CHAPTER 4

The passive

The passive voice is a grammatical construction (specifically, a “voice”) in which the subject of a
sentence or clause denotes the recipient of the action (the patient) rather than the performer (the
agent). In the english language, the english passive voice is formed with an auxiliary verb (usually be or
get) plus a participle (usually teh past participle) of a transitive verb. The passive is the most frequently
used in physics especially when you are writing report. Notice the following text:

The measurement of the volume of irregular solids

Water is poured into the displacement vessel until it overflows through the pipe into the measuring jar.
The level of the water surface in the measuring jar is read, and then the solid is lowered into the vessel
until it is completely covered by the water. Water is displaced and flows down the pipe into the
measuring jar, and the level of water surface in the measuring jar is read again. The volume of the water
displaced is equal to the volume of the solid body.

4.1. to be+ PII

In which the auxiliary verb to be bears all the grammatical changes in tenses and aspects and
others.

a. Present tenses:
1. Many elements are not so easily identified.
2. Once this has been done, however, the presence of that element has been definitely
established.
3. When the experiment is being conducted, there should be no changes in ambient temperature.

b. Past tense:
1. During the first five years of spectroscopy, five new elements were discovered that are present
on earth in such small concentrations that they were previously unknown.
2. This set of line had never been seen before.
3. Eventually, the element was also detected on earth through the use of a spectroscopy.
4. While the experiment was being conducted, the ambient temperature was kept unchanged.

c. With “modal verb”

The passive sentences with modal verbs are formed as follows:

Modal verb + be + PII

 1. This may have given you the impression that only the spectrum of one of the element in a
compound can be observed.
2. Spectral analysis, or spectroscopy, can be done on tiny quantities of matter.
3. Spectrocopy can be even used to determine the presence of different elements in distant
objects like our sun and stars.
4. Most of the spectral lines observed in sunlight could also be produced with known materials in
the laboratory.
5. This set of lines could not be produced with any element known at the time.

Note:

1. As for verbs with prepositions or particles, the perpositions and particles remain in its position
with respect to the verb
For example : the same volume of hydrogen is added to the tube.
2. From the sample paragraphs and all the examples taken out from the reading text, we can
deduce that, in writing a science report or description, the use of passive sentences is commonly
resorted to. And more commonly, the impersonal passive is used.

In scientific documents, the following special patterns of passive are taken much use of :

1. The passive with get :

Instead of be, sometimes we use get to form passive sentences:
Example :
1. If the spring is stretched beyond its elastic limit, it will get deformed.
2. Everything gets attracted to the center of the earth no matter where they are.
3. When you do the experiment, be careful or you may get burned. However, get is mainly
used in informal english, and it has more limited use than be. The passive with get expresses
action and change, not a state. In often refers to something happening by accident,
unexpectedly or incidentally.

2. The passive with verbs of reporting

There are two special patterns with verbs of reporting which are frequently used in science
writing.

Active : long time ago, people believed that the earth had a round shape.
Passive : long time ago, it was believed that the earth had a round shape.

Thus, we have:

Pattern one:
It + passive verb + finite clause

More examples:

1. It is specified that gravitational potential is also a scalar.

2. It might be trought that the force needed to lift something is greater than its weight.
3. It has been proved that the force of gravity is an attractive force between any two objects
because of their masses.

The following verbs are used in this pattern:

Assume specify promise

Decide discover report

Find explain observe

Estimate objects prove

Mention propose see

Recommend say suggest

Show state expect

Agree consider hope

Believe establish feel

Notice know

Pattern two:

Subject + passive verb + to-infinitive

More examples :

1. Gravitational potential is shown to increase by drawing equipotential lines onto a diagram of the
field lines.
2. It was about only 100 years ago that a way was discovered to separate aluminum from oxygen
by electrolysis.
3. Acids were considered in the old days to be the substances that were strongly corrosive and had
a sour taste.
Exercise 4.1. changes the following active sentences into the passive ones.

