How did asphalt come about? Detailed answer

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How did asphalt come about? Detailed answer

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How did asphalt come about?

Since birth, you have seen asphalt - running on asphalt sidewalks, riding a bike and a car on asphalt roads. Do you know that asphalt was still used in antiquity? Thanks to its waterproof properties, asphalt was known in Babylon under the name "tar", later it was known in ancient Rome, calling it "bitumen". They coated tanks and swimming pools with asphalt to keep them from leaking.

Asphalt is a dark brown or black mineral substance. In the earth it is in liquid and solid form. It is also found in crude oil. When heated, it softens, then turns into a liquid and solidifies again when cooled. Asphalt contains hydrogen and carbon.

There are two types of asphalt - natural and petroleum. Natural asphalt is located in the form of deposits near the surface of the earth. Petroleum asphalt is produced in modern refineries during the processing of crude oil.

Natural asphalt was formed from oil, which rose up through the sand and rocky soil. Clean asphalt and bitumen lingered in the rocks.

On the island of Trinidad, there is the largest asphalt lake in the world. It occupies about 40 hectares and has a depth of more than 30 m. When in 1876 the streets of the city of Washington - the capital of the United States were covered with asphalt, most of it was obtained from Trinidad.

For modern pavements, asphalt cement is used. It holds stone and sand together and also retains water. It is plastic and bends under heavy weight, but does not break. During the construction of runways, especially durable asphalt is used - after all, the weight of some aircraft exceeds 140 tons. The same asphalt is also used in the construction of roads, which are used by trucks weighing more than 45 tons.

Author: Likum A.

Random interesting fact from the Great Encyclopedia:

How big is our galaxy?

Our Galaxy (the Milky Way) has a complex shape, in the first approximation it can be compared with a giant lentil (lens).

The vast majority of galactic matter (stars, interstellar gas, dust) occupies a lenticular volume about 100 thousand light-years across and about 12 thousand light-years thick in the central part. Another (significantly smaller) part of the galactic matter fills an almost spherical volume with a radius of about 50 thousand light years.

The centers of the lenticular and spherical components of the Galaxy coincide.

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Scientists from the University of Michigan conducted a study according to which pizza actually causes a kind of addiction.

Pizza ingredients are the best combination of fats, carbohydrates and salt - this is what the body is looking for and which activates the brain circuit responsible for reward. Among the other ingredients of one of the most popular dishes in the world is the milk protein casein. During digestion, it releases caseomorphins, which act on the receptors for dopamine, the hormone of pleasure and reward, and increase its production.

In addition to these purely chemical processes, scientists also talk about the psychological aspects that attract people to pizza. Its aroma and colors also evoke pleasant experiences, and the process of eating it is often associated with an equally pleasant stay in the company of friends.

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