Science

Atoms are made of protons, neutrons and electrons. There are approximately 90 different varieties of atoms called elements. These elements combine with each other to form millions of different...

Atoms contain protons, electrons and neutrons. Protons have a positive charge, while electrons have a negative charge. Because all atoms have a neutral charge, the number of electrons in any given...

Devices that run using electrical power (phones, computers, dishwashers and coffee machines) are used on a daily basis and make our lives easier. Electricity is brought to our homes with the use...

Mercury, or "quicksilver," is a transition metal, in the same column of the periodic table as the metals zinc and cadmium; yet they are solid at standard conditions of temperature and pressure,...

Atoms and ions are the minute and basic particles of all matter. Chemical reactions based upon the composition and interactions of different atoms are responsible for building the parameters of...

Atoms and molecules are the basic building blocks of matter. Differentiating molecules from atoms is essential to understanding your physical environment that is based upon chemical reactions.

Phosphoric acid is found naturally in various produce such as tomatoes, lemons and potatoes. It reacts with both zinc and copper to create excess electrons. These electrons flow between the two...

In the atomic world, heat can be equated with energy. Some elements give off energy very well--they are good conductors. Others are very poor at giving off energy--they are good insulators. Since...

Electric currents are composed of moving charges. Application of voltage causes the charges to flow in an ordered fashion inside conductive material. Not all materials can carry electric current....

In an atom, valance electrons can be found in the outermost electron shell. They are the main point of interaction between one atom and another, and are very important for the formation of molecules.

During a redox reaction, energy is transferred from one molecule to another through the transfer of electrons. When a molecule loses electrons, it is losing energy and said to be oxidized. When it...

An atom is the smallest possible unit of an element. Atoms combine to form molecules, and when split (a process called fission), they can provide nuclear energy -- or a nuclear explosion. Inside...

Earth has given us many resources that allow us to survive. We make use of renewable (like sun and air) and nonrenewable (like minerals) resources. Water is one of the main resources we use and...

A plasma ball is a glass ball with a miniature Tesla coil inside. When the plasma ball is turned on, you can see what looks like purple lightning shooting out from the center of the ball to the...

As you plug along through your chemistry class, you're bound to run into the concept of (gasp!) electron configuration. What's that supposed to mean and how the heck do you find the electron...

In setting up this proton gradient, the coenzyme NADH transfers electrons to another coenzyme called coenzyme Q. Coenzyme Q is an electron carrier enzyme and as such it carries the electrons to...

Atoms have a nucleus made up of protons and neutrons, and orbiting particles called electrons. Protons have a positive charge, neutrons have no charge and electrons have a negative charge. The...

The Earth's core is solid at its center with a liquid outside. Part of that liquid is molten iron, which, at the Earth's surface, has a magnetic tendency. Some iron compounds are naturally...

The periodic table is organized into columns and rows. The number of protons in the nucleus increases when reading the periodic table from right to left. Each row represents an energy level. The...

In atoms, protons and neutrons occupy the nucleus. The electrons orbit outside. "Orbit" might not be the right word because the geometry of electron orbits is not hooplike like a planet but...

The makeup of an element is determined by its atomic structure. The arrangement of protons, neutrons and electrons inside an atom determines how it interacts with other atoms, shaping the...

You can easily identify a direct current (abbreviated "DC") circuit when you know what to look for. It is the basic building block of modern electronic gadgets. Let's briefly explore the history...

Atoms are the foundations for molecules. The atoms within a compound decide its reactions and interaction with the environment. Atoms are arranged by charge, size and electrons in the periodic...

The atom is largely empty, with most of its mass concentrated in the center. Positively charged protons in the nucleus attract negatively charged electrons, making the atom neutral. The protons...

Chemical bonding can be split into two broad categories: those that form molecules and those that don't. Covalent and ionic bonds form molecules. Metallic bonding forms a lattice, but not...

The atom is mostly empty, with mass concentrated in the proton- and neutron-filled nucleus. Quantum mechanics describes the weird behavior at small scales in which negative is attracted to...

A dry cell is a form of electric battery and is one of the most common types of batteries used today. A typical dry cell is a simple flashlight battery. Dry cells consist of a metal container or...

During the 1860s, various chemists came to discover that if the elements are arranged in the order of the mass of their atoms, chemical properties recur regularly. Many representations were...

Electromagnets are an integral part of many electronic devices, from speakers to televisions. Creating a homemade electromagnet has been a traditional high school science project, but stepping it...

The nature of attraction in the physical world obeys various laws of physics, from electromagnetic and gravitational laws to even the theory of relativity. Gravity, electrostatics and magnetic...

Noble gases are are the elements in the last column (group VIII) of the periodic table. These elements are nonreactive since they have a full shell of electrons. They are safely used for several...

As little Timmy opens his first Christmas present, the sound of excitement fills the room, but the bright red radio control truck doesn't work without its counterpart, the simple D-Cell battery....

Diodes are semiconductor devices that effectively block current in one direction while allowing current flow in the other. An ideal diode, therefore, acts like a switch that is open in one...

A cathode ray tube (CRT) is a vacuum tube in which electrons emitted from an electrode are focused onto a phosphorescent screen. The electrons are aimed so as to create an image on the screen....

In order to make a battery you will need to place 2 dissimilar metals into an acidic solution. Lemon juice can act as this needed solution. A copper penny and a galvanized nail can serve as the...

Chemists discovered in the 1860s that if the elements are arranged in the order of the mass of their atoms, chemical properties recur regularly. Dmitri Mendeleyev published his version of the...

The laws of attraction in nature are found in electromagnetism, gravity, the strong force and the weak force. In intensity, the strong force is 100 times stronger than electromagnetic force,...

Magnetism is created by the movement of electrons. In every atom electrons spin rapidly around a nucleus and that movement makes tiny magnetic fields in each atom. In a normal piece of iron, these...

Citric acid is a weak organic acid with the molecular formula C6H8O7, which means a molecule of the acid contains six carbon atoms, eight hydrogen atoms, and seven oxygen atoms. When it is...

The effect that changes the color of flames is similar to the effect that causes light to change color when refracted through certain materials. To fully understand it, the effect must be...

The electrons of an atom represent the energy levels, and there are usually as many protons as there are electrons. Understand how each level carries a prescribed number of electrons with...

Magnetrons or cavity magnetrons are devices designed to create high voltages, usually from the currents from a standard wall outlet. In the 1940s, Henry Boot and John Randall developed a cavity...

A plasma cutter is a tool used to make cuts in very hard materials like metals. The plasma cutter isn't as futuristic as it might sound and in fact has its roots in technology developed during...

The Hindenburg disaster of 1937, when the airship was destroyed while attempting to land at Lakehurst, New Jersey, was caused by burning aluminum, but hydrogen added fuel to the fire. This...

We've all seen it: try to press the same pole of two magnets against each other, and there's a repellent force driving the two magnets apart. To completely understand why, precisely, magnets do...

An atom is the smallest unit of an element, which is a pure substance. The atom is the smallest unit because if an atom is broken down, what's left is no longer the element. Elements can be found...

Copper is an element with an atomic number of 29. It weighs about 63.55 atomic mass units and is classified by scientists as a transition metal. Copper has been used for more than 11,000 years....

Wintergreen mints of all types emit light when the candy is bitten into. The light may be very faint, but it can occasionally be spectacular. The effect, called triboluminescence, is due to the...

Magnets work because they are surrounded by magnetic fields. A magnetic field is simply the movement of electrons. As electrons become more excited, the strength of the magnetic field increases....

Subatomic particles are extremely small particles, and the three major types of subatomic particles are protons, electrons and neutrons. Discover how the activity of subatomic particles gives...