory of your reading and viewing habits. Thus, a topic can be chosen from books you read, films you watch, etc, For instance, your personal inventory of newspapers, periodicals, television, talents, hobbies etc. B. TEST THE TOPIC After you choose the topic, ask yourself three questions. i. First, whether the topic is appropriate for the audience. To know this, ask whether you can speak about it on a level the audience can understand. Does the audience need technical or specialized knowledge? Do they have enough background knowledge to understand the subject? Answers these questions will help determine the appropriateness of your topic. ii. Second, is the topic appropriate for you? Can you get involved in it, and is it interesting enough to motivate you to do the necessary research? Normally, the best topics come from your own experiences. iii. Besides your audience and interest, you should ask whether the topic is appropriate for the occasion. For instance, an after-dinner speech should be light and not be too long as members of the audience may be full and not be alert. On the other hand, a speech at a seminar will afford you the opportunity to speak on a more complex topic. Another consideration is whether you can fit the speech into the time limit of the occasion . C. NARROW YOUR TOPIC One mistake that beginners make is that they try to cover a broad topic resulting in a superficial treatment of the topic. The result is that the speech will not be meaningful. To narrow a topic, you must find a specific aspect of a subject that will best meet the time restrains and other demands of the speaking situation. Example i. Health issues in third-world countries ii. Infant mortality in third-world countries iii. Infant formula(as against breast-feeding) in third-world countries iv. How infant formula affects health in third- world countries. D. SELECTING A PURPOSE After selecting and narrowing your topic. You need to decide on both the general and specific purpose. You can speak to inform, persuade, or  entertain. But sometimes these overlap to some extent. i. General Purpose Speaking to inform is the primary objective of class lectures, seminars, workshops, etc. When you inform, you teach, define, illustrate, clarify or elaborate on a topic. In informative speeches, speakers do not take sides when the subject is controversial. The informative speaker will present all sides to an issue and let members of the audience make up their minds. In a persuasive speech, however, the speaker takes a particular stance and tries to get the audience to accept and support that stance. Persuasion is a process of changing or reinforcing attitudes, beliefs, value or behaviour. To be persuasive, you need to be sensitive to your audience’s attitude towards your and your topic. Sermons, political speeches, students’ campaign speeches, sales presentations, etc. are examples of persuasive speeches. ii. Specific Purpose The Statement of a specific purpose will help you focus on what you want to accomplish. It will help you define what you are going to inform or persuade you audience about. Your specific purpose should be a fine-tuned, audience-centered goal that should follow the following guidelines. 1. State your purpose clearly and completely. To explain to the audience members how to stay physically fit. To persuade audience members not to buy products from advertisers who use sexist language. 2. State your purpose in terms of the effects you want to have on your audience. In an informative speech, you may want your audience to restate an idea, identify, describe or illustrate something. However, in a persuasive speech, you may your audience to take classes, buy something, or vote for someone. To inform my audience about how they can improve their study habits. To persuade my audience to donate blood to the Ghana Red Cross. 3. Limit your purpose statement to one idea. This will help you narrow your topic and keep it specific. 4. Use specific language in your purpose of  statement The more precise your language, the clearer the language will be in their minds. To persuade my audience to fight crime is too vague a topic. By crime, do you mean drugs, rape, kidnapping, murder, or what? You could rephrase your purpose this way: To persuade my audience that everyone can help curb armed robbery. 5. Develop your central idea While your statement of specific purpose indicates what you want your audience to do when you have finished your speech, your central idea statement (Thesis statement) identifies the essence of your message. Example: Specific Purpose: to inform my audience about how to make sure their drinking water is safe. Central Idea: People can do three things to ensure that their drinking water is safe. 1. Purchase an activated – carbon filter 2. Have it tested 3. Reduce exposure to bacteria by disinfecting product E. ORGANIZING AND OUTLINING THE SPEECH As a wise person once said, if effort is organized, accomplishment follows. While generating ideas for your speech, you actually begin the task of organizing your message. After additional research, you need to develop an outline of your talk. A clearly and logically structured speech helps your audience remember what you say and also help you to feel more in control of your speech and greater control will help you feel more comfortable while delivering your speech. Every speech has three main parts: the instruction, the body and the conclusion. Since an introduction previews a speech and the conclusion summarizes it, most teachers recommend that students prepare their  introductions and conclusions after they have organized the body of the talk. We will therefore discuss the introduction and conclusion later. Purpose of the introduction Within a few seconds of meeting a person, you form a first impression that is often quite lasting. So too, do you form a first impression of a speaker and his message within the opening seconds of the speech. The introduction may convince you to listen to a credible speaker presenting a well prepared speech or may send the message that the speaker is ill-prepared and the message not worth your time. To say that the introduction should be well planned is an understatement, considering the fact it is very important and yet very brief. An introduction serves the following functions: A key purpose of the speech introduction is to gain favorable attention for your speech. Because listeners from their first impression often speech quickly, if the introduction does not capture their attention and cast the speech in a favorable light, the rest of the speech may be wasted on the audience. After capturing the audience’s attention and introducing the subject, you have to give the audience some reason to want to listen to the rest of your speech. You can do this by showing them how the topic affects them directly.  Perhaps, the most obvious purpose of the introduction is to introduce the subject of the speech. Within a few seconds after you begin your speech, the audience should have a good idea of what you are going to talk about. The best way to do this is to include statement of your central idea in the introduction. Purpose of Conclusion Your introduction creates an important first impression: your conclusion leaves an equally important final impression. Long after you have finished speaking, your audience is likely to remember the effect, if not the content of your closing remarks. There are a number of purposes of an effective conclusion: One purpose of the conclusion is to summarize the speech. A conclusion is s speaker’s last chance to repeat his or her main ideas to the audience. Another purpose of the speech conclusion is to reemphasize the main ideas in a memorable way. The conclusions of a number of speeches are among the most memorable statements we have. Also, motivation is a necessary component of an effective conclusion: not motivation to listen, but motivation to respond in some way. If your speech in informative, you want your audience to think about the topic or research it further. If your speech is persuasive, you may want your audience to take some sort of appropriate action-buy a product, make a phone call, or get involved in a cause. The conclusion is your last chance to motivate your audience to respond to your message. The most obvious purpose of the conclusion is to let audience know that the speech has ended. Speeches have to â€Å"sound finished† Principles of organization You must try as much as possible to relate the points you make in your speech directly to your specific purpose and central idea. In the speech, the challenge to excel, notice how all the main points are related to the purpose and central idea. Specific Purpose. To inform my classmates about the four things required to excel. Central Idea: No matter what people’s abilities are, there are four things they can do to excel. Main ideas: 1. Learn self –discipline. 2. Build a knowledge base. 3. Develop special skills. 4. Bounce back from defeat. i. Give points a parallel structure Parallel structure means that each of your points will begin with the same grammatical form. Example, on a speech about ways to loose weight, this speaker started each suggestion with a verb: Exercise at least three times a week Eat low-fat, high energy snacks like fruits. Count your daily intake. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that the United States should act now to protect its citizens against electronic invasions of their personal privacy. Central Idea: The loss of personal privacy in our electronic society is a serious problem that requires decisive action. Introduction Attention: (i) Would you let a perfect stranger examine your medical files, peek at your personal finances, eavesdrop on your phone calls, or invade other aspects of your personal life? (ii) Yet all of these are happening as a result  of privacy invading technology by business and government agencies. (iii) The erosion of personal privacy has become one of the most serious problems facing Americans in our high-tech, electronic age. (iv) Today I would like to explain the extent of this problem and encourage you to support a solution to it. Body Need: (i). The use of electronic data gathering by business and government poses a serious threat to personal privacy. A. Business and government agencies have compiled massive   amounts of information on the personal lives of most Americans. B. There are few laws protecting Americans against the gathering or misuse of personal information by businesses and government agencies. Satisfaction: (ii) The problem could be greatly reduced by the passage of federal privacy laws. A. These laws should impose strict controls on the collection of personal information by businesses and government agencies. B. These laws should also include stiff penalties on anyone who uses personal information for unauthorized purpose. Visualisation: (iii) Similarities laws have worked in other counties and can work in the United States. A. The practicality of privacy laws has been demonstrated by their success in almost all the countries of Western Europe. B. If the U.S had such laws, you would once again have control over your medical files, financial records, and other kinds of personal information. Conclusion Action: (i) So I urge you to support privacy legislation by signing the petition I am passing around to be sent to our state’s U.S Senators and Representatives. (ii) As Congressman Jack Fields has stated, â€Å"This is not a Democratic or Republican issue†¦ Privacy is a basic human right.† Try using the motivated sequence when you seek immediate action from your listeners. Over the years it has worked for countless speakers – and it can work for you as well. PATTERNS OF ORGANISATION There are different ways by which you can arrange the main points of your speech. Your choice will depend on what best suits your materials. These patterns include time or chronological order, spatial order, cause and effect order, problem- solution order, and topical order. Time Order This is used to show development over time. This pattern works well when you are using a historical approach. It is often used to explain a process and this process could be anything ranging from how to wrap a gift to how to apply for a student’s loan. Spatial Order This is approach refers to the physical or geographical layout to help your audience see how the parts makes up the whole. To help your audience visualize subject, you explain it by going from left to right or form top to bottom, or any direction that best suits your subject. Example Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about the layout of K’dua Poly campus Central Idea : The campus is laid out logically as a series of concentric (having a common centre) circles. Main Points : I. Parking and athletic complexes occupy the outermost circles. II. The hostels, fraternities and sororities occupy the next concentric circle. III. Next to the centre circle are the library, the student union and the classroom buildings. IV. The administrative offices occupy the centre circle of campus. The spatial order works particular well when the speech focuses on a chart or a diagram. When using the visual aid, the speaker naturally moves from top to bottom or from left to right. Example: Specific Purpose: To inform my audience about who make decisions on campus. Central Idea: Campus business is divided into branches: the administrative branch and the academic branch. Main Point: I. The Principal is the chief administrative officer of the polytechnic and the main spokesman for the polytechnic community. II. The academic vice principal is responsible for everything that concerns classes, such as curriculum and faculty. III. The administrative vice principal is responsible for everything that concerns classes, such as curriculum and faculty. Causes – Effect order With this pattern, the speaker divides the speech into: causes (Why something  is happening), and effect (what impact it is has). Example Specific purpose: To inform my audience on why smart people sometimes fail. Central Idea : Smart people sometimes do things that lead to failure. Main Point: I. Smart people are defined as those with high IQs. II. Causes for their failure include ignorance, isolation, recklessness, and over reaching. III. Failure (effects) includes loss of high paying profile jobs, public humiliation, loss of opportunity, and even loss of fortunes. When you are using this approach, you do not always have to begin with a cause and end with an effect. In the above example, the speaker could have reversed points II and III and first use examples of some of the possible effects of high. I Q. and them continue with the causes. The important thing is to begin with the aspect most likely to capture the audience’s attention. iv. Problem –Solution Order The problem –Solution order, like the cause – effect order, divides as speech into two sections. One pat deals with the problem and the other part, with the solution. Example Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that American schools need to teach students more about the third world. Central Idea: Americans must know about the third world because what happens in those countries affect American lives. Main Point: I. Most Americans have negative impressions of the third world from the mass media. II. Most Americans are ignorant of the impressions of the impact that the third world has on American Trade. III. Most Americans do not know how the third world influences  political decision making among the super powers. IV. American teachers and curriculum planners must add materials   about the third world materials about the third world to the school curriculum. V. Textbook publishers should add third world materials. Topical Order: When your speech does not fit into any of the patterns described so far, you may use the topical pattern of organization. This pattern can be used whenever your subject can be grouped logically into sub topics. Examples – Four ways to overcome snoring – Five types of food that will help you live longer, four ways to save money for school, what can be done to protect natural resources, etc. Specific Purpose: To persuade my audience that everyone can contribute to conserving natural resources. Central Ideal: Conservation means practicing the four R’s of reduce, re-use, repair nad recycle. Main Points: I. Reduce consumption and waste. II. Reuse what can be reused. III. Repair what can be fixed. IV. Recycle what can be recycled. THE PERSUASIVE SPEECH Persuasion is the process of trying to get others to change their attitudes or behaviour. All of us are trying to persuade one way or the other. The government bombards us with messages intended to foster patriotism and hard work. Sermons from churches and mosques enjoin us against selfishness, corruption, and other social vices, etc. Obviously, not all persuasive speeches work. We ignore many of the messages aimed at use and are unmoved by most. One may ask, what then make a speech persuasive? Aristotle, in his Rhetoric, attributed the persuasive impact of a message to three major factors: ethos (communicator characteristics), Pathos (Emotional nature of  audience), and Logos (message features). SOURCE FACTORS Until recently many psychologists believed that the most crucial characteristic of an effective speaker was his prestige. In other words, it was believed that any speaker who possesses prestige could cause the audience to submit to his message regardless of the logicality or illogicality of the message. Recent studies by social psychologists suggest that though prestige is necessary, it is not a sufficient factor in persuasive communication. Research indicates the following speaker characteristics for an effective speech. Credibility The primary characteristic of the speaker has been found to be â€Å"Credibility† or â€Å"believability†, A speech has greater persuasive effect if the speaker is perceived to be credible or â€Å"believable†. In order words, for a message to be persuasive, the speaker must be credible. Here, credibility means expertness and trustworthiness. Expertness of the speaker (source) refers to the extent to which the