Task 11

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 455.

Task 10

Using grammar in writing

Task 9

Task 8

Rewrite Coulombs law as a formal definition.

Write formal definitions of:

a) static electricity;

b) positive charge;

c) electrostatic force.

It is often necessary to expand the defining description of a concept by adding extra information to the definition. This can be done by using brackets or dashes. Study the examples.

1 A prehistoric animal is an animal which lived in a time before recorded history.
A prehistoric animal (a brontosaurus, a pterodactyl, a mammoth, etc.) is an animal which lived in a time
before recorded history.

2 Courtship is an innate pattern of behaviour which certain vertebrates carry out before mating.

Courtship is an innate pattern of behaviour - such as dancing, preening, or bringing nesting materials -
which certain vertebrates carry out before mating.

The additional information should be placed near the main information it clarifies.

Use the information below these sentences to write expanded definitions of each underlined concept.

a) Tungsten is a metal which retains hardness at red heat.
add: used in filaments in electric light bulbs

b) A conversation is a social event.

add: two or more people speaking to each other

Expand these definitions by adding your own examples; discuss the possibilities with another student.

a) Cereal is a plant which is grown to produce food.

b) A gas is a substance which is neither solid nor liquid.

A definition can also be expanded by giving an example of the use of the object or idea being defined, as in the example below:

Aluminium is a metal which is light in weight. Consequently, it is used in

the manufacture of aircraft.

When you expand a definition by giving an example of its use, you can use the following pattern:

Definition Marker

……………. Therefore, it is used ...

Consequently,

As a result, one or its main uses is ...

The decision whether to use a marker or not will depend on whether or not you think the reader needs to be explicitly told of the relationship between the definition and its use: in this case, that one is an effect of the other.