l.Uchigcn stc te Cc.llpge LibI1lr)'_ Old Physics Bldg •.. Michigon St.ate ColleGe East. Lor.~ing, MlchiOln IMichigan r. State College ,I L ""fV'1950 fOL. 3, NO.4 l'WtNTY_FIVI: CI:NTS 6,250,000 in 1949-aDollle.r Dew .record THE automobile industry smashed Millions of tons of steel of almost h sources records again in 1949 as it produced try and from countless ot. e~ ry in every type and form helped America's mean a big job for the steel must ising 6,250,000 new passenger cars and trucks auto makers boost their production so . an a prom -more than in any other year in history. commg years ... me I their This terrific output of the finest cars ever amazingly high ... helped the quality of future for men w 0 m ake steeent men h today's automobiles keep pace with the career. To assure its~If mana1~~ States made climaxed a phenomenal rise in quantity. In fact, many new steels have of the highest calIber,. Un t aining production that began at the war's end. been developed just to meet the exacting Steel maintains a contmuoUS Tnwith These new cars by the millions are a requirements of present-day production. Program that prepares young me. this tribute to the American way of life. Their production is the result of the de- In spite of record-breaking production, suitable backgroun d s f or Places m the automobile industry's job is far from mands of people working under the great industry. lay the finished-the average age of the cars on College engineering cours~s Ibuilds American system of free enterprise, America's highways today is 8.4 years. foundation ... United States Itee on which has produced the highest living king Continuing demands for vast quanti- a practical knowledge of stee ma standard the world has ever known. ties of steel from the automobile indus- this foundation. AMERICAN BRIDGE COMPANY. AMERICAN STEEL & WIRE COMPANY. CARNEGIE-ILLINOIS STEEl CORPORATION' COLUMBIA ST EEL COMPANY PANY H. C. FRICK COKE AND ASSOCIATED COMPANIES. GENEVA STEEl COMPANY. GERRARD STEEl STRAPPING COM ANY MICHIGAN LIMESTONE & CHEMICAL COMPANY. NATIONAL TUBE COMPANY' Oil WEll SUPPLY COMPANY' OLIVER IRON MINING COM~ANY PITTSBURGH LIMESTONE CORPORATION • PITTSBURGH STEAMSHIP COMPANY • TENNESSEE COAL, IRON & RAilROAD COMpANY UNITED STATES STEEl EXPORT COMPANY • UNITED STATES STEEl PRODUCTS COMPANY • UNITED STATES STEEl SUPPLY COM UNIVERSAL ATlAS CEMENT COMPANY VIRGINIA BRIDGE COMPANY How to Keep a Name STRONG Names in business can lose strength in transmission. Through the great efficient production and quality and vigor, even as you and I. Yes ..• resources of its research depart- control are all dependent on another a business can die, just like people. ment Westinghouse developed a basic element ..• training. Here are ways business insures new one-piece, oil circuit breaker Let's look more closely at that against this end: to handle these immense capacities. element ••• as it is handled by To test it, the U. S. Bureau of Westinghouse. Engineering Gradu- Research for product improve- Reclamation routed the short-cir- ates who join us first receive some ~ent and new development ... plant Improvement for more efficient, cuit output of the six, l08,OOO-kva months of basic training .•• an generators at Grand Coulee Dam orientation period with initial work lower cost operation ••• quality Control to maintain standards of together with the back feed over assignments and product confer- six, 230-kv transmission lines from ences. Then further training with pr~d~ction ••. student and employee the Bonneville Power Administra- specialization in engineering, manu- tralO1ng to energize and revitalize tion system and the Northwest factUring, sales or other activities. the mental reservoir. Here's an ex- ample of how Research helps keep Power Pool for a tremendous short- Finally, placement. That is one of the ways an or- 8 business vigorous: circuit test. The result: interrupting-capacity ganization is kept strong. It re- Grand Coulee and other mam- ceiling raised from 3~ million to quires strength to protect a name Inouth hydro projects generating 7~ million kva. whose reputation is staked on the tremendous new pools of electrical energy, have created new problems Research, plant improvement for commitment ... G.l0070 YOU CAN 8E SURE •• 'F .T5 ~stinghouse 1 May, 19'50 Strength factors of Long' Life! No pipe that is provably deficient ip any of these strength factors should ever be laid in city streets { When cast iron pipe Is subJected to beam stress caused by soil setllement. or disturbance 'Wthout beam strenqth-or. for that BEAM of soil by other uliltlies. or reslinq on an ob- matter-without all of the strenqth factors listed opposite-no pipe laid 100 years STRENGTH slruclion. tesls prove that standard 6-inch cast iron pipe in 10-foot span sustains a load of 15.000 lbs. ago in city streets would be in service today. But, in spite of the evolution of { The ability of cast iron pipe to withstand ex- traffic from horse-drawn vehicles to heavy ternal loads Imposed by heavy WI and un. trucks and buses-and today's vast CRUSHING usual trafflc loads is proved by the Rtnq complexity of subway and underground utility services-cast iron gas and water STRENGTH Compression Test. Standard 6-inch cast iron pipe withstands a crushtnq weiqht of more than 14.000 lbs. per fool. mains, laid over a century ago, are serving in the streets of more than 30 The touqhness of cast iron pipe which enables cities in the United States and Canada. it to withstand Impact and traffle shocks. as Such service records prove that cast iron well as the hazards in handlinq. is demon. pipe combines all the strenqth factors of SHOCK strated by the Impact Test. While under hydro- stalic pressure and the heavy blows from a long life with ample margins of safety. No pipe that is provably deficient in any of STRENGTH 50 pound hammer. standard 6-ineh cast iron pipe does not crack unlil the hammer Is these strenqth factors should ever be laid dropped 6 times on tbe same spol from pro- in city streets. Cast Iron Pipe Research qressively increased heiqhts of 6 inches. Aaaociation, Thos. F. Wolfe. Engineer. 122 So. Mlchigcm Ave .. Chicago 3. In full lenqth burslinq tests standard 6-inch BURSTING cast iron pipe withslands more than 2500 lbs. per square inch internal hydrostalie pressure. I \'.1 ~) IHO:'o/ STRENGTH { which proves ample abtltty to resist water. hammer or unusual worktnq pressure •• 2 Wayne King, "The Waltz King", is one of America's television show is a delight to see and hear-and it most popular entertainers. His weekly Standard Oil makes him one of Standard Oil's best salesmen. More tha'n sweet music comes from this horn Let's assume that Standard Oil researchers and we need to make new products. Our present em- engineers have fully developed and tested a new, ployees become more secure in their jobs, and new outstandingly improved petroleum product. Let's jobs open up. assume that the product has been made and dis- Good salesmanship, you see, is vital to all of us. But good salesmen must have good products to sell tributed to Standard Oil dealer stations, -and that is why research and product engineer- What happens then? ing, as carried on at Standard Oil and other pro- That's where Wayne King and all our other sales- gressive companies, is also vital. men take over. They inform the public about this Good products plus good salesmanship are an new product. And when the public buys, there's unbeatable combination that helps make our coun- work for people to do all down the line: work for the try great and the American standard of living the service station man, for the refiner, the pipeline man. the driller. The more we sell, the more people highest in the world. Standard Oil Company (INDIANA) 3 May, 1950 out of the briny deep! Metal furniture, lawn mowers, and materials for aircraft contributes strength without dead weight to many varied out of the briny deep? Drugs, ink, paper products, fumigants industrial and consumer applications. and photographic plates from ocean water? Bromine iodine and magnesium are but three of over six Indeed, these products and many more owe their origin to hundred "products manufactured b y D ow In . tel h 'nterests" elements extracted from the brine of the sea and from the of "chemicals indispensable to industry and agriculture. earth's subterranean brines ... bromine, iodine and magnesium. THE DOW CHEMICAL COMPANY. MIDLAND, MICHIGA~ New York. Boston. Philadelphia. Washington. Atlanta. Cleveland~: Chicago • St. Louis • HOUlton • San Francisco • Los Angeles • The first of these, bromine, appears in a host of products Dow Chemical of Canada, Limited, Toronto, Canada which we use daily. For years this basic chemical has been produced for industry by The Dow Chemical