audience believes that the speaker is capable of transmitting valid statements on the issue under consideration. Put simply, expertness refers to the degree to which the speaker is perceived by the audience to possess comprehensive knowledge on the subject matter. Thus, speakers who present an impressive amount of evidence, show insight into all aspects of the issue are usually perceived by audiences as experts or competent in area in areas they are dealing with, thereby inspiring greater credibility in their audience. Though members of an audience are inclined to believe a message from an expert or knowledgeable source, the impact is even greater if they have reasons to believe that the source is trustworthy. There are two issues to trustworthiness. First a source is less likely to be believed the audience perceived him to have something to gain if his message is accepted. Second, if the source is perceived from the outset to have a defined intention to persuade, it is less likely he will be perceived worthy of trust. Nevertheless, being perceived as having an intention to persuade needs not always decrease the speakers’ effectiveness to persuade his audience. In fact, it can be an asset to persuade. Such frank admission can have disarming effect on the audience. This is because members of the  audience tend to place credence on the remarks of those they regard as sincere and open. Therefore, the speaker who shows himself as honest is more likely to elicit friendly and less hostile responses from the audience. It is combined value of the speaker’s expertise on an issue and his trustworthiness that we refer to as credibility. Confidence The speaker who seems to be in command of himself inspires confidence. Members of the audience tend to believe in speakers who deliver their message in a more confident tone than those who do it in tentative way. For instance, speakers who present their arguments prefaced with statements like obviously, speakers, who present their arguments prefaced with statement like obviously, in fact, certainly, etc. are more effective than those who present their arguments with expression like I don’t know; I am not positive, etc. Also the effective speaker does not become unsettled when the audience become hostile, or when reacting to hostile questions from the audience. Tact Our attempt to persuade others often fails because we do so in a tactless manner. Tact is the ability of what to say and how to say what you want to say without giving offence. In persuasion, tact means disagreeing without scolding, enlightening without insulting their intelligence. Persuasion without tact breeds alienation. Moderation Temperance and restraint are crucial ingredients in persuasive communication. Speakers who indulge in personal abuse, overstatement, and inappropriate emotional displays tend to turn off their audience. They may even induce in the audience psychological resistance to the idea they are trying to promote. Friendliness It is very important for a speaker to be friendly towards an audience. Where the audience is hostile, goodwill is important. The speaker or source that shows a good disposition towards the audience clears one of the obstacles to  persuasion even though he and the audience may disagree on certain points. Similarity/Identity (e.g. Familiar Language) It is often difficult to identify with someone whose past and present experiences are so different from your own. How can you see the historical significance of polygamy if you are, for instance a European, or understand the rational for divestiture of national assets if you are a socialist? In fact, a true meeting of the mind is enhanced when a speaker is similar to the audience in terms of ethnicity, sex, age, socio-economic status, educational background, current living conditions, political ideology, etc. Such a speaker is more likely to be perceived as more credible, and hence is more likely to have greater impact on his audience. Non-verbal elements Many worthwhile ideas go unheeded because they are ineptly presented. The audience because of misleading cues in the speaker’s non-verbal language misconstrues some ideas. For instance, a speaker may say one thing while the sound of this voice and facial expression tell the audience something else. Imperfections in communication occur when the non-verbal elements in the communication are not supportive of the verbal elements. Also, non-verbal elements convey to the audience more about the speaker than he realizes. Physical appearance All of us tend to make generalization about people’s personality, attitudes, and look from the clothes they wear the objects they keep on their persons (e.g. Jewelry) and their grooming, generally. We give them names according to what they wear, etc. Such generalizations are often made about speakers even before they begin to deliver their speech. We are not so much concerned about the validity of these generalizations by the audience. However, what every speaker must know is that inappropriate dress and grooming can be destructive in persuasive communication. Ironically, it is not possible to prescribe a universally acceptable dress for all speakers on all occasion. The real test is that appropriate appearance and grooming should be suitable for the speaker’s purpose, his audience expectations, and the occasion. Facial expression and eye behavior Another important aspect of non-verbal communication is facial expression. The speaker’s facial expression conveys to the audience, his attitude towards himself, the subject matter, and the audience. It can tell the audience whether he is sincerely motivated in his assertions or his animations are feigned. The inference an audience makes from the speaker’s facial expression can affect this trustworthiness and hence his credibility. Subtle nuances in facial expression can make a world of difference in perceived meaning. Such variables like amount and rate of dilation of the pupil or one’s eye blink rate can communicate a great deal of information. The key facial expressions used to convey information include raising or dropping the eyebrows, smiling or frowning, knitting or relaxing the forehead, closing or widening the open eye, wrinkling the nose, pursing the lips, baring the teeth, dropping the jaw, etc. Eye behaviour also performs a persuasion function. We rate speakers who maintain eye contact as credible and we suspect those whose gaze is continually shifting about. If people avert their eyes when talking to us, we assume that they are either shy or are hiding something from us. Bodily communication This has dimensions including physical movements of the body like gestures, the way one holds one’s body (tense or relaxed posture), tilting or nodding the head, clenching one’s first, having ones arms akimbo on the waist, etc. These bodily movements can indicate arrogance, anger, degree of commitment, or determination, etc. Imagine a speaker trying to present a conciliatory message while standing in the ‘drill-sergeant’ position (feet planted widely apart as though he were issuing orders to his subordinates. This posture conveys defiance, which is incompatible with the conciliatory message. It is therefore important to note that a speaker’s body language should be compatible with the verbal message being uttered. Since body language conveys meaning, it can be an asset or a liability. It is however an asset only when it directs the audience’s attention to the verbal message being communicated, and also when it actually transmits a meaning which intensifies the meaning of the verbal message. It should be emphasized  that the absence of movement, that static state, is also a conveyer of meaning. In such a situation, parts of the verbal message will actually be lost due to the suppression of bodily action. Vocalic communication The other none-verbal element in speaker’s communication behaviour is aural. The voice of the speaker does more than rendering ideas into audible form. The pitch of the voice, its loudness or quality and the rate of delivery, convey various shades of meaning to the audience. The controllable elements of the voice also act as factors of attention. In fact, not only does the voice affects meaning and attention, but also transmits an impression of the speaker as a person to the audience. For example, a speech delivered in a weak voice may convey to the audience the speaker’s lack of courage and vigour. In effect, the public speaker must know that he is judged not only by words spoken, but also by the meaning the audience attaches to the sound of the voice that carries those words. Artifactual Communication People decorate their homes and work places with artifacts to symbolize their sense of self. Our culture has taught us to react in certain ways to the artifacts of others. It is important to note that these patterns of responses form the premises of persuasion and therefore we interpret artifacts that surround persuaders in message situations according to the dictates of our culture. Therefore, the banners, the bunting, insignias in a speech situation, all contribute to the success (or failure) of a persuasive attempt. Another type of artifact is clothing. What people wear send signals about what they believe in and what they stand for. However, these Artifactual messages, as said earlier, vary from culture to culture and can make a world of difference between a successful and an unsuccessful persuasion. Tactical communication A very important non-verbal message carrier is the way and degree to which people touch one another. Generally, there are gender related differences in the use of touch. Women are more likely to use touch to communicate than are  men. In fact, the average woman torches someone else about twelve times a day, with the average man touching someone only eight times a day. In terms of persuasion, research shows that persuaders who touch are the most successful persuaders. Touch seems to be a good way to convey social kind of emotional feeling like empathy, warmth, and reassurance. It is however important to note some touches are taboo. For instance, some parts of the body are ‘off limits’ to public touch. Therefore, a persuader who is too ‘touchy’ with persons around him is likely to offend not only the person touched, but also, persons observing the touch. Credibility can be drastically undermined if persuaders misread a relationship and respond inappropriately if a speaker touches in a way that is not appropriate. THE AUDIENCE FACTORS If it the aim of the speech is to change the views, attitudes, and behaviours of an audience, then it is important that the speaker places particular emphasis on knowing the audience. In a very practical sense, it means the speaker finding out all he can about the people he will be speaking to. It is indeed, probable that the majority of failures in persuasive attempts can be traced to insufficient or inaccurate ‘ analyses’ or ‘targeting’ of those intended to be influenced. Only by seeing things from the audiences’ point of view can we deal directly and effectively with our audiences. In reality, the group of individuals that a speaker tries to influence is his audience. Therefore, for the speaker to know the audience, he must locate the common characteristics of the members of the audience and strategize the message accordingly. Research in this area suggests that there are several common characteristics about the audience and these include the follo wing. Initial attitude of the audience towards subject matter The initial position of the members of the audience is crucial in bringing about opinion change. The more extreme the initial position of the audience from that of the speaker, the greater the latitude of rejection of the speaker’s message. In effect, maximum attitude change can be effected when the audience does not hold an extreme attitude position. However, with an audience that is hostile to the point of view espoused by the speaker, media experts suggest that the strategy is for the speaker to start with those  points on which he agrees with the audience. This strategy may be effective for two reasons. a. Agreeing with hostile audience from the start has a disarming effect and prevents heckling and outbursts that characterize hostile audience. b. Agreeing with audience at the outset can enhance the speaker’s trustworthiness with the audience, and may be perceived â€Å"fair† â€Å"objective† and non-opinionated. Audience beliefs. Another characteristic of the audience which can affect their persuasibility is their belief or current thinking about the issue under consideration. For instance, consider the national campaign on the judicious use of electricity due to the low level of water in the Akosombo Dam. Many people initially ignored the warnings or were simply unmoved by them. They did not believe that the Dm would ever dry up. It was not until the Volta River Authority (V.R.A) began issuing daily news on the water level-maximum and minimum operating levels that many people took them seriously. Also, some people do not just believe that AIDS is real and so there is little chance they could be persuaded to use condoms. It is evident that the beliefs people hold on issues can be a powerful deterrent to persuasion. It would therefore be a folly to try to convince people that you have the best solution when they don’t believe that a problem exists. Finding out an audience’s beliefs also involves seeking clarification on how the audience conceptualizes or defines the issue at stake. For example, as a speaker, you want to persuade an audience that Neoplan Buses are better than Tata Buses. You will have to find out first, how your audience defines a â€Å"better bus†. Does â€Å"better† here, means durability? Does it mean cost effective? Are Neoplan Busses better because they are sleek and comfortable? Unless you discover the criteria, and in fact, the priority of the criteria your audience uses, you may be wasting your time in persuading them. You may have to convince the audience that though â€Å"sleekness† and â€Å"comfortability† are intended criteria for measuring a â€Å"better† bus, these are not the only criteria or necessarily the most important ones. You may try to convince them that â€Å"durability and â€Å"petrol consumption† the most important. In trying to win an audience, it is  advisable to discover the criteria by which they measure the â€Å"truth† of the fact in question, and also, the priority if the criteria. THE SURVIVORS â€Å"Work! Harder. Faster. Shovel! Don’t just stand there. Shovel!† And so he shoveled with all his energy and all of his might. Hour after hour, he shoveled until his body could not shovel any more. Finally, he stopped working, learned over on his shovel, and let his body limply rest, as his eyes stared at the ground. The commander looked his way and hollered in a low penetrating voice, â€Å"Shovel†! But the man did not move. The commander lifted his gun, loaded it with ammunition, and shot him. The man released his hands from the shovel and fell to the ground. He murmured his last words, â€Å"How could this happen?† The commander walked over, lifted his heel, and kicked the man into the mass grave, which he had been digging. One more Jew was removed from the world. He was one of 6 million who were brought to their death by the Nazi policy to annihilate the Jewish race. The Nazis collected the Jews in the ghettos; they transported the Jews to the death camps; they worked the Jews until they could not work any more. Then they killed them – by gun and by gas, by starvation and sickness, by torture and terror. Millions of Jews died in the death camps of Buchenwald, Auschwitz, Dachau, and Treblinka. It seems unfathomable that people could have survived the Nazis’ wartime atrocities. Yet, by the grace of God, there were survivors. The survivors were the young and the strong, not the old and the meek. The survivors were the lucky and the few. My grandparents are Holocaust survivors. They are each the only survivors in their families. They witnessed the death of their mothers and fathers, brothers and sister, friends and neighbours. They witnessed the destruction of their lives and homes, towns and country, shops and synagogues. They lived through the death camps. They lived through the excruciating work. They lived to see liberation. Since I was a little girl, my grandparents have told me about their lives during the Holocaust. They have told me about the persecution, the intolerance, and the injustices so that I could appreciate my freedom, my liberty, and my independence. It has  always amazed me that my grandparents don’t have spite or malice. After all they suffered, they have only hope and love. They don’t want to hate any more. During World War II, my grandparents were victims of anti-Semitism. Fifty years later, they are victims no longer. Today they fight against the â€Å"isms† which plague our communities, our states, our nation, and our world. They tell their story so that we, the younger generation, will understand the horrific force which anti-Semitism was in their lives. They relate their experiences to the struggles which so many people grapple with today. They will tell their story, and they will not rest until all people can live without fear and without denial, until all people can live with pride and with dignity. And when my grandparents are gone, I will continue to tell their story. I will tell my children about the men and women who were murdered for no cause. I will tell my children about the heroism of the Jews in the Warsaw ghetto who fought strength for strength against the Nazi militia. I will tell these stories to all who will listen. And I hope that you, too, will tell stories. As the Holocaust survivor and writer Elie Wiesel, once said, â€Å"Not to transmit an experience is to betray it† To the millions who died in the Holocaust, lie peacefully in your graves, for you have not been forgotten. To the survivors of the Holocaust, rest assured that we have listened to your stories. We have learned by your examples and we, too, will fight for freedom and peace. May no person around the globe again fall to his or her death murmuring, â€Å"How could this happen?†

