Science

The pituitary secretes eight hormones. They can be easily memorized using a simple trick.

Root hair cells occur in the outermost layer of a plant's roots, generally toward the bottom tips of the root. These hair-like protrusions have very thin walls and jut out into the soil in order...

When you decide to observe natural phenomena in detail, a good starting point is keeping a field book. The most commonly used system for keeping field books is naturalist Joseph Grinnell's....

Permanent magnets can weaken with time. If they're subjected to mechanical shock, stored improperly with other magnets, or exposed to extreme heat, the magnetic field will weaken. Some magnets can...

On the spectrum of electromagnetic radiation, infrared light is between radio waves and visible light. Infrared light is invisible light that consists largely of thermal radiation. One of the main...

Most inductors are wire coiled around a cardboard core. Knowing the coil diameter, wire diameter and number wire coils (turns), inductance can be calculated. Knowing this value (in Henrys) allows...

You can use light emitting diodes (LED) in many applications to provide status lights and illumination. LEDs are true diodes, meaning that they will only conduct electricity in one direction. LEDs...

Water pressure is often measured in "bars" or "atmospheres" in open water. A "bar" equals 100 kilopascals, or 14.5 pounds per square foot. An "atmosphere" represents the pressure exerted by the...

One of the things that people can debate is whether or not air has mass. The logic is that since it's invisible, then it can't have mass. This is a false statement. Air does indeed have mass and...

This is how to make meal powder, something found in a lot of fireworks. Try to keep this away from your testicles. I learned that the hard way. You cannot mix them all together and expect a big...

Hydrocarbons are a class of organic compounds. The compounds must be composed of just carbon and hydrogen to be considered a hydrocarbon. These compounds are generally hydrophobic and absorb very...

The abbreviation pH represents a logarithmic scale that refers to the solution acidity. Neutral media has pH 7. Acidic solutions are signified with pH below 7, while basic solutions have pH above...

Diodes are active electronic components that allow electrical current to flow when sufficient voltage is present. Because of this characteristic, diodes can be used as a switch and relay mechanism.

Blood clotting is the process in which liquid blood turns into gel. Blood clotting is also called coagulation. Blood clots form naturally when the body is subject to injury or trauma, such as a...

Scientists and biology students use agar, a substance extracted from red-purple algae, to grow bacteria cultures in petri dishes. Sugar galactose, a substance prevalent in red-purple algae cell...

The flower is the part of a plant that is responsible for reproduction. Some flowers are called perfect flowers and contain both female and male organs, while others are incomplete flowers and...

An oxidation number is the formal charge of an individual atom in a molecule calculated with the assumption that the molecule consists of ions. Practically, it is determined using several rules...

A cone shape can be made out of paper or poster board by tracing out a circle with a compass. The strategy is to cut a wedge out of the circle, and then join the two edges of the wedge (or the...

Heron's Fountain is regarded as an example of perpetual motion because hydrostatic pressure changes from sealed containers can produce a continuous flow of water as fluid and pressure are...

Show the atomic structure of an element as your science project. The center of the atom is the nucleus, containing protons and neutrons. The Bohr model of the atom describes a configuration of...

Epsom salt is magnesium sulfate, an inorganic compound with the chemical formula MgSO4. This compound has vast applications in many areas, including chemistry, agriculture and medicine. For...

Technology for electricity has evolved over time, but the basic principles of positive and negative charges can be demonstrated by creating a simple battery with supplies around the house and from...

The goal of a biological diagram is to represent how different parts of a specimen relate to each other, as opposed to what they actually look like. Drawing diagrams allows biology students to...

Batteries are tiny, self-contained chemistry laboratories. Feed a battery with power and its electrons get packed into one side, thus storing energy like a wound spring. These chemical reactions...

Acidity arises as a result of the presence of positively charged hydrogen ions, denoted as H+. Acidity is traditionally expressed using the pH scale. On this scale, a neutral solution such as...

