What is "strength"

Strength \Strength\, n. [OE. strengthe, AS. streng[eth]u, fr. strang strong. See Strong.]

1. The quality or state of being strong; ability to do or to bear; capacity for exertion or endurance, whether physical, intellectual, or moral; force; vigor; power; as, strength of body or of the arm; strength of mind, of memory, or of judgment.

   All his [Samson's] strength in his hairs were.
   --Chaucer.

   Thou must outlive Thy youth, thy strength, thy beauty.
   --Milton.

2. Power to resist force; solidity or toughness; the quality of bodies by which they endure the application of force without breaking or yielding; -- in this sense opposed to frangibility; as, the strength of a bone, of a beam, of a wall, a rope, and the like. ``The brittle strength of bones.''
   --Milton.

3. Power of resisting attacks; impregnability. ``Our castle's strength will laugh a siege to scorn.''
   --Shak.

4. That quality which tends to secure results; effective power in an institution or enactment; security; validity; legal or moral force; logical conclusiveness; as, the strength of social or legal obligations; the strength of law; the strength of public opinion; strength of evidence; strength of argument.

5. One who, or that which, is regarded as embodying or affording force, strength, or firmness; that on which confidence or reliance is based; support; security.

   God is our refuge and strength.
   --Ps. xlvi. 1.

   What they boded would be a mischief to us, you are providing shall be one of our principal strengths.
   --Sprat.

   Certainly there is not a greater strength against temptation.
   --Jer. Taylor.

6. Force as measured; amount, numbers, or power of any body, as of an army, a navy, and the like; as, what is the strength of the enemy by land, or by sea?

7. Vigor or style; force of expression; nervous diction; -- said of literary work.

   And praise the easy vigor of a life Where Denham's strength and Waller's sweetness join.
   --Pope.

8. Intensity; -- said of light or color.

   Bright Ph[oe]bus in his strength.
   --Shak.

9. Intensity or degree of the distinguishing and essential element; spirit; virtue; excellence; -- said of liquors, solutions, etc.; as, the strength of wine or of acids.

10. A strong place; a stronghold. [Obs.]
    --Shak.

    On the strength of, or Upon the strength of, in reliance upon. ``The allies, after a successful summer, are too apt, upon the strength of it, to neglect their preparations for the ensuing campaign.''
    --Addison.

    Syn: Force; robustness; toughness; hardness; stoutness; brawniness; lustiness; firmness; puissance; support; spirit; validity; authority. See Force.

Strength \Strength\, v. t. To strengthen. [Obs.]
--Chaucer.

Old English strengþu, strengð "bodily power, force, vigor, firmness, fortitude, manhood, violence, moral resistance," from Proto-Germanic *strangitho (cognates: Old High German strengida "strength"), from PIE *strenk- "tight, narrow" (see string (n.)), with Proto-Germanic abstract noun suffix *-itho (see -th (2)). Compare length/long. From the same root as strong,

n. The quality or degree of being strong. vb. (context obsolete English) To give strength to; to strengthen. (12th-17th c.)

1. n. the property of being physically or mentally strong; "fatigue sapped his strength" [ant: weakness]

2. capability in terms of personnel and materiel that affect the capacity to fight a war; "we faced an army of great strength"; "politicians have neglected our military posture" [syn: military capability, military strength, military posture, posture]

3. physical energy or intensity; "he hit with all the force he could muster"; "it was destroyed by the strength of the gale"; "a government has not the vitality and forcefulness of a living man" [syn: force, forcefulness]

4. an asset of special worth or utility; "cooking is his forte" [syn: forte, strong suit, long suit, metier, specialty, speciality, strong point] [ant: weak point]

5. the power to induce the taking of a course of action or the embracing of a point of view by means of argument or entreaty; "the strength of his argument settled the matter" [syn: persuasiveness] [ant: unpersuasiveness]

6. the amount of energy transmitted (as by acoustic or electromagnetic radiation); "he adjusted the intensity of the sound"; "they measured the station's signal strength" [syn: intensity, intensity level]

7. capacity to produce strong physiological or chemical effects; "the toxin's potency"; "the strength of the drinks" [syn: potency, effectiveness]

8. the condition of financial success; "the strength of the company's stock in recent weeks" [ant: weakness]

9. permanence by virtue of the power to resist stress or force; "they advertised the durability of their products" [syn: lastingness, durability, enduringness]

Strength is a Major Arcana Tarot card, and is numbered either XI or VIII, depending on the deck. Historically it was called Fortitude, and in the Thoth Tarot deck it is called Lust. This card is used in game playing as well as in divination.

Strength is a disco- rock band from Portland, Oregon, made up of Bailey Winters, John Zeigler, and Patrick Morris. Their 2006 debut album, Going Strong, on Community Disco, was produced and recorded by Chris Anderson at Animal Kingdom, and mastered by Nilesh Patel at The Exchange.

Their second album, Mind-Reader, was self-recorded and then mixed by Jake Portrait at the Odditorium and Wave Cave in Portland. It was also mastered by Nilesh Patel at The Exchange.