Causes Of Climate Change

Climate change is when the climate changes by warming up or cooling down over a period of time. Climate change is occurring now, the climate is warming up dramatically, and this is known as global warming. In the past the temperature has gone up and has gone down, and the climate has warmed up and then after a period of time cooled down. The first way that climate changes naturally is by the amount of energy produced by the sun and how much we receive. This varies over time, sometimes more energy is produced by the sun and sometimes less is produced.When the sun produces more energy the climate warms up and when the sun produces less energy the climate cools down, this is because when the sun provides more energy the earth receives more heat, and warms up the climate and when the sun produces less energy the earth receives less heat so the climate cools down, this all happens over a long period of time. The second way the climate changes naturally is by how the earths orbit around th e sun changes. The earths orbit can change from orbiting the sun in a spherical way to an elliptical way.When the earth orbits the sun in an elliptical way the earth is often warmer, because at some points to earth comes closer to the sun in its orbit, and when the earth gets closer to the sun the energy has got less distance to travel, and when the sun and the earth are close together the suns energy has a smaller area to spread over so the energy warms up the climate in that part. The third way that climate changes naturally is by the change in the earth’s axis. At the moment the tilt of the earth is at 23.5 degrees.When the earth tilts away the earth gets less energy, and makes the climate cooler, but when the earth tilts the other way the earth gets more energy and warms up the climate. This takes place over 41,000 years. The fourth way that the climate changes naturally is as the earth wobbles as it spins on its axis, as the earth wobbles, one side tilts closer to the su n than the other, so the side that gets closer to the sun, receives more energy from the sun, and the  energy only has a small distance to travel so it heats up that part of the earth and warms up the climate, and the other side of the earth that wobbles away from the sun has less energy received by the sun and the energy has more distance to travel, so the side that wobbles away from the sun gets cooler and then the climate cools down, as some of it gets lost in space.The fifth way that the climate changes naturally is by all of the Co2 in the air, all of the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is trapping all of the heat, produced by the sun, and this causes temperatures to rise.Records show that temperatures rose from 8000 BC dramatically even though there were few people on the earth, the earths population was around the population of London. This shows that the climate can warm up with very few people on the earth producing Co2 In conclusion people don’t always produce al l the Co2 in the atmosphere or cause the climate to warm up; it could sometimes just be our earth itself.

African American Heritage In Chicago

African American Heritage In Chicago Essay A History of African American Heritage in Chicago The massive exodus to the north began in 1915; a population of people weary of pervasive hostility and constraint in their former lives, fleeing a social system comprised of miserable oppression and repeated violence. The primary cities for resettlement became New York and Chicago, metropolises humming with the vigor of big-city life and the excitement of a new beginning. When the Chicago Commission asked African American migrants in interviews on Race Relations in 1922 why they came to Chicago, responses were similar. ?Im looking for better wages.? ?I wanted to get away from the South, and to earn more money.? ?I wanted to better my living conditions. ? One man, when asked what his first impression of Chicago was, responded ?When I got here and got on the street cars and saw colored people sitting by white people all over the car I just held my breath, for I thought that any minute they would start something, then I saw nobody noticed it, and I just thought this was a real place for colored people.? And life was good; if not ideal it was better than the disparaging environment of their prior residence in the South. This migration coincided with the War. Job opportunities sprang up everywhere as demand increased for more goods and services, and suddenly in 1920 the Negro population of Chicago had soared from 44,103 in 1915 to 109,594. The Illinois Central Railroad brought hundreds on free transportation, on the premise that they would employ their company. The Negro employment rate skyrocketed; the most popular jobs lying within the iron foundries, food products manufacturing, the tanneries, and the mail order industry. The major ity of blacks coming from the south settled in a limited area known as the South Side. Named the ?black belt of the city,? it was the most concentrated area of the African American population of the time. The difficulty of finding residence in the other parts of the city and the abundance of vacant houses aided in this settlement of the South Side. However, as deep-seated racial prejudice was still running rampant throughout the nation, loud protests erupted and whites quickly abandoned residential areas populated by blacks. Underlying racial hostility between blacks and whites was unfortunately gaining momentum. On July 27, 1919, this animosity was demonstrated in a terrible week of rioting beginning with the drowning of African-American youth Eugene Williams off a Lake Michigan beach. This event was a catalyst for a weeklong violent, bloody warfare. As black workers walked or rode the streetcars west and arrived to begin their shifts at the Stockyards, they were met by angry mobs of white gangs and workers, who attacked them mercilessly and drove them off. The mobs were beyond control. African American community members armed themselves and prepared to defend themselves and their homes against armed white gangs who tore into their neighborhood. The end of the week concluded in death tolls of 23 blacks and 15 whites, 157 persons being injured. The Chicago Commission on Race Relations was established soon after these staggering race riots, to study the roots and causes of the conflict. Their report on Chicago in 1992, with interviews of hundreds of black Chicago citizens, provided an insightful window into the race problem in the North, which attention was being drawn to due to the Great Migration. States the Chicago Commission on Race Relations in the document The Negro in Chicago, ?Both races need to understand that their rights and duties are mutual and equal, and that their interests in the common good are identical: that relations of amity are the only protection against race clashes; that these relations cannot be forced, but will come naturally as the leaders of each race develop within their own ranks a realization of the gravity of this problem and a vital interest in its solution, and an attitude of confidence, res pect, and friendliness toward the people of the other race. READ: Recycling Essay? The conflicts between blacks and whites have since subsided a great amount, but residue from the memories of violence and hatred still prevails. It will be a momentous day when we can be united as one indiscriminate, unbiased race, but that day has yet to come.

