Science & