THE LEAD MATRIX

over a hundred elements almost none of which is ever found in a pure state everything about us the earth the sea and the sky is constantly being formed and reformed in a never-ending state of change a ceaseless flow of flux and form we have however learned to extract purify and combine these elements and to use them for purposes this is the story of man's use of lead one of the basic elements in the matrix that binds our civilization together [Music] food or drilled in the earth blasted loded involved [Music] crushed and browned [Music] [Applause] suspended and separated concentrated and recovered centered and smelted [Music] refined purified and pour it into ingots all necessary in order to convert perhaps to tonnes of ore into this hundred pound pig of lead deposits of leather a major portion of which comes from the North American continent in addition to the lead which is mined well over a million tons are reclaimed each year with constant exploration disclosing new reserves for tomorrow's expanding requirements this is the symbol which the ancients used were led it was also their sign for Saturn father of the gods an indication that LED is one of the oldest substances used by man to the modern scientists LED is PB from the Latin word plumbum LED is heavy with an atomic weight of 207 point 21 and a specific gravity of eleven point three in between copper and gold [Music] led will literally last for centuries its natural color is silvery but exposure to the elements results in an attractive gray patina for a metal lead is soft because of this characteristic it is one of the easiest of all metals to process to melt or alloy cast role extrude or drop to form shot one of the highest density materials known to man lead is an effective barrier against the transmission of sound vibration gamma rays and x-rays providing optimum results per pound for every dollar expended resulting in the broad acceptance of lead as a protector of products and of people in hospital x-ray rooms [Music] [Applause] in doctors and dentists offices and industrial radiographic installations in atomic shielding one of the many lead shapes interlocking lead bricks which can easily be rearranged are used leaded rubber or plastic gloves and aprons are also familiar protective devices [Music] along with lead-lined plywood and cinderblocks LED glass windows and led personnel shields on portable access and material handling equipment fled shipping containers of all sizes are used for the safe transportation of radioactive isotopes and fissionable material the Savannah first atomic powered merchant ship has more than 530 tons of lead built in at vital areas to shield personnel from a reactor let's complete resistance to moisture has helped to establish this metal as an ideal sheathing material for telephone and power cables this ingenious modern press can extrude seamless lead sheathing to protect cable up to several hundred thousand volt capacity such cables must be flexible in order to bend around corners and so they can be pulled through underground ducts individual sections of cable are easily joined with solder wipped lead sleeves [Music] a vital aid in the transmission of electric power Laird is also a prime ingredient in portable electric power storage batteries over a hundred years ago sláinte discovered that electrodes made from two different forms of lead when suspended in an acid solution outlasted and outperformed the earlier galvanic batteries today lead acid batteries come in all sizes huge units supplying thousands of ABS others so small that they can only be filled with a medicine dropper [Music] [Applause] back in the pioneer days of the automobile industry battery-powered cars were serious competition to internal combustion and today battery-powered vehicles are again attracting serious interest their maintenance and operating costs are lower and their useful life is practically unlimited United Parcel Service is operating 40 electric trucks more than 30 years old battery-powered electric motors operate the new silent lawnmowers which start at a flick of a switch in battery-operated hand tools [Music] in golf carts of various design increasing your enjoyment of the sport [Music] [Applause] [Music] and in outboard motors for silent rolling in your favorite fishing grounds Foreman and maintenance men and many large industrial operations use electric carrier carts to save time in in plant transportation and industrial lift trucks powered by battery have established economy records for long life and virtual indestructibility batteries have of course been used for years as emergency standby power for hospitals schools telephone companies fire and burglar alarm systems in its architectural applications led invariably plays an essential role although it may not be so obvious to the casual observer lead-pipe is used to conduct water from the cast-iron water mains to the house inside the house lead pipe is used for waste for traps beneath showers and tubs for bends underwater closets and sometimes has vent pipes all unseen but essential to the function of your gleaming fixtures LED is also essential for caulking cast-iron water mains soil pipe and bent pipe outside the structure LED sees considerable service as roofing flashing and gutter lining material here it's important advantages are it's pleasing patina and its resistance to corrosion furthermore runoff waters from LED installations will not stain white paint marble or other adjacent materials recently our cities have become so noisy that many architects are now specifying lead in conjunction with other building materials to control sound and office buildings with a constantly rising cost per square foot of office space LEDs ability to Det and sound effectively even in a very thin sheet has great economic importance a thin partition panel embodying lead can be as effective as a panel two or three times as thick made of conventional materials we can demonstrate LEDs acoustical limpness with this sound box made of lead only one-eighth of an inch thick hear for yourself how effectively this small and amount of lead can control sound again let your ear be the judge the practical applications of these demonstrations are all about you in the air the sound of jet power without is reduced to comfortable cabin quiet within by the use of lead neoprene barriers on the water the roar of gas turbine engines without is barred from the passenger compartment by leaded vinyl for comfort and quiet and on land whether the problem be the reduction of transformer noise the soundproofing of valuable office space with a lower install cost the provision of soundproof moveable walls [Applause] or a single soundproof room pound for pound there is no more effective sound barrier than lead Ladd is equally effective as a vibration isolators in machinery installations and to protect against the vibration of heavy vehicular traffic or the rumbling of trains [Music] for half a century