Steps and procedures to progulamte an OSHA standard Essay

Steps and procedures to progulamte an OSHA standard - Essay Example All these represent massive expenses to the company and even to the government and as such, each workplace is mandated by the Department of Labor to strictly comply with the OSH Act or the Williams-Steiger Occupational Safety and Health Act (OSHA) which was passed by the US Congress in 1970. The objective of this act is to assure safety and healthy conditions for all workers in all private corporations (Is your company in compliance?). The OSHA Act compels all companies and institutions to protect the health and safety of its workers by providing education and training so that accidents due to carelessness or to failure to give proper instructions or to machine breakdown, be prevented. The reported annual bill due to work-related accidents has already reached almost $50 billion and thus there is urgency that the OSHA Act be strictly complied with (Bittel 1992, p.476). The OSHA Act clearly forces all employers and employees to comply with all standards set down by OSHA and which are contained in the journal called â€Å"Occupational Safety and Health Standards; National Consensus Standards and Established Federal Standards†, published by the Federal Register (Bittel 1992, p.478). These standards include radiation control, materials handling, electrical installations, exits, first-aid services, sort of mini-fire department in the The work of OSHA to regulate health and safety in the workplace is not yet over because according to reports, â€Å"between one half and two thirds of the known workplace carcinogens remain unregulated by OSHA standards† (Paehlke 1995, p. 503). Thus OSHA standards, must be promulgated to address protection of workers against these carcinogens, especially pesticides. The first step to promulgate an OSHA standard is the providing of notice to all parties who may be affected by the OSHA

Properties of Life Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Properties of Life - Essay Example All organisms and plants are made up of millions of cells. The basic structure of a cell is the same in all organisms. It is the smallest unit of life. It comprises of a nucleus and a membrane surrounding the nucleus. Homeostasis is a mechanism that is present in living organisms. It is the course by which plants and animals maintain their internal environment as the external environment changes. In humans, the production of Insulin and Glucagon hormones is a mechanism that looks to ensure that the sugar levels in the organism are under control. Metabolism refers to the chemical reaction within the body that handles the maintenance of energy. Different animal’s burn, fats and carbohydrates to produce energy for their activities. The metabolic rate of an organism is dependent on the activities that the animal performs. Responsiveness refers to the ability of organisms to react to the external changes. For example, during the cold, birds fluff their feathers. The feathers trap a ir in between them and the layer of air acts as an insulator from the cold. Different animals and plants have means by which they respond to the external environment. By doing this, the plants and animals can protect themselves from harsh conditions. Reproduction is the epitome of life. For this reason, once, mature, animals reproduce and give birth to offsprings that continue their line. Reproduction is one of the most important qualities as no animals can sustain their life forever. When living things, die, they do not fade away into oblivion.

The Concept of a Trial by a Jury Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The Concept of a Trial by a Jury - Essay Example In the early case of William Penn and William Mead in 1670, this concept was challenged. William Penn and William Mead had been arrested, charged and tried at the Old Bailey for â€Å"tumultuous assembly† on a Sunday afternoon in London. (Randle, 2001) The jury had refused to convict and the judge in response had ordered the jury sequestered without food or drink or â€Å"so much as a chamber pot, though desired.† (Randle, 2001) Despite this kind of pressure the jurors continued to hold out with the result that they were fined and imprisoned. (Randle, 2001) A juror applied for a writ of habeas corpus and a judge of the King’s Bench ruled that no jury could be penalized for its verdict. (Knight, 1881, 211) Penn and Mead’s trial reflected some of the limitations and constraints on the fundamental concept of a fair and impartial jury as envisaged by the Magna Carta’s mandate for a trial by a jury of one’s peers. If a judge could put pressure on a jury or sanction the jury if it did not decide a case one way, there was no barrier between the government and the ordinary citizen. It is a fundamental concept of jury trials that the individual on trial is judged by the ordinary citizen. It was during the time of Penn’s trial that the American jury system began to establish itself as a protective barrier between the government and the accused man. (American Bar Association) This was particularly popular at a time when Americans regarded British laws as too harsh. In the final analysis, the perpetuation of such a jury is inconsistent with an element of fairness to both the accused and the victim which is an extension of the community at large. Modern jury selection techniques in America today ensure that both sides are well represented by the jury panel. The underlying goal is the selection of a panel that is impartial to both sides. For instance,   the common practice today is for the selection of jurors based on an assessment of their ability to determine the facts and issues objectively,   as opposed to partially or in favour of one side over another.  Ã‚  

Britain At The Paris Peace Conference Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Britain At The Paris Peace Conference - Essay Example The overall outcomes of the Conference have been usually labelled as failure, but such view is not fully correct. On the one hand, the treaties signed during the Paris negotiations did fail to secure peace in Europe in the long-term. On the other hand, the problems facing the negotiating parties at that difficult time were too complicated and often defied effective solutions1. However, the fact that some nations participating in the conference benefited more than others from the conditions of peace can hardly be put in question. Analysis of the key provisions negotiated during the Paris Peace Conference convincingly demonstrates that Britain was one of the participants whom managed to have their requirements satisfied to an acceptable extent. Although the common goal of the leaders involved in the Paris negotiations was apparently to restore peace and stability in Europe, the Conference immediately exposed serious disagreement between the Allies concerning how to threat Germany. The views were highly contradictory with the Big Three leaders balancing between the long-term political benefits of their countries, varying interests of their partners, and the public opinions of their nations. French Prime Minister Clemenceau perceived Germany as a potential threat to stability and peace in Europe, and a threat to security of his country. Therefore, France claimed that Germany was obliged to "cover the costs of restoration of invaded territories and repayment of war debts [and that] a long period of stiff repayments would have the added advantage of keeping Germany financially and economically weak"2. Such claim clearly demonstrated the reasonable fear of France that light penalties would result in rapid recovering and further strengthening of Germany. The Fourteen points of President Wilson reflected his highly idealist and pacifist views on the political developments in Europe: perhaps that is why Wilson failed to convince the Allies accept his moderate position on the economic obligations of Germany. On the other hand, Britain was extremely concerned with the revival and further development of international trade which constituted the cornerstone of the country's economic potency3. Lloyd George understood that Germany ruined by excessively hard economic claims of France and other Allies would seriously undermine marketability of British goods in the European market: "While the British government saw 66 million potential German customers, the French government trembled at the prospect of 66 million German soldiers and possible invaders."4. The British representatives also viewed Germany as a potential "barrier-fortress against the Russians"5 and reasonably considered that only country with healthy economy tied by strongly trade-b ased relationships could effectively fulfil such mission. Evidently, while none of the major players had his interests fully satisfied, the economic provisions of the Treaty of Versailles came closer to satisfying the requirements of British delegation. An exact monetary figure Germany was obliged to pay to the Allies never appeared in the Treaty, and despite the claims of Britain and Germany that the terms of reparations were still too harsh, the truth was "the Treaty of Versailles had left [Germany] largely intact, with a population almost double that of France, and

Mass media Ethic case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Mass media Ethic case study - Essay Example Accordingly, Monsignor Burke, the COO of the church has approached a public relations personnel, John Allen, for advice on how to handle this matter. In this case, the church wants to find out whether to declare the nightmare of sexual abuse a past occurrence that has no effects on the current welfare of the church or to blame predecessor bishops for the vice. In this case, there are two fundamental values on which catholic faith is grounded that are concerned. They include truth and justice. In the case of truth, the church advocate for accountability and transparency while for justice, the catholic affirms that each member of the society deserves to be served with justice at all time. The theory, developed to address the issue of Enlightenment rationalism, is grounded on the view that the only intrinsically good thing is a good will; an action is only good if its axiom  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ the rationale behind it  Ã¢â‚¬â€œ is commitment to the moral law. In this case, the church should be guided in a way that will help in restoring the morality and public goodwill. As such, I would advise the archbishop to consider three dimensions when making a decision on what to disclose to the media: Firstly, he should consider the truthfulness of the matter. In this case, he should gauge the statement he wants to issue against the truth. In this case, he should uphold the principle of truthfulness. By doing so, the church will ensure that this character-tarnishing story will never haunt again. Secondly, I would advise to evaluate the intentions that the church has in this scenario. In this case, the intentions should reflect god wills and to a large extent, the principle of morality should be taken into consideration. Lastly, the decision reached by the church should uphold dignity and respect on the part of the church. In this regard, I would advise them to take a position that exhibits respect to the member of the congregation and the

Masculnity, Consuerism & Death Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Masculnity, Consuerism & Death - Essay Example With the continual threat to the position of Men in the society men are increasingly being forced to reassert their masculinity through violence and this only results in more tension in the society. According to the film fight club, the modern man is feeling that his masculinity is at risk and his dominant role as the stronger sex is also waning. There are several instances in the movie where men are employed to serve other men and women in higher positions of power. Most of the men holding such jobs as waiters are increasingly developing a feeling that their sense of masculinity is under attack and have consequently come together under the fight club to fight and regain their lost position in the society (Connell, 15). All these clearly indicate how far some men may be ready to go in their bid to regain their masculinity and lost glory in the contemporary society. For example Jack is evidently dissatisfied by both his job and the vents taking place in his life. In his attempts to fi ght the resulting depression Jack fills his life with a number consumer goods most of which he considers to be meaningless. It is only after meeting Tyler Durden who also shared the same view that Jack was able to reflect on his masculinity. After listening to Tyler, Jack realizes that he is a slave of the â€Å"white collar† and they both attempt to free themselves from the ills of the current consumer culture by forming the fight club. This paper critically analyses the movie Fight club to highlight some of the relationships between masculinity, consumerism and death. Relationship between consumerism, Masculinity and Death One important character that has been effectively used in the movie to highlight the conflict between the current consumer culture and masculinity is the character â€Å"Jack†. In the movie, Fight club, Jack is depicted as a cynical young man who has significantly been affected by the adverse effects capitalism and consumerism in our contemporary s ociety. Being a white heterosexual male who often associate themselves with power, Jack is frustrated and subdued by his waning sense of masculinity and has grown violent and aggressive. On the other hand, the connection between these frustrations and death has been depicted in the movie in many forms. For example, frustrations of the male members of the society have often been associated with literal deaths resulting from suicides, homicides and murders. Additionally death can also be in figurative forms such as the death of masculinity, economic death as well as the loss of happiness among the affected members of the society Our ideas of masculinity are usually shaped by the media, movies, literature as well as the society. As a result of such influences, men often grow with the full knowledge of what is expected of them in the society. For instance men are expected to be tough, confident successful, self reliant and aggressive. On the other hand, the society has also conditioned men to believe that certain behaviors, jobs or responsibilities are not masculine in nature. Generally men are not expected to serve as waiters, cooks and other positions considered low in the society. With the changing roles brought about by the effects of corporate capitalism, feminism and the current consumer culture, masculinity is facing a slow death as our society is gradually being feminized by the shifting gender roles. In the movie â€Å"fight club† Jack and Tayler are depicted as having gone to the

Retails industries in UK Dissertation Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 5250 words