1. We notice that the displacement changes between positive and negative values.
2. We can use the displacement- graph to find the period and frequency of the oscillation.
3. A placement – time graph can represent many oscillating systems.
4. If we compare the displacement – time and acceleration- time graphs, we”ll see that they are
very similar to one another.
5. We can deduce the velocity graph from the displacement graph.
6. We say that these oscillations are damped.
7. Chemists have shown that if we mix iron ore with coal or charcoal, we”ll obtain iron.
8. We can extract elements from their compounds by spectroscopy.
9. We cannot decompose the radioactive elements by ordinary heat, electricity, reaction with
acids, and the like.
10. Since the 1960s, in medical scientists have used lasers in treating many diseases.

Exercise 4.2. change the following passive sentences into their active equivalents

1. Today, many varieties of lasers are made using different atoms and molecular compounds in the
solid, liquid, or gaseous states.
2. Much more energy is sent into the ruby crystal by the flash lamp.
3. These atoms are struck by the oscillating electrons in the tube and get excited.
4. If the source emits a broad band of wavelengths, a broad band of color will be seen.
5. Even light of several unknown wavelengths can be distinguished and identified by diffraction
gratings.
6. A standard optical diffraction grating can not be used to discriminate between different
wavelengths in the x- ray wavelength range.
7. We are surrounded by many every day cases of oscillations.
8. If the source is narrow, and this is viewed through a diffraction grating, a line spectrum is seen.
9. The spectra which show the composition of light emitted by hot gases are called emission
spectra.
10. Absorption spectra are found when the light from stars is analyzed.

4.2 reading

the electrical dangers of hospitals

 Any patient who enters an operating room is taking a positive, if small, risk of dying there from
causes unrelated to his ailment. According to current estimates, about one person in 2000 dies as a
result of the anesthetic, while other fatalities come about because of occasional mistakes by the
operating staff. A minute proportion of patients is at risk from yet another source- electricity. For
seriously ill patients, an unexpected electric shock or a stray current from a piece of electrical machinery
can mean the different between life and death.

One of the most potentially dangerous situations arises from a combination of anesthetic and
electricity. Many modern anesthetics are volatile liquids whose vapors can from extremely explosive
mixture with air. In these circumstances, just a small spark, so mall as to be invisible, is sufficient to
cause quite a violent explosion. The circumstances fro producing such sparks are surprisingly propitious
in operating rooms. In low- humidity surroundings, even the routine act of stripping a wool blanket from
a rubber matters can generate a potential, and static electricity that also builds up on mobile x – ray
units with rubber wheels, can easily discharge through the air if an object or person of different
potential comes near to it.

Fortunately, these circumstances rarely produce explosions. However, patients who avoided
electrostatic eliminations have had their lives put in jeopardy, if not snuffed out, by hazards produced by
electrical current. This type of risk arises largely from the complexity of modern medical techonolgy,
particularly in such areas of the hospital as intensive care units. Seriously ill patients can easily receive
dangerous electric shock from detective or improperly maintained devices. Even doctors have on
occasion been shocked when using defibrillators to jolt patients’ hearts back to action because of poor
insulation on these pieces equipment.

Seriously ill patient who have electrical leads implanted into their hearts or arteries face another
risk, that of micros chock. In these cases, stray leakages of tiny amounts of current that would normally
be harmless might well prove sufficient to stop a patient’s heart.

Exarcise 4.3. do the exercises below;

1. explain why combination of anesthetic and electricity most dangerous!

2. Dangerous electric shock from detective or improperly maintained receives/received by ill
patients can easily.
3. Patients who avoided/avoiding electrostatic elimination have had their lives put in jeopardy.
4. Seriously ill patients can easily receive dangerous electric shock from detective or improperly
maintaining/maintained devices
5. The circumstances fro producing/produced such sparks are surprisingly propitious in operating
rooms.