Company. Bromine and bromine compounds are utilized in many fields including textiles, petroleum, solvents, fumigation, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and a variety of others. In addition to its medicinal use, iodine has many indus- trial applications, among them dyes and photographic film. Magnesium, the lightest of aU structural metals, is likewise extrac~ed from the ~n~xhaustible waters of the sea through CHEMICALS a speCial process orlgmated by Dow. Proved invaluable for INDIS .. I:NSABLI: TO INDUSTRY over a decade in aircraft construction, magnesium today AND AGRICULTURI: 4 SPARTAN ENGINEER SpartaN ENGINEER EDITOR HERMAN J. BOWERS Table of Contents BUSINESS MANAGER WILLIAM THROOP • articles Assistant Editor COPPER ••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 Charles E. Paul DISTILLATION ••••••••••••••••••• 10 Circu.lation Manager REFRIGERATION DELUXE •.••••••••• 12 Elam T. Clark METHODS-TIME MEASUR EMENT ••••.•• 14 ORE FLOTATION ••••••••••••••••• 16 Advertising Manager , ENGINEERING EXPOSITION •••••••••• 19 Robert Easter INSTRUMENTATION •••••••••.••••. 23 Staff Jack R. Marsh .features Arnold V. Nelson William Haigh ENGIN-EARS •••••••••.•••••••••• 6 Richard J. Travers Harry Horn ALUMNI NOTES •••.••••••.••••••• 7 Emil Raulin WE PR ESENT •••••••••••••••••••. 18 Henry T. Nay Jr. Elton H. Moore PICTURE PAGE •••••••••••••• 20 & 21 Robert Kuhn THE SOCIETIES •••••••••••••••••• 26 Robert G. Kitchen Patrick Perry • CAMP U S NE WS••••••••••••••••••• 34 William Fiscus SIDETRACKED •••••••••••••• 39 & 40 Thomas F. Fudge Harmon D. Strieter Mel Sandler Gerald A. Torrey Ted Summers BmceMiller Robert V. Gay Hubert A. Pattison Richard H. Small Donald E. Morehead Thomas E. Lopker Donald J. Wilson The Spartan Engineer is published by the students of the Thomas Ginther School of Engineering, Michigan State College. Editorial and business offices, Rovm 50£ :::lectrical Engineering building, P. O. box 4"68, East Lansing, Michig~n. Phone, 8-1511; Ext. 7119. Price per issue, 25 cents. Entered as Photographer second class matter at the Lansing post office, January, John Randall 1949. 5 MaYt 1950 BY HERKIE BOWERS Spartan Engineer Editor £ NGINEERS ARE A VERSATILE lot judging by the quality of the pictures submitted for the Spartan At the time of this writing, each of the three previously mentioned groupS are awaiting formal recognition on cam- Engineer's first annual photo contest. pus. The ME honorary will be ~nown First prize - a Pickett and Eckel as the Tau Epsilon chapter of Pl Tau pocket slide rule - goes to Tom Schwer Sigma. The national initiation was for his ttSand Monster" shot taken at scheduled for April 27. the limestone quarry near Rogers City, The EE's are organizing locally Mich. Bill Cruse receives a two-year this year under the name o! Eta. ~ta. subscription to the Spartan Engineer Upon recognition of the group s petltlOn, for his entry of the San Francisco plans call for affiliation with Eta Kappa Oakland Bay Bridge and a one-year Nu, probably during next fall term .. T~e subscription goes to Richard Brelsford Chem-Met honorary, Chi Mu EpSllo ~ for his wintertime view of the College will remain on a local basis. At pr~s Library. ent, the group has no knowledge 0 a Reproductions of the three prize similar national organization. winning photos appear on the picture pages in the center of this issue. * * * * * * * * I N THE LAST ISSUE OF THE Spartan Engineer, we reported T HE ADDITION OF THE ALUMN~ column, effective with the laSe issue was a very valuable on according t~ several MSC graduate~ w~ on the formation of three new de- have talked to recently. Most of ere partmental honoraries ME, EE and Chern-Met. To this list now has been feel that the alumni are much rooer added the CE's. Plans are well under eager for news of their Alma Mat way on the groundwork of an application than are the undergraduates. are for a local chapter of Chi Epsilon na- From our point of view, we tion~l civil engineering honorary' fra- most happy to include this item am.o~g termty. the regular features of the maga:~~ However, the success or failure 0 6 SP AR TAN E NGTNEER column rests almost entirely on the express our appreciation for the hard graduates themselves. We have no way work of this year's staff. of compiling this information without To Bill Throop and Chuck Paul, their assistance. Business Manager