Retails industries in UK - Dissertation Example Research shows that when the economic aspects of the country were steady and reliable, the consumer confidence was at its highest. This is evident from the fact that before 2007, when employment levels and positive externalities prevailed in the economy, UK consumers spent lavishly. However, growing inflation forced British people to change their money management philosophy from earn more and spend lavishly to spend less and save more. Everything is expensive in UK at present except the people. Many of the British families are currently struggling to find enough funds for managing their monthly family expenses because of higher inflation. From September 2007 onwards, a strong decline in consumer spending has been observed. Moreover, consumers started to stay away from borrowing options available to them from 2007 onwards. Earlier, the general trend among British people was to spend lavishly and approach the banks or other financial institutions when they are in need of money. Banks a nd other financial institutions in the past, dispersed mortgages to all people who approached them irrespective of their financial abilities or the credit histories of the borrowers. As a result of such inappropriate lending policies, many British banks faced problems in the recent past. At present banks in Britain are granting loans or mortgages only after thoroughly investigating about the credit histories of the borrowers. Thus, people are struggling to find enough money for lavish spending at present. ... This literature review focuses on the retail industries in the UK, specially the segmentation in this sector, as well as how the financial crisis affected it. Basic Trends in Retail Sector of the UK Lower Consumer Confidence: Research shows that when the economic aspects of the country were steady and reliable, the consumer confidence was at its highest. This is evident from the fact that before 2007, when employment levels and positive externalities prevailed in the economy, UK consumers spent lavishly. However, growing inflation forced British people to change their money management philosophy from earn more and spend lavishly to spend less and save more. Everything is expensive in UK at present except the people. Many of the British families are currently struggling to find enough funds for managing their monthly family expenses because of higher inflation. From September 2007 onwards, a strong decline in consumer spending has been observed. Moreover, consumers started to stay awa y from borrowing options available to them from 2007 onwards. Earlier, the general trend among British people was to spend lavishly and approach the banks or other financial institutions when they are in need of money. Banks and other financial institutions in the past, dispersed mortgages to all people who approached them irrespective of their financial abilities or the credit histories of the borrowers. As a result of such inappropriate lending policies, many British banks faced problems in the recent past. At present banks in Britain are granting loans or mortgages only after thoroughly investigating about the credit histories of the borrowers. Thus, people are struggling to find enough money for lavish spending at present. Apart from the

Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict Essay Example for Free

Azerbaijani-Armenian Conflict Essay When owing to their strategic and geopolitical situation Azerbaijani khanates got involved into the stratagem of fight which was led by Russia, Iran and the Ottoman empire for the spheres of influence some Azerbaijani entities were forced to conclude vassal agreements in order to defend their interests. Thus, under the treaty of 1805 the independent Azerbaijani khanate of Karabagh was placed under Russian overlordship. As a result of Russian-Iranian war of 1804-1813 and on the basis of the peace treaties of Gulistan and Turkmanchay, the Karabakh khanate together with Erivan and Nakhchevan khanates was included into the Russian Empire . It was exactly in that period when Armenians started to move to the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan which was inhabited mainly by the Azerbaijanis and the descendants of the ancient Albanians. This fact was proved by the famous Russian diplomat and playwright A. S. Griboyedov. Later, in 1836, after the second mass resettlement of Armenians in 1828-1829, the Russian authorities abolished Albanian Christian patriarchate and donated its property to the Armenian Church. After that when the western region of former Albania – the region of Karabakh lost its statehood and the church lost its independence, the local Albanian population was subjected to Gregorianization (Armenization) . After the proclamation of the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic- the first democratic state in the muslim East on May 28,1918, one of the first moves of its government was the cession of the city of Erivan (Yerevan) to the Republic of Armenia which though proclaimed its independence didn’t have its own land. In that period Azerbaijan’s foreign policy was oriented towards the development of friendly and good-neighbourly relations with Armenia. Unfortunately, nurturing annexing plans the Dashnak government of Armenia made claims for Nakhchevan, Zangezur and Karabakh hich formed a part of the Azerbaijani state, though the Armenian minority of Karabakh took a decision at their Congress in 1919 to remain within the Republic of Azerbaijan . Armenia’s claims to this territory caused conflict and led to a murderous war with Azerbaijan in 1918-1920. Azerbaijan’s independence was violated after the invasion of the XI Red Army of Soviet Russia that proclaimed the Azerb aijan Soviet Socialist Republic on April 28, 1920. In 1922 the Azerbaijan SSR formed a part of the USSR, within which the Republic’s independence was of a formal character. In response to the territorial claims of the Armenian SSR at its session on July 5, 1921 the Caucasian bureau of the CC of the RCP (b) rendered a decision to leave Nagorny Karabakh within the Azerbaijan SSR , considering it primordial Azerbaijani territory. At the same time taking into account the interests of the local Armenian population the government of Azerbaijan was proposed to grant broad autonomy to Nagorny Karabakh. On July 7, 1923 the Central Executive Committee of Azerbaijan issued a decree â€Å"On the formation of the autonomous region of Nagorny Karabakh†. Thus issuing this norm-setting act and taking into account the interests of its citizens of Armenian nationality the government of the Azerbaijan SSR formed an autonomy on the territory of Azerbaijan. At the same time, 300 thousand compact community of Azerbaijanis living in Armenia were refused to get even cultural autonomy both by the central government of the USSR and the government of the Armenian SSR. It infringed on their rights and finally resulted in their repeated deportations and dramatic forced eviction from the territory of Armenia in this century, including more than 200. 000 people in 1988-1989. Chronology of the conflict since 1988. The history of the second in the XX century Armenian-Azerbaijani armed conflict started in February 1988 when the session of the regional Soviet of the Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region (NKAR) of the Azerbaijan SSR took a illegal decision about the withdrawal from Azerbaijan and joining Armenia. The tragedy that overstepped the line of the local confrontation and transformed into one of the most prolonged and murderous conflicts in post-war Europe is not based on confessionalism or ethnic factor. Its roots lie in the expansionism and the policy of territorial aggression the aim of which is to extend the territory of one state by means of armed annexation and forcible seizure of a part of the territory of another sovereign state, member of the United Nations, OSCE and other international organizations. Anticonstitutional actions of the separatist groups in the region of Nagorny Karabakh which were supported and monitored from outside and which contradicted the international law and the current soviet legislation were a prologue to the wide-spread armed aggression against Azerbaijan. Starting with the unapproved meetings, strikes and actions of disobedience, the Republic of Armenia passed to the formation of unconstitutional power structures in the region of Nagorny Karabakh in Azerbaijan . Militarized units and a large amount of weapons and ammunition were sent to Azerbaijan and bridgehead for committing armed aggression against Azerbaijan was formed. At the end of 1991- the beginning of 1992 full scale military operations started in the zone of Armenian Azerbaijani conflict. During the military operations in the region of Nagorny Karabakh Armenian military units used sophisticated weapons and in February 1992 they managed to capture the city of Khojali where they brutally killed about 800 civilians including old people, women and children and in may 1992 they occupied the region of Shusha. After that the military operations overstepped the limits of the region and spread inland of Azerbaijan and to the Armenian –Azerbaijani border , including the zone of Nakhchevan . During the period of war 7 more regions of Azerbaijan beside Nagorny Karabakh were occupied. Thus, as a result of aggression against the Republic of Azerbaijan more than 17. 000 sq. km of land have been occupied, that makes 20% of the whole territory of the country , more than 18. 000 people have been killed, more than 50. 00 have been wounded and have become invalids, more than 900 settlements, 100 thousand buildings, more than 1 thousand enterprises, more than 600 schools and educational establishments, 250 medical institutions have been robbed and ruined. For the country with the population of 7,5 mln people the number of displaced persons became disastrous – more than 800. 000 people and almost 200. 000 refugees from Armenia. Humanitarian situation. Following the ethnic purges Azerbaijan faced a grave humanitarian situation. A great number of refugees and displaced persons were placed in tent camps, schools and hostels . In spite of great relief efforts they are menaced by colds and epidemics because of the low level of living conditions. The presence of children and old-aged people exacerbate the problem. Chronology of negotiations. International mediation on the settlement of the conflict started in 1992 in the framework of the so-called OSCE Minsk Group process which is the only forum on the formation of the comprehensive model for the settlement of Armenian- Azerbaijani conflict. The OSCE Minsk Group has been formed to take a political decision concerning this problem. It is a forum for the preparation of Minsk Conference. Following the military operations and the seizure of Azerbaijani cities, the UN Security Council adopted resolutions Nr 822, 853, 854, 884 which provide that Armenian military units should be withdrawn from the territory of Azerbaijan immediately and unconditionally, and the refugees and displaced persons should be able to return home. The main milestones in the negotiations were OSCE Budapest and Lisbon Summits. The OSCE Budapest Summit of 1994 took a decision to form an institute of co-chairmen of Minsk conference and entrust them with the duty â€Å"to conduct negotiations in order to conclude political agreement on the termination of the armed conflict (Great political agreement), the realization of which will eliminate the main consequences of the armed conflict for all sides and will permit to call Minsk conference†. Thus, Budapest Summit determined the two-phase structure of the settlement process: 1. the first stage – elimination of the consequences of the armed conflict; it means total liberation of all occupied territories and return of all displaced persons to their permanent places of living; 2. the second stage – comprehensive peaceful settlement will be achieved following Minsk conference. Budapest Summit also reached a decision on conducting OCSE peacekeeping operation after concluding the political agreement. Following Budapest Summit the co-chairmen (Russia-Finland) organized and conducted 16 rounds of talks and numerous consultations with the participants of the conflict. In that period of time they reconciled about 75% of the text of the draft of the Agreement and its Addenda. However, as far as the matters of principle are concerned – total liberation of all occupied territories including Shusha and Lachin regions, security for all the participants of the conflict and the withdrawal of the Armenian armed forces from the territory of Azerbaijan – the agreement hasn’t been reached. In his statement at Lisbon Summit in 1996 the president of the OSCE, set up three principles for the settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. They are: territorial integrity of the Republic of Armenia and the Republic of Azerbaijan. legal status of Nagorny Karabakh determined in the agreement and based on the self-determination which grants Nagorny Karabakh the highest degree of self-government within Azerbaijan. security guarantees to Nagorny Karabakh and all its population including mutual obligations to observe the settlement provisions by all parties. These principles were supported by 53 OSCE member states, except Armenia. In November 1996 Armenia unilaterally broke off direct consultations between the Presidential Advisers of Armenia and Azerbaijan. After Lisbon Summit and the establishment of the institution of triple Co-chairmanship (Russia-France-USA) the only one round of talks held in April 1997 was open-ended. In June-September 1997 the Co-chairmanship prepared and brought before the parties a new document which specified a two-stage settlement of the conflict according to the following scheme: the first stage – the liberation of the 6 regions occupied during the conflict outside the former NKAR (except Lachin region), return the civilians to their homes and reconstruction of the main communications in the region; the second stage – the settlement of the dispute around Lachin and Shusha regions and adoption of the main principles for the status of Nagorno-Karabakh region. The complete comprehensive settlement of the conflict including the Agreement on the self-government status of Nagorny Karabakh within Azerbaijan will be reached at Minsk conference. In September 1997 Azerbaijan officially informed the Co-chairmanship of the adoption of the document as a basis for the subsequent negotiations. In October 1997 in Strasbourg the Presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia made a joint statement about their readiness to start negotiations on the basis of the proposals made by the Co-chairmen. In December 1997 in Copenhagen the session of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs OSCE circulated the Report of the Co-chairmen which stressed the need to continue the efforts aimed at the settlement of the conflict on the basis of Lisbon principles and the proposals of the Co-chairmanship. On May 13-17, 1998 during the visit of the Co-chairmen to the region, Armenia officially declared the recall of the consent of the former President of Armenia to the proposals on the phased settlement and spoke for the â€Å"package† settlement without any preconditions. Armenia strongly objects to the principles of Lisbon Summit and seeks the discussion of the status of Nagorny Karabakh as an independent state. On April 2, 1999, a meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia during the CIS Summit in Moscow was held at which an agreement was reached on undertaking a series of meetings for discussing the problems of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. An exchange of views and positions of the parties was continues at the meetings of the presidents on April 24 in Washington, on August 16 and 22 in Geneva, on September 10 in Yalta and on October 11 in the village of Sadarak. During the meetings an agreement was reached on the consultations between MFA and MoD of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the problems of enforcement of the cease-fire rejime, confidence-building measures, procedures of preventing and settlement of the border incidents, as well as the development of the agreed basis for the resumption of the negotiations process within the framework of the OSCE Minsk Group. As an implementation of the agreement meetings and consultations of defence ministers (September 14 and October 11) and of foreign ministers (Seprtember 10, September 30 and October 12) of Azerbaijan and Armenia were held. On September 18, 1999, during the visit of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office K. Vollebaek to Baku it was declared that the meetings and consultations of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia did not substitute the OSCE Minsk process and the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group was called to speed up their activities and make a new proposal acceptable to both parties. On November 18-19, 1999, in the Final Document of the OSCE Istanbul Summit and in the report of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office it was once again underlined that the Minsk Group was the most suitable ormat for the settlement of the Nagorno Karabakh problem, the continuation of the dialogue of two presidents which is to complement the Minsk process was welcomed, and the parties were called to resume as soon as possible the negotiations on the conflict settlement. The European Security Charter was adopted at the OSCE Istanbul Summit. It is a legally-binding document that confirms the OSCE principles and norms and the resulting com mitments of the states on the observance of the sovereignty and territorial integrity. On December 13-15, 1999, the first visit of new Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. The Co-Chairmen of the Minsk Group declared that they would begin the work on new proposals that would be based on the elements on which the agreement had been reached at the meetings of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia. In its actiities on the settlement of the conflict the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group will pay a considerable attention to the economic development of the region. On this purpose the Co-Chairmanship of the OSCE Minsk Group expressed their intention to appeal to the world financial institutions, public and non-governmental organizations to send experts to the region in order to carry out the works on estimating the costs of the reconstruction of the region. On January 24, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a separate meeting of the presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia, and on January 25 a quadripartite meeting with the participation of presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Acting President of the Russian Federation V. Putin were held. Consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia were resumde during the meetings and it was declared that the policy of the Four in the region will be based on the principles of the international law and, first of all, on the absolute acknowledgement of the principle of territorial integrity of the sovereign states. On January 28, 2000, at the World Economic Forum in Davos the consultations between presidents of Azerbaijan and Armenia on searching the ways of peacefull settlement of the conflict. The foreign ministers of the two countries took part in the meeting. On July 20, 2000, during the Summit of the CIS member-states in Moscow a quadripartite meeting with the participation of the presidents of Azerbaijan, Armenia, Georgia and the Russian Federation was held. The questions of peaceful settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus, the problem of consolidation of regional security, including the cooperation in the struggle against international terrorism as well as in humanitarian and other fields. The text of joint statement signed as a result of the meeting of three presidents was also circulated. The statement says that the sides expressed their adherence to the continuation of meetings in this format, welcomed the initiative of the world community and international organisations, which assist the acceleration of settlement of conflicts in South Caucasus. Heads of states agreed that such meetings will be held not less than two times a year and as a rule will be held during CIS summits. On July 2-5, 2000, the visit by the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group to the region was held. In their activities on the settlement of the conflict a great attention was paid to the economic development of the region. With this aim the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group appealed to the world financial institutes, social non-governmental organisations to send experts to the region to estimate the possibilities of its economic reconstruction. During the visit, the Co-Chairmen of the OSCE Minsk Group made a statement that they would search the methods of modifying the plan of the Karabakh conflict settlement. On November 30, 2000 in Minsk during the Summit of the heads of the countries of CIS the bilateral meeting of the President of Azerbaijan H. Aliyev and of Armenia R. Kocharyan took place. After the ending of the meeting the President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev declared that he was satisfied on the whole with last negotiations. The President H. Aliyev justified his satisfaction by unofficial feature of the meeting but that the Presidents of these two countries are in the process of the search of the ways of the solution of Nagorniy Karabakh problem. As the President of Armenia R. Kocharyan noticed in his turn, the agreement about the intensification of the meetings was achieved at the meeting. On January 25, 2001 in Paris negotiations of the Presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan Robert Kocharyan and Heydar Aliyev in the presence of the President of Republic of France Jacques Chiraq. In the briefing after the negotiations, which took place in Paris in Yelisey Palace in the presence of the President of the Republic of France Jacques Chiraq, the President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan noticed, that the complete solution of the problem was maybe achieved at the attraction to the negotiations of the representatives of Nagorniy Karabakh. The President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev said in his turn that as soon as we come to something concrete at the bilateral negotiations with the leader of Armenia, perhaps the third part may appear . Both Presidents characterized their bilateral negotiations in Paris as rather positive, having informed, that they outlined the plan of the following meeting in the very near future. May 31, 2001 At the CIS Summit in Minsk the trilateral meeting among President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev, President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan and President of Russia Vladimir Putin was held. During the meeting the three presidents discussed the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani, Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. August 1, 2001 At the informal Summit of the CIS countries in Sochi President of Azerbaijan Heydar Aliyev and President of Armenia Robert Kocharyan held a bilateral meeting. During the meeting they had a wide discussion on the problem of the peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Currently the Co-Chairs are pursuing their objective to present a compromise settlement plan to the conflict based on the principles of international law. Arms supplies to Armenia. Illegal supplies of Russian arms to Armenia from 1993 till 1994 including 84 tanks T-72, 50 CIV, 32 operational-tactical missiles P-17 capable of a range of 300 km and capable of carrying nuclear warheads as well as other arms amounted to 1 billion US dollars cause Azerbaijan a lot of trouble. These supplies violate the rules of international law and the principles of peaceful settlement of Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict. Such illegal actions contradict UN Security Council resolution 853, the Statement of the President of the Security Council of August 18, 1993 and the decisions of the OSCE High-ranking Officials Committee of February 28 and March 14, 1992 which demand that the military supplies to the states involved in the conflict should be stopped, since they facilitate the escalation of the conflict and the maintenance of the occupation of Azerbaijani territories. Illegal supplies also contradict the provisions of the Agreement on Conventional Forces in Europe. Ceasefire violation. It has been four years since the agreement on ceasefire was reached on May 12, 1994. However, in the last years provocative activities of the Armenian military units being stationed along the contact line have assumed an impudent character pursuing an aim to force Azerbaijan to start a new spiral of military operations. It should be noted that Armenia has violated the agreement on ceasefire 1421 times since May 1994. Release of prisoners of war. The work connected with the release of the prisoners of war and hostages is being continued through the mediation of ICRC. In the period from 1993 till May 2004 as a result of the interchange between the countries, 357 people were released – 102 Armenians and 255 Azerbaijanis. At the same time according to the MNS of the Republic of Azerbaijan there are still more than 800 Azerbaijanis in Armenia and the region of Nagorny Karabakh.