In explosive materials, strength is the parameter determining the ability of the explosive to move the surrounding material. It is related to the total gas yield of the reaction, and the amount of heat produced. Cf. brisance.

The strength, or potential, of an explosive is the total work that can be performed by the gas resulting from its explosion, when expanded adiabatically from its original volume, until its pressure is reduced to atmospheric pressure and its temperature to 15°C. The potential is therefore the total quantity of heat given off at constant volume when expressed in equivalent work units and is a measure of the strength of the explosive.

Explosive strength is measured by, for example, the Trauzl lead block test.

An explosion may occur under two general conditions: the first, unconfined, as in the open air where the pressure (atmospheric) is constant; the second, confined, as in a closed chamber where the volume is constant. The same amount of heat energy is liberated in each case, but in the unconfined explosion, a certain amount is used as work energy in pushing back the surrounding air, and therefore is lost as heat. In a confined explosion, where the explosive volume is small (such as occurs in the powder chamber of a firearm), practically all the heat of explosion is conserved as useful energy. If the quantity of heat liberated at constant volume under adiabatic conditions is calculated and converted from heat units to equivalent work units, the potential or capacity for work results.

Therefore, if

Q represents the total quantity of heat given off by a mole of explosive of 15°C and constant pressure (atmospheric); Q represents the total heat given off by a mole of explosive at 15°C and constant volume; and W represents the work energy expended in pushing back the surrounding air in an unconfined explosion and thus is not available as net theoretical heat;

Then, because of the conversion of energy to work in the constant pressure case,

Q = Q + W

from which the value of Q may be determined. Subsequently, the potential of a mole of an explosive may be calculated. Using this value, the potential for any other weight of explosive may be determined by simple proportion.

Using the principle of the initial and final state, and heat of formation table (resulting from experimental data), the heat released at constant pressure may be readily calculated.

m n Q = vQ - vQ 1 1

where:

Q = heat of formation of product i at constant pressure Q = heat of formation of reactant k at constant pressure v = number of moles of each product/reactants (m is the number of products and n the number of reactants)

The work energy expended by the gaseous products of detonation is expressed by:

W = P dv

With pressure constant and negligible initial volume, this expression reduces to:

W = P·V

Since heats of formation are calculated for standard atmospheric pressure (101 325 Pa, where 1 Pa = 1 N/m²) and 15°C, V is the volume occupied by the product gases under these conditions. At this point

W/mol = (101 325 N/m²)(23.63 l/mol)(1 m³/1000 l) = 2394 N·m/mol = 2394 J/mol

and by applying the appropriate conversion factors, work can be converted to units of kilocalories.

W/mol = 0.572 kcal/mol

Once the chemical reaction has been balanced, one can calculate the volume of gas produced and the work of expansion. With this completed, the calculations necessary to determine potential may be accomplished.

For TNT:

CH(NO)CH → 6CO + 2.5H + 1.5N + C

for 10 mol

Then:

Q = 6(26.43) – 16.5 = 142.08 kcal/mol

Note: Elements in their natural state (H, O, N, C, etc.) are used as the basis for heat of formation tables and are assigned a value of zero. See table 12-2.

Q = 142.08 + 0.572(10) = 147.8 kcal/mol

As previously stated, Q converted to equivalent work units is the potential of the explosive. (MW = Molecular Weight of Explosive)

Potential = Q kcal/mol × 4185 J/kcal × 10 g/kg × 1 mol/(mol·g) Potential = Q (4.185 × 10) J/(mol·kg)

For TNT,

Potential = 147.8 (4.185 × 10)/227.1 = 2.72 × 10 J/kg

Rather than tabulate such large numbers, in the field of explosives, TNT is taken as the standard explosive, and others are assigned strengths relative to that of TNT. The potential of TNT has been calculated above to be 2.72 × 10 J/kg. Relative strength (RS) may be expressed as

R.S. = Potential of Explosive/(2.72 × 10)

The relative strength of two systems of formal logic can be defined via model theory. Specifically, a logic α is said to be as strong as a logic β if every elementary class in β is an elementary class in α.

Strength was a Japanese hardcore band formed in Sendai, Japan. They played not only in their hometown Sendai but also in numerous places such as Tokyo and Osaka. They are known as one of the earliest bands who formed basis of the Sendai hardcore Merauder.

Strength is the second studio album by American rock band Enuff Z'nuff. The band had positive momentum at the time of the album's release, including an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, as well as Rolling Stone Magazine calling them "The Hot Band Of 1991." Although Strength quickly entered the British charts at #56, the album only peaked at a quiet #143 in the United States. Despite selling fewer copies than their debut record, the album is often seen as a fan favorite of the band's releases. The song "Time To Let You Go" would later be covered by both The Wildhearts and Paul Gilbert.

In 2007, lead singer and guitarist of Enuff Z'nuff, Donnie Vie, released the album Extra Strength, an acoustic reworking of the 1991 recording. Strength was re-issued June 2011 in Japan on the SHM-CD format.