In materials science, quenching, a type of heat treating, is the rapid cooling of a workpiece to obtain certain material properties. It prevents low-temperature processes, such as phase transformations, from occurring by only providing a narrow window of time in which the reaction is both thermodynamically favorable and kinetically accessible. For instance, it can reduce crystallinity and thereby increase the hardness of both alloys and plastics (produced through polymerization).
In metallurgy, it is most commonly used to harden steel by introducing martensite, in which case the steel must be rapidly cooled through its eutectoid point, the temperature at which austenite becomes unstable. In steel alloyed with metals such as nickel and manganese, the eutectoid temperature becomes much lower, but the kinetic barriers to phase transformation remain the same. This allows quenching to start at a lower temperature, making the process much easier. High speed steel also has added tungsten, which serves to raise kinetic barriers and give the illusion that the material has been cooled more rapidly than it really has. Even cooling such alloys slowly in air has most of the desired effects of quenching.
Quench USA Inc is a water technology company that rents and services filtered water coolers. According to the site, over half of the Fortune 500 are customers. Zenith International lists Quench as a leading distributor in the point-of-use (POU) market along with Macke Water Systems and Nestle Waters. Quench is an independent operating company of AquaVenture Holdings™. Quench is headquartered in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania. Quench was named an Online Marketing Success Story in Google's 2011 Economic Impact Report. In 2008, Quench was named a top 25 most successful startup by Businessweek.
Filtered water systems are plumbed into a building's water supply and purified at the last possible point before consumption. Filter water coolers and ice dispensers typically use carbon filtration, UV water disinfection and/or reverse osmosis to purify drinking water.
In March 2012, Quench purchased Aqua Perfect of Arizona LLC. In July of 2105 Quench acquired Region-X LLC a Massachuetts company that provides services related to high purity water systems
Quench released in the UK on 17 October 1998 is The Beautiful South's sixth original album. Including the compilation Carry On Up The Charts it was the band's third album in a row to reach the top of the charts.
The cover depicts a boxer by Scottish painter Peter Howson. Commissioned for the album, the original painting can be seen in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull. After the band cropped the image and used it in merchandise and promotional material, Howson took legal action against the band, receiving around £30,000 in damages. Whilst the first two singles from the album also have artwork by Howson, "How Long's a Tear Take to Dry?" and "The Table" do not.
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died, while a widower is a man in that situation. The state of having lost one's spouse to death is termed widowhood. These terms are not applied to a person after he or she becomes divorced from their former spouse, though they may sometimes be used after the former spouse has died.
This term "widowhood" can be used for either sex, at least according to some dictionaries, but the word widowerhood is also listed in some dictionaries. Occasionally, the word viduity is used. The adjective form for either sex is widowed.
The treatment of widows around the world varies, but unequal benefits and treatment generally received by widows compared to those received by widowers globally has spurred an interest in the issue by human rights activists.
In societies where the husband is the sole provider, his death can leave his family destitute. The tendency for women generally to outlive men can compound this, since men in many societies marry women younger than themselves. In some patriarchal societies, widows may maintain economic independence. A woman would carry on her spouse's business and be accorded certain rights, such as entering guilds. More recently, widows of political figures have been among the first women elected to high office in many countries, such as Corazón Aquino or Isabel Martínez de Perón.
In typesetting, widows and orphans are lines at the beginning or end of a paragraph, which are left dangling at the top or bottom of a column, separated from the rest of the paragraph. There is some disagreement about the definitions of widow and orphan; what one source calls a widow another calls an orphan.The Chicago Manual of Style uses these definitions:
A common mnemonic is "An orphan has no past; a widow has no future" or "An orphan is left behind, whereas a widow must go on alone".
Another way to think is that orphaned lines appear at the "birth" (start) of paragraphs; widowed lines appear at the "death" (end) of paragraphs.
Alternatively, here's one more mnemonic device: "An orphan is alone from the beginning; a widow is alone at the end," or "An orphan starts alone, a widow ends alone."
A widow is a woman whose husband has died.
Widow or The Widow may also refer to: