Compression

High school (ages 12+)
Science & Technology

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/compression

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the historical significance?Steam engines, a product of early compression technology, powered the Industrial Revolution
2. What happens when we squish a gas?When a gas is squished, its volume gets smaller and the molecules bump into each other more. This makes the pressure and temperature go up.
3. Why is it harder to squish a liquid than a gas?Liquids have their molecules packed close together and strong forces between them, so you need a lot more pressure to make them squish a little.

Adiabatic Process: A thermodynamic process where no heat is transferred to or from the system.
Isothermal Process: A thermodynamic process occurring at a constant temperature.
Data Compression: Reducing the number of bits needed to represent data, either losslessly or lossily.