and Assistant Editor, Remember, all those small bits of we can only say "Well done" for the information make interesting reading many hours that went into making this to your fellow alumni, so send them in year's four issues possible. These two to Bob Kitchen, alumni editor. men are slated to be the key figures in the success of next year's efforts. * * * * Earl Rogers associate editor who E RECEIVED A MOST INTER- was graduated last term, advertising W esting paper a few days ago dis- cussing the prospects proposed bridge across the Straits of of the manager Bob Easter, and circulation manager Tracy Clark all rate an en- thusiastic pat on the back for outstanding Mackinac. The paper was submitted work in their departments. by Tom Kirwan, junior pOlitical science To the rest of the staff goes our major who recently transferred out of heartfelt appreciation for a great deal civil engineering. of hard work. We can only hope they According to Kirwan, the much dis- have enjoyed working on the staff as cussed structure is little more than a much as we have. political talking point with no chance For next year's staff we leave our of reaching the construction stage with- best wishes for a successful publication in the foreseeable future. and feel certain that they will come His reasons for such an opinion up with four issues that will be a credit seem pretty sound. First, the bridge to the entire School of Engineering. would have the longest single span in the world and would cost at least a hundred million dollars, not counting several million dollars worth of work Alumni Notis that would be necessary to correct existing soil conditions. By Bob Kitchen Second, the State doesn't have that Freshman, C.E. kind of money to spend, and if it did ~ose dollars probably would go into hIghway improvements. The interest ICHIGAN STATE'S ENGINEERS on a loan of this size would amount to several million dollars per year, at least three times the annual cost of M seem to be taking over the eng~- neering department at the Um- versity of Illinois. operating the existing ferry service. John Henry, '30, started as. an in- To this also must be added the main- structor in ME at the U of I In Feb- tenance cost of some million dollars ruary, 1941. In 1945, he received his a year. M.S. degree and was presented with an . Third, plans already are under ~ay associates in M.E. In 1946,he advanced to Increase the available ferry servIce. to the rank of assistant professor, and The Highway Department has contracted (Continued on Page 38) for a new 150-car vessel scheduled to be in operation by JUly, 1951. This new craft will have propellors at each end to eliminate the turn-around time . . We aren1t certain just how accurate Kirwan1s figures are, but it seems like pretty sound reasoning to us. At any ratet we aren1t making any plans for a trip over the new bridge. * * * * ITH THE END OF THE TERM W .. ~n sight, and this being our last Issue this year, it seems. only R. Martini K. Triggeri H. Dirks, Retired Engineering; J. HenrYi and V. Hildebrandt. Dean of flttmg that we take this OpportunIty to 7 May, 1950 COPPER History Of "Cuprum" Through The Ages Hubert A. Pattison Senior. Ch.E. Centuries before the birth of our knowledge that the Trojan war, which Christ, the Romans sailed to the island took place about this time, was fought of Cyprus and discovered the inhabitants entirely with copper and bronze weapons. were mining the metal copper. Since Today, next to iron and steel, ~opper the Romans had no word for this new is the most widely used metal m the metallic substance, they named it world. One can hardly glance about "Cuprum" which is Latin for "Metal him without seeing some product co~- of Cyprus." taining copper, brass, or bronze. ~hlS Copper and bronze were the first immense production of copper has ~ven metallic substances known to man. The rise to many other elements as 'by- early use of copper is attributed to the products" of copper production. Over fact that the metal occurs in the uncom- 90% of the world's nickel is produced bined condition, is not highly reactive, as a by-product of copper refining. In and can be easily shaped and worked. addition 70% of the cobalt, 25% of th~ It is believed that the first smelting silver, 50% of the platinum, and al~Os practices occurred from the accidental all of the world's arsenic is obtamed discovery by primitive man that certain as by-products from copper sme~t~rs. rocks beside a camp fire became changed Copper has no allotropic mod~lca- to a spongy lump of metal which could tions as do such other metals as nIckel, be shaped with a stone. Following this cobalt, and iron. Therefore, copper has discovery, the ore was placed in the no critical temperature at which changes fire and the impurities burned off. By occur in the crystal lattice pattern. B~ 1000 B.C. copper production had become cause of this, copper cannot be harden a real science. This is substantiated by by heat treatment but must be cold worked for a harder product. Also, copper is not effected by low tem~r- atures and most low temperature equ~p- ment, such as that used in the distillation of liquid air, is made of copper. Copper has an extremely high coef ficient for both electrical and hea t transfer. These properties are in elec; trical and chemical equipment such a heat exchangers, distillation columns, evaporators, driers, and kettles. This is the largest Dorr thickener installation in this The resistance of copper to atmOS; cO,untry. l~ has a surface area of seven acres. The pheric conditions is excellent. cofan thickener IS used in the concentration of Copper ore. is used more in outdoor fixtures c. any other metal requiring no prote 8 SP AR TAN ENGINEER .......... tive coating. There are many cases Copper not only is used as a lining where copper has endured for centu- but is also employed as a base for coat- ries, therefore its life expectancy is ing with other metals. The use of copper often measured in generations rather as a foundation metal forms a good bond than years. However, copper does not which is rarely destroyed by reasonable show these admirable characteristics changes in temperature. Then too, even at higher temperatures. if cracks do occur in the clad, the base The resistance of copper, brass of copper is itself highly resistant to and bronze to all sorts of water and corrosion and an immediate repair is oil has long been known. The use of seldom needed. Such processes as copper oil lines in automobiles, cop- per tubes for transporting water, and brass fittings in ships is widespread throughout the world. All of the excellent corrosive re- sistant properties result in a wide variety of alloys employing a copper component. Brass (copper and zinc), results in a cheaper, harder, and stronger product. Bronze (copper and tin), is slightly more expensive with similar properties. Copper is also alloyed with nickel, beryllium, and aluminum with good results. An in- teresting alloy is that of copper and silicon. This alloy combines the cor- rosion-resistance properties of cop- ._..:~ .....-'.... ~71..- .~'-, , " ..?' I ~.• per with physical and structural qual- "~ ities very comparable to those of mild .. ~ ,;:,y; \ .~ ' .. "/"" steel. .~'..:r~ #j -.r:f;/ ../ ~~., 4 . ' fj Copper also may be added to steel ',.~".:..i,i' .',_ ... to increase its corrosion resistant prop- .' > billion. Can new businesses crowd in and climb to the top? In 1935, to take the electrical business as an ex- ample, only 153 companies did over $500,000 busi- ness. By 1947, there were over 342 companies with Is small business holding its own with big business sales in that higher bracket. in this growth? Or being driven from the American scene, concentrating business into a lew hands? General Electric, in spite of its growth during the past 20 years, has only been able to keep pace with In 1900, there were 15 firms for each 1000 people. the growth of industry and of the country. We esti- Today there arc 18. (Apparently small business is mate that our percentage of production in the elec- not losing ground.) The average firm has the same trical industry was about 23% in 1930, 25% in 1940' number of employees as at the beginning of the and is today approximately 24%. century. It is the job of all business and all industry to sup- According to a survey by the Federal Reserve Board ply the ever-expanding needs of people. Big j o o S covering approximately 2,000 concerns, during the require big tools. No company and no industry in war, the small and medium-sized firms in total in- the American economy is yet big enough to bring creased their profits, assets and net worth faster than enough goods to enough people. You can put your confidence in— G E N E R A L ® ELECTRIC