such vibration problems have been solved by the use of lead asbestos pads installed between the footings than the base plates which support the steel framework more recently similar paths have been used between the columns and footings in concrete frame buildings because of such lead pads concerts of the New York Philharmonic are not disturbed by subway vibrations and 60 tons of lead pads also protect the Pan Am building from the vibrations of railway and subway lines beneath it in the construction of stained glass windows the modern craftsman creates the ultimate aesthetic fusion of sunlight color and glass using lead as the essential functional and decorative element which binds them all together separating and supporting the individual glass panes unobtrusively showcasing the beauty of the window or boldly asserting itself as the major decorative and storytelling elements up to this point we have referred to lead as the metal but through modern technological research LED has found a new life a new profile and many new forms in this process of change it has become more important than ever before the automobile has come a long way since this 1902 locomobile by 1940 the typical family car not only looked a bit more comfortable but also boasted an engine with a powerful compression ratio of 5 to 1 today's models have more than doubled this ratio and will yield approximately 50% more miles per gallon at 40 miles per hour what is responsible for this power revolution one of the factors is certainly led not the dull gray metal but this heavy colorless liquid known as te l tetraethyl let there is approximately this much in each gallon of high test gasoline in your car without tetraethyl led the cost of operating high compression engines would be prohibitive with TTL our transportation system can move ahead with lead another important form of LEDs new profile is its many valuable oxides most of which are formed by agitating molten LED oxygenated air and then grinding the flaky product into powder litharge or LED monoxide is the most widely used lead oxide and is one of the most important of all metal chemical compounds red LED lead chromate LED silicate and other compounds are also widely used today but we are usually unaware of the contributions they make to our industrial economy this Goblet of lead crystal was made in england by george Ravenscroft back in the year 1675 today the inheritors of this great tradition are to be found working in our modern ceramics industry these products are made with lead oxide because of its low melting temperature its flux characteristics then I index of refraction which lead gives to glass and the fact that it adds brilliance to clear glass lead glass is ideal for technical purposes because of its high density high electrical resistance and ease of manipulation this is why most light contain some LED blasts and why all neon tubing is made of this material beauty in architecture is enhanced by porcelain enameled surfaces over aluminum leaded enamels are a critical ingredient of these surfaces glazed brick also led related is another important building material in both the construction and aesthetic sense wide range of color and low maintenance are two important features an imaginative use of lead in modern architectural design this reflecting pool 150 feet long and 40 feet wide lens Grace and interest to its parent structure conforming easily to any desired shape and with lasting leak-proof qualities LED recommends itself to modern designers for pools thousands and platters [Music] LED pigments in paint save all of us millions of dollars every year red LED and other rust inhibiting LED pigments and metal protective paints yellow highway paint containing lead chromates white LED and lead silicates for exterior house paints lead compounds are also key ingredients in stabilized plastics of all kinds from electrical insulation to vinyl tile LEDs written and the ease with which it can be worked enjoy and have made it the ID Tyrael and chemical manufacturing equipment for tanks vessels piping and processing chambers of all sizes in spite of all this broad utility LED is today at the very threshold of many exciting new applications stimulated by product development and the continuation of LED research in solid-state physics it is possible to generate electric power from a heat differential using no moving parts in functional terms this generator is in between a transistor and a thermocouple using such a lead telluride generator as its power source is the transit satellite launched by the United States as a navigational aid this modern car utilizes led by way of ferrite and ceramic magnets from its windshield wipers to its directional fin lights the modern way to carve demands led as does the newest way of brushing your teeth another fascinating development uses LED zirconate titanate crystals these ceramic crystals produce electric current when they are stressed mechanically already in the development stage our uses such as replacing the ignition system of internal combustion engines a lifetime strobe light operated by hand pressure alone in lawn mowers outboard motors air-conditioning units piezo electricity is actually in use today in industrial ultrasonic cleaning tanks the piezo electric unit converts electricity to high frequency vibration which cleans the surfaces and destroys microscopic life [Music] intriguing as these applications are LED is best known to most of us as solder in the form of the printed circuit solder has made possible the entire field of miniature ization the transistorized radio TV set and even the airborne computer in the high-speed production of modern containers LED makes a major contribution like the very planet on which we live land is indeed a paradox it is used in batteries and for piezo electricity because it is electrically active but it is used for light bulbs and insulator glazes because it is electrically inactive let itself seems lifeless but tal in gasoline adds a new spark of life to our auto engines LED is exceedingly dense with no suggestion of transparency yet leaded glass is the most crystal clear of all we customarily think of metallic land as dull in color but it's compounds appear in every brilliant hue LED deaden sound and is widely used for soundproofing yet lead crystal glass has a bright ping which is in fact its trademark so because its contribution is so often unseen it is difficult to paint a true picture of LED but LED is all around us all the time in the glasses through which we now see in the production of the printed materials we read in the lens through which these images are projected in the projector bulb which lights this film and even on the screen adding brilliance to the picture itself wherever we turn our eyes or ears lead is there giving light power silence color protection of life itself and in the form of solder binding our other metals together forming the very matrix of our industrial society [Music] [Music]