Four Stroke Four Cylinder Petrol Engine

Four Stroke Four Cylinder Petrol Engine ABSTRACT Since last 150 years different type of engine used in different vehicles so one should know how the engine works and different parameters related to it. This project contains preparation of experimental setup to determine the various performance parameter of four stroke four cylinder petrol engine in first stage of project. In this stage of project, the Morse test setup with Rope brake dynamometer will be prepared for the measurement of engine performance parameters such as Break power, Indicated power, Friction power, Mass flow rate, Brake thermal efficiency, etc. In the second stage study of existing engine and scuderi split engine to be done and effort will be done to develop scuderi split engine. Since last 150 years no modification has been done for basic engine design. This scuderi split engine completely change the design structure of engine. CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Project on EXPERIMENTAL SETUP FOR PERFORMANCE MEASUREMENT OF FOUR STROKE FOUR CYLINDER PETROL ENGINE DEVELOPEMENT OF SCUDERI SPLIT ENGINE consist of two stages. In first stage of the project, experimental setup for 4-cylinder petrol engine (Morse test) will be developed to determine the various engine performance parameters such as Break power, Indicated power, Friction power, Mass flow rate, Brake thermal efficiency, etc. The basic task in the design and development of engines is to reduce the cost of production and improve the efficiency and power output. In order to achieve the above task, the development engineer has to compare the engine developed with other engines in terms of its output and efficiency. Towards this end he has to test the engine and make measurements of relevant parameters that reflect the performance of the engine. For this the various test perform on engine are as follow: Willans line method Morse test Motoring test From the measurement of indicated and brake power Retardation test From this set-up of Morse test is simple and comparatively easy to conduct. Here, Rope brake dynamometer is used to measure power output. In second stage of project, the study of the scuderi split engine will be done comparison of it with conventional engine (4-S 4 Cylinder Petrol engine of Fiat Make). In conventional 4 Stroke engine, four strokes such as intake, compression, power exhaust performed in the single cylinder. While in scuderi split engine above Strokes performed in two cylinder which are connected using cross-over passage, in which pressure remains constant, in which two stroke intake compression take place in First cylinder, remaining stroke power exhaust take place in Second cylinder. CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE SURVEY 2.1 Introduction: The internal combustion engine is an engine in which combustion of fuel and an oxidizer (typically air) occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. This exothermic reaction creates gases at high temperature and pressure which are permitted to expand. The defining feature of an internal combustion engine is that useful work is performed by the expanding hot gases acting directly to cause movement of solid parts of the engine, by acting on pistons, rotors, or even by pressing on and moving the entire engine itself. The first internal combustion engines did not have compression, but run on air/fuel mixture sucked or blown in during the first part of the intake stroke. The most significant difference between modern internal combustion engines and the early designs was the use of compression and in particular of in-cylinder compression. 1876: Nikolaus Otto working with Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach had developed a practical four-stroke cycle (Otto cycle) engine. 2.2. Application of I.C. engine:- Internal combustion engines are most commonly used for mobile propulsion in automobiles, equipment, and other portable machinery. In mobile equipment internal combustion is advantageous, since it can provide high power to weight ratios together with excellent fuel energy-density. These engines have appeared in transport in almost all automobiles, trucks, motorcycles, boats, and in a wide variety of aircraft and locomotives, generally using petroleum (called All-Petroleum Internal Combustion Engine Vehicles or APICEVs) . Where very high power is required, such as jet aircraft, helicopters and large ships, they appear mostly in the form of turbines. 2.3. Classification of I.C. Engine:- The internal combustion engine may be classified in many ways, but following are the subject point of view: 1) According to the type of fuel used (a)Petrol engine (b)Diesel engine (c)Gas engine 2) According to the method of igniting the fuel (a)Spark ignition engine (b)Compression ignition engine (c)Hot spot ignition engine 3) According to the number of stroke per cycle (a)Four stroke cycle engine (b)Two stroke cycle engine 4) According to the cycle of operation (a)Otto cycle (b)Diesel cycle (c)Dual cycle 5) According to the speed of the engine (a)Slow speed engine (b)Medium speed engine (c)High speed engine 6) According to the cooling system (a)Air cooled engine (b)Water cooled engine (c)Evaporative cooling engines 7) According to method of fuel injection (a)Carburettor engine (b)Air injection engines (c)Airless or solid injection engines 8) According to number of cylinder (a)Single cylinder engines (b)Multi cylinder engines 9) According to arrangement of cylinder (a)Vertical cylinder engines (b)Horizontal cylinder engines (c)Radial engines (d)In-line multi cylinder engines (e)V-type multi-cylinder engines (f)Opposite-cylinder engines (g)Apposite piston engines 10) According to the valve mechanism (a)Overhead valve engines (b)Side valve engines 11) According to the method of governing (a)Hit and miss governed engines (b)Quantitatively governed engines (c)Qualitatively governed engines 2.4 Basic Engine Parts:- 2.4.1 Cylinder block:- The cylinder block is the main supporting structure for the various components. The cylinders of multi-cylinder engine are cast as single unit, called cylinder block. The cylinder head mounted on the cylinder block .The cylinder head and cylinder block are provided with water jacket for cooling. 2.4.2 Cylinder:- As the name implies it is a cylindrical vessel or space in which the piston makes a reciprocating motion. The varying volume created in the cylinder during the operation of the engine is filled with the working fluid and subjected to different thermodynamics processes such as suction, compression, combustion, expansion and exhaust .The cylinder is supported in cylinder block. 2.4.3 Combustion chamber:- The space enclosed in the upper part of the cylinder, by the cylinder head and the piston top during the combustion process, is called the combustion chamber. 2.4.4. Piston: Piston is the heart of the engine. The functions of the piston are to compress the charge during the compression stroke and to transmit the gas force to the connecting rod and then to the crank during power stroke. The piston is a disc which reciprocates within cylinder. It is either moved by the fluid or it moves the fluid which enters the cylinder. The main function of the piston of an internal combustion engine is to receive the impulse from the expanding gas and to transmit the energy to the crankshaft through the connecting rod. The piston of internal combustion engines are usually of trunk type. This type of piston consists of different parts such as Head or Crown, Piston rings, Skirt, Piston pin etc. 2.4.5. Piston Ring: Piston rings provide a sliding seal between the outer edge of the piston and the inner edge of the cylinder. The rings serve two purposes: 1. They prevent the fuel/air mixture and exhaust in the combustion chamber from leaking into the sump during compression and combustion. 2. They keep oil in the sump from leaking into the combustion area, where it would be burned and lost. A piston ring is an open-ended ring that fits into a groove on the outer diameter of a piston in an internal combustion engine. The gap in the piston ring compresses to a few thousandths of an inch when inside the cylinder bore. 2.4.6 Inlet manifold:- The pipe which connects the intake system to the inlet valve of the engine and through which air or air-fuel mixture is drawn in to the cylinder is called inlet manifold. 2.4.7 Exhaust manifold:- The pipe which connects the exhaust system to the exhaust valve of the engine and through which the product of combustion escape in to the atmosphere is called the exhaust manifold. 2.4.8 Inlet and exhaust valve:- Valves are commonly mushroom shaped poppet type. They are provided either on the cylinder head or on the side of the cylinder for regulating the charge coming in to the cylinder (inlet valve) and for discharging the products of combustion from the cylinder (exhaust valve). 2.4.9. Connecting Rod: The connecting rod connects the piston to the crankshaft. It can rotate at both ends so that its angle can change as the piston moves and the crankshaft rotates. The small end attaches to the piston pin, gudgeon pin (the usual British term) or wrist pin, which is currently most often press fit into the con rod but can swivel in the piston, a floating wrist pin design. The big end connects to the bearing journal on the crank throw, running on replaceable bearing shells accessible via the con rod bolts which hold the bearing cap onto the big end; typically there is a pinhole bored through the bearing and the big end of the con rod so that pressurized lubricating motor oil squirts out onto the thrust side of the cylinder wall to lubricate the travel of the pistons and piston rings. 2.4.10. Spark Plug: The spark plug supplies the spark that ignites the air/fuel mixture so that combustion can occur. The spark must happen at just the right moment for things to work properly. 2.4.11. Crank shaft: The crankshaft turns the pistons up and down motion into circular motion just like a crank on a jack-in-the-box does. The crankshaft, sometimes casually abbreviated to crank, is the part of an engine which translates reciprocating linear piston motion into rotation. It typically connects to a flywheel, to reduce the pulsation characteristic of the four-stroke cycle, and sometimes a torsional or vibrational damper at the opposite end, to reduce the torsion vibrations often caused along the length of the crankshaft by the cylinders farthest from the output end acting on the torsional elasticity of the metal. 2.4.12. Cam shaft:- The camshaft and its associated parts control the opening and closing of the two valves. The associated parts are push rods, rocker arms, valve springs and tappets. This shaft also provides the drive to the ignition system. 2.4.13. Gudgeon pin: It forms the link between the small end of the connecting rod and the piston. 2.4.14. Cam:- These are made as integral parts of the camshaft and are designed in such way to open the valves at the correct timing and to keep them open for necessary duration. 2.4.15. Fly wheel: The net torque imparted to crankshaft during one complete cycle of operation of the engine fluctuates causing a change in the angular velocity of the shaft. In order to achieve a uniform torque an inertia mass in the form of a wheel attached to the output shaft and this wheel is called the flywheel. 2.4.16. Sump:- The sump surrounds the crankshaft. It contains some amount of oil, which collects in the bottom of the sump (the oil pan). 2.5. DIFFERENT TYPES OF MATERIAL USE FOR ENGINE PARTS:- 2.5.1. Cylinder liner: The cylinder liners are made in two types: wet liner dry liner. In case of wet liner, water in jacket is in direct contact with the outer wall of the liner; where as the dry liner is pressed into the cylinder proper. In engines over about 13cm bore; usually the wet type of liner is used. Liner materials: The liner material should be strong hard corrosion resistance. The following materials are used. 1. A good grade grey cast iron with homogenous and close grained structure i.e. prelatic and similar cast iron. 2. Nickel cast iron and nickel chromium cast iron 3. Nickel chromium cast steel with molybdenum in some case. 2.5.2. Material of cylinder head:- The cylinder head are usually made of close grained cast iron or alloy cast iron containing nickel, chromium and molybdenum, for small sized engine, while for large engine, the material is low Cast-steel. 2.5.3. Material used for piston piston ring:- Commonly used materials for piston of I.C. engine are cast iron, cast aluminum, cast steel forged steel. Generally cast steel is used for piston head. The material for the piston ring is cast iron alloy cast iron due to their good wearing qualities also they retain the spring characteristics even at high temperature. The material used for piston ring is nitrogen hardened or case hardened steel alloy containing nickel, chromium, molybdenum or vanadium. 2.5.4. Material used for connecting road:- The connecting rods of I.C.engine are mostly manufactured by drop forging. The material for connecting rod ranges from mild or medium carbon steel to alloy steels. In industrial engine, carbon steel with ultimate tensile strength ranging from 550-670Mpa is used. 2.5.5. Material used for crankshaft: The cylinder head are usually made of close grained cast iron or alloy cast iron containing nickel, chromium and molybdenum, for small sized engine, while for large engine, the material is low C-steel. Heavy duty cast iron, cast steel, nickel chromium steel is mainly used for manufacturing of crank shaft. 2.5.6. Material used for valves: Inlet valve run cooler than exhaust valves. So, the material for the inlet valves may be carbon steel, nickel steel, chrome nickel steel chrome molybdenum alloy, which may be hardened to withstand the repeated high stresses. Material for exhaust valves must be able to maintain their strength at high temperature. Therefore the material used for it is standard chrome nickel steel, cobalt nickel steel, high speed steel stainless steels. 2.6 NOMENCLATURE:- 2.6.1 Cylinder bore (d): The nominal inner diameter of the working cylinder is called the cylinder bore. It is expressed in millimeter (mm). 2.6.2 Piston area: The area of the circle of diameter equal to the cylinder bore is called the piston area. It is expressed by square centimeter (cm ²). 2.6.3 Stroke (L): The nominal distance through which a working piston moves between two successive reversals of its direction of motion is called the stroke is expressed in millimeter (mm). 2.6.4 Stroke to bore ratio: L/d ratio is an important parameter in classifying the size of the engine. If d If d=L, it is called square engine. If d>L, it is called over -square engine. An over square engine can operate at higher speeds because of large bore shorter stroke. 