Locks are compartments that are part of navigation channels.
Sluice is a term whose etymological origin is found in the Latin word exclūsa . This word was used with reference to water ( aqua ) to refer to “excluded water” .
Currently the concept is used to name different types of infrastructure . It is generally used to name the compartment that allows the passage of a vessel from one level to another in a navigation channel .
How a navigation lock works
The navigation locks are filled or emptied of water according to need. This is possible since they have exit and entry doors . The changes make a boat able to overcome a gap .
The lock functions as a type of elevator or lift . When a boat enters, the water goes down or up until it reaches the same level as at the destination . Only then can the ship move forward.
The case of the Panama Canal
The Panama Canal , inaugurated in 1914 , is a colossal work of engineering that unites the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and whose operation is based on three sets of locks . In total it extends for about 80 kilometers , a stretch that ships usually cross in ten hours.
Each lock has a capacity of 114,000 cubic meters . Once a ship is located in the first chamber, the first rear lock closes, while the front lock remains closed. With the ship already enclosed, the water level is modified to achieve leveling and then the lock located in the bow is opened.
The Panama Canal includes three sets of locks.
In the case of a ship that enters through the Atlantic Ocean , it accesses the Panama Canal through the Gatún locks and goes up three chambers until arriving at Gatún Lake . After crossing this artificial lake , it reaches the Culebra cut and begins to fall into the Pedro Miguel locks to go down a step and reach Lake Miraflores . Once at the lake, it passes through the Miraflores locks and finally descends into the Pacific Ocean .
The air lock
Airlocks are mechanisms that make it possible for objects and gases to pass from a pressure vessel to the environment or vice versa. To promote this, they are responsible for modifying the pressure of the container.
This type of lock consists of a chamber with a pair of hermetic doors, which do not open simultaneously. Before opening these doors, it is necessary to equalize the air pressure inside the airlock with the environment.
Submarines , spaceships and nuclear reactors have airlocks. It is important to keep in mind that this resource makes an environment habitable or protected.
The confusion with the lock
It should be noted that lock is written with S after the E. The term lock , which is sometimes used by mistake to refer to the aforementioned compartments, refers to something different.
Exclusa is the irregular participle of the verb exclude and also used to be used as an adjective , although its use is no longer common. The concept had a meaning associated with rejection and exclusion .