If you are purchasing oil to fill an oil tank and wish to estimate the cost, you need to know how many gallons of oil the tank can hold, as this will be the unit you receive your prices in. If you...

The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) defines the relative atomic mass as the ratio of an atom's mass to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of isotope carbon-12. Isotopes of a...

You calculate hydrogen ions in order to find out the pH--the acidity and alkalinity--of a solution. An alkaline solution is what is more colloquially known as a base. Bases are usually bitter to...

In aqueous (water) solutions the acidity is determined by the concentration of hydrogen ions, denoted as H+. Since the H+ concentration can be low such as 0.000032 mole/L, it is more convenient to...

Electrical switches are used to control the flow of electrical current in an electrical circuit. A "closed" switch enables electrical current to flow through the electrical circuit; "opening" a...

A ferrite bead is an electronic component which functions as a low-pass filter in many types of circuitry. Low-pass filters are designed to allow low frequency signals to pass but will attenuate...

Greenhouse gases (GHGs) are gases that contribute to the "greenhouse" effect, in which heat becomes trapped within the earth's atmosphere and causes the temperature of the planet to rise. In an...

You can measure the force of magnets if you have a gaussmeter, an electronic device with a read-out calibrated in units called gauss. Gaussmeters come in both handheld and benchtop styles.

Batteries can be connected together either in series or parallel configurations. A series arrangement creates a total voltage equal to the sum of voltage of all the batteries. Flashlight batteries...

In most of the world, household outlet voltage is 220 volts. In the United States and neighboring countries, however, household outlets run at 110 or 120 volts. This can pose a serious problem...

The relative atomic mass is the ratio of an atom mass to 1/12 of the mass of an atom of carbon-12 (isotope 12). Isotopes have the same number of protons and hence the same atomic number, but they...

In aviation, windsocks have been long used to determine the direction and strength of the wind. Their distinctive cone shape can still be seen along runways everywhere, even though airports today...

Some of the best rainy-day activities are science experiments. Not only are these entertaining for your kids, they are educational and fun for you, too. An easy project is a homemade thermometer....

Understanding how to convert gallons to inches of water, or vice versa, is not necessarily a skill that most people find useful on a day-to-day basis. Still, there are certain situations that...

A laser, no matter how powerful, is a beam of concentrated light projected from an emitter source. Although the laser is made up of light, it is typically only visible when it touches another...

A spring scale is a weighing scale used to measure pulling force. Experiments for which a spring scale can be used include determining the volume of irregular objects, measuring the leverage...

Bromothymol blue solution is used as an indicator to determine the rough pH of a substance. It is prepared from a powder, household items and common laboratory chemicals that can be obtained...

Water pressure is reckoned in pascals or kilopascals (Kpa), pounds per square inch or bars. Pascals are the international standard (SI) unit of measurement for water pressure. Pounds per square...

Bar is a unit of pressure that equals to 100,000 Pascal (Pa.) Pascal is a unit of pressure adopted by the International System of Units (SI). The conversion of pressure to the volume (in liters)...

A 5 mW green laser is commonly found in inexpensive laser pointers. The beam is very weak, but it is easily seen because the human eye is sensitive to green light. Modifying a 5 mW green laser...

If you need to lift a heavy load, a block-and-tackle pulley system might make your job easier. A block-and-tackle hoist can magnify the force you input into the pulling rope, so that less force...

The brain is a mysterious organ in your body that allows you to think, breathe and speak. The brain is divided into many lobes (parts), such as the frontal lobe (responsible for your personality),...

While the volume of a steam pipe may not equal its capacity under pressure, steam pipe volume is calculated in much the same way as any other volume: measure the physical dimensions needed for the...

Microscopes are devices used to magnify small objects, allowing them to be seen by the naked eye. Most microscopes have several different powerful lenses attached to them, allowing the viewer to...

A laser is essentially concentrated light focused in one specific area. Although there are different concentrations and powers of a laser, it is possible to purchase some of the weaker lasers,...