2.6.5 Dead center: The position of the working piston the moving parts which are mechanically connected to it, at the moment when the direction of the piston motion is reversed at either end of the stroke is called the dead center. There are two dead centers in the engine: Top dead center (TDC): It is the dead centers when the piston is farthest from the crankshaft. It is designated TDC for vertical engines inner dead center (IDC) for horizontal engines. Bottom dead center (BTC): It is the dead center when the piston is nearest to the crankshaft. It is designated as BDC for the vertical engines outer dead center (ODC) for horizontal engines. 2.6.6 Displacement or Swept volume: The nominal volume swept by the working piston when traveling from one dead center to other is called the displacement volume. It is expressed in terms of cubic centimeter (cc) given by VS = à Ã¢â€š ¬d ²L/4 2.6.7 Cubic Capacity of Engine Capacity: The displacement volume of a cylinder multiplied by number of cylinders in an engine capacity. For example, if there are K cylinders in an engine, then Cubic capacity = Vs x K 2.6.8 Clearance Volume (Vc): The nominal volume of the combustion chamber above the piston when it is at the top dead centre is the clearance volume. It is designated as Vc and expressed in cubic centimeter (cc). 2.6.9 Compression Ratio (r): it is the ratio of the total cylinder volume when the piston is at the bottom dead centre, Vt, to the clearance volume, Vc. It is designed by the letter r. r = Vt/Vc = (Vc + Vs)/Vc = 1 + Vs/Vc CHAPTER 3 WORKING OF AN I.C. ENGINE I.C. engine is a device which develops the work continuously taking the working fluid through cyclic process. The combination of piston and cylinder is suitable device for developing the work. In an arrangement of piston and cylinder of an ideal engine, following for process constitute the cycle: The air is compressed in the engine. Heat is added to the compressed air by external source. High pressure and high temperature air expands performing the work. The air after expansion returns to the original condition by rejecting heat to external sink. 3.1 The working principle of four-stroke spark ignition engine:- If an engine is to work successfully then it has to follow a cycle of operation in sequential manner. The sequence is quite rigid and can not be changed. In the following sections the working principle of both SI and CI engines is described. Even though both engines have much in common there are certain fundamental differences. The cycle of operation for an ideal four-stroke SI engine consist of the following four-stroke:- 1. Intake or suction stroke 2. Compression stroke 3. Power or expansion stroke 4. Exhaust stroke Intake or suction stroke :- Suction stroke starts when the piston is at the top dead centre and about to move downwards. The inlet valve is open at this time and exhaust valve is closed. Due to the suction created by the motion of the piston towards the bottom dead centre, the charge consisting of fuel-air mixture is drawn in to the cylinder. When the piston reaches the bottom dead centre the suction stroke ends and the inlet valve closes. compression stroke :- The charge taken in to the cylinder during the suction stroke is compressed by the return stroke of the piston. During this stroke both inlet and exhaust valves are in closed position. The mixture which fills the entire cylinder volume is now compressed in to the clearance volume. At the end of the compression stoke the mixture is ignited with the help of a spark plug located on the cylinder head. During the burning process the chemical energy of the fuel is converted in to heat energy producing temperature rise of about 2000 °C.The pressure at the end of the combustion process is considerably increased due to the heat release from the fuel. Expansion or power stroke :- The high pressure of the burnt gases forces the piston towards BDC. Both, the valves are in closed position .Of the four stroke only during this stroke power is produced. Both pressure and temperature decrease during expansion. Exhaust stroke :- At the end of the expansion stroke exhaust valve opens and inlet valve remains closed. The pressure falls to atmospheric level a part of the burnt gases escape. The piston starts moving from the bottom dead centre to top dead centre and sweeps the burnt gases out from the cylinder almost at atmospheric pressure. The exhaust valve closes when the piston reaches TDC .At the end of the exhaust stroke and some residual gases trapped in the clearance volume remain in the cylinder. CHAPTER 4 ACTUAL CYCLE FOR I.C.ENGINE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ACTUAL CYCLE THERMODYNAMIC CYCLE:- The working substance is not air but a mixture of fuel and air during suction and compression and many gases during expansion and exhaust. Combustion of fuel not only adds the heat but changes the chemical composition also. The specific heat of gases changes with respect to temp. The residual gases change the composition, temp. and amount of fresh charge. The constant volume combustion is not possible. Compression and expansion are not isentropic. There is always some heat loss-due to heat transfer from the hot gases to cylinder walls. There is exhaust blow down loss due to early opening of exhaust valve. 4.2 VALVE TIMING DIAGRAM FOR 4-STROKE PETROL ENGINE:- (1) Inlet valve:- The intake valve should open, theoretically, at TDC; almost all SI engines an intake valve opening of a few degrees before TDC on the exhaust stroke. This is to ensure that the valve will be fully open and the fresh charge starts to flow into cylinder as soon as the piston reaches TDC. In figure ( ), the intake valve starts to open 10 o before TDC. As the piston descends on the intake stroke, the fresh charge is drawn in through the intake port and valve. It may be noted from figure ( ), that for a low speed engine, the intake valve closes 10o after BDC, and for a high speed engine, 60o after BDC. If the inlet valve is allowed to close at BDC, the cylinder would receive less charge than its capacity and the pressure of the charge at the end of the suction stroke will be below atmosphere. When the piston reaches BDC and start to ascend on the compression stroke, the inertia of the fresh charge tends to cause it to continue to move into the cylinder. At low engine speeds, the charge is moving into the cylinder relatively slowly, and its inertia is relatively low. If the intake valve were to remain open much beyond BDC, the up moving piston on the compression would tends to force some of the charge, already in the cylinder back into the intake manifold, with consequent reduction in volumetric efficiency. Hence, the intake valve is closed relatively early after BDC for a slow speed engine. For High Speed Engine, Inlet Valve closing is delayed after BDC to take above advantage. (2) Exhaust valve:- The exhaust valve usually opens before the piston reaches BDC on the expansion stroke. This reduces the work done by the expanding gases during power stroke, but decreases the work necessary to expel the burned products during exhaust stroke, and the result in an overall gain in output. During the exhaust stroke, the piston forces the burned gases out at high velocity. If the closing of the exhaust valve is delayed beyond TDC, the inertia of the exhaust gases tends to scavenge the cylinder better by carrying out greater mass of the gas left in the clearance volume, and result in increased volumetric efficiency. Consequently, the exhaust valve is often set to close a few degrees after TDC on the exhaust stroke, as indicated in figure ( ), it should be noted that it is quit possible for both the intake and exhaust valves to remain open, or partially open, at the same time. This is termed the valve overlap. (3) Ignition:- It would be proper to produce spark at the end of compression if the charge could burn instantaneously. How ever, there is always a time lag between the spark and ignition of the charge. The ignition starts some time after giving the spark, it is necessary to produce the spark before piston reaches the TDC to obtain proper combustion without losses. The angle through which the spark is given earlier is known as Ignition advance or Angle of advance 4.3 SOURCES OF LOSSES:- The difference between I.P. B.P. is known as total friction loss. This includes direct mechanical friction throttling losses through valves, pumping loss, blow down losses many others. 4.3.1. Direct frictional losses:- It includes bearing losses, as main bearing, camshaft bearing, and piston cylinder friction loss in many moving parts. The frictional losses are comparatively higher in reciprocating I.C. Engine. 4.3.2. Pumping losses:- The difference of work done in expelling the exhaust gases and the work done by fresh charge during the suction stroke is called the pumping work. In other words loss due to the gas exchange process (Pumping Loss) is due to pumping gas from lower inlet pressure to higher exhaust pressure. The pumping loss increases at part throttle because throttling reduces the suction pressure. Pumping loss increases with speed. The gas exchange processes affect the volumetric efficiency of the engine. 4.3.3. Blow by losses:- This loss because of leakage of combustion products past the piston forms the cylinder into the crank case. This loss depends upon inlet pressure and compression ratio .This loss increase directly with compression ratio but reduced with an increase in the engine speed. 4.3.4. Valve throttling losses:- The standard practice for sizing the exhaust valve is to produce smaller exhaust area than inlet valve area. This increases the pumping loss as smaller area resists more for the flow of exhaust gasses. This increase in speed of the engine rapidly if the valve size, valve timing and valve flow coefficients are not designed properly as shown in fig. by dotted line . The inlet throttling occurs due to the restrictions imposed by air cleaner, carburettor, and venture, throttle valve, inlet manifold and inlet valve. All these add in pressure loss .Similarly some pressure loss occurs during exhausting the burned gases. 4.3.5. Combustion chamber pump losses:- This loss occurs with pre-combustion chamber. This loss occurs due to the pumping work required to push the air into pre-combustion chamber through small orifice. This depends upon orifice size, and speed. It also increases with increasing the engine speed. 4.3.6. Power loss to drive the auxiliaries:- Some power is required to drive the auxiliaries such as water pump, fuel pump, cooling fan generator. This is also considered as loss as part of engine power developed is used for these purposes. 4.3.7. Heat loss factor:- During the combustion process and expansion the heat flows through the cylinder head. Some heat enters the piston and flows through the piston rings into the cylinder wall or is carried away by the engine lubricating oil which splashes on the underside of the piston. The heat loss along with other losses is shown on p-v diagram (Figure ( )). Heat loss during combustion has maximum effect on cycle efficiency while heat loss just before the end of expansion stroke has very little effect because of the contribution of useful work is very little. The heat lost during the combustion doesnt represent the complete loss only about 15% of total heat is lost during combustion expansion. If all the heat loss is recovered only 20% of if may appear as useful work. The effect of loss of heat during combustion is to reduce the maximum temperature and therefore, the specific heats are lower. Heat loss factor contributes around 12% to all their losses 4.3.8. Time loss factor:- In a thermodynamic cycle heat addition is assumed to be instantaneous process where as in actual cycle it is over a definite period of time .the time required for combustion is such that under all circumstances some change in volume takes place while it is in progress. The consequence of finite time of combustion is that peak pressure will not occur when volume is minimum i.e. when the piston at TDC but it will occur sometime after TDC. 4.3.9. Exhaust blow down:- The cylinder pressure at the end of exhaust stroke is about 7 bar depending on the compressor ratio. If the exhaust valve is opened at bottom dead centre the piston has to do work against high cylinder pressure during the part of the exhaust stroke. If the exhaust valve is opened too early, a part of the expansion stroke is lost. The best compromise is to open the exhaust valve 40 to 700 before BDC. Thereby, reducing the cylinder pressure to halfway to atmospheric before the exhaust stroke begins. 4.3.10. Knocking in SI- Engine:- Knocking is due to the auto-ignition of the end portion of the unburned charge in the combustion chamber. As the normal flame front proceeds across the chamber, the pressure the temp of the unburned charge increase due to compression by the burned portion of the charge. This unburned compressed charge may auto ignite under certain temp. Conditions release the energy at a very rapid rate compared to normal combustion process in the cylinder. This rapid release of energy during auto-ignition causes a high pressure differential in the c.c. and a high pressure wave is released from auto-ignition region. The motion of high pressure compression waves inside the cylinder causes vibration of the engine parts and pinking noise and it is known as knocking or detonation. Effect of knocking:- Mechanical damage:- Knocking creates very high pressure wave (200bar) of large amplitude. This increases the rate of wear almost of all mechanical parts like piston, cylinder head, valves. The frequency of this wave is as large as 5000 CPS. (2) Noise:- When the intensity of knock is high, a loud pulsating noise is created because of high intensity pressure wave vibrates back and forth across the cylinder. This noise is like as bell noise. (3) Increase in heat transfer rate:- When the engine is knocking, more heat is lost to the coolant as the dissipating rate increases. The major reason of increases in heat transfer rate during knocking is, the boundary layer of the gas near the wall is removed because of high vibration of gas molecules. (4) Power output:- It is also observed that slightly rated spark develops more power under knocking condition. This may be due to rapid burning of the last part of the charge and retard spark may be optimum under knocking. (5) Pre ignition:- It defined as an ignition of the charge as it comes in contact with hot surface, in the absence of spark. Auto ignition may overheat the spark plug and exhaust valve and it remains so hot that its temp. is sufficient to ignite the charge in the next cycle during the compression stroke before the spark occurs an this causes the pre ignition of the charge. The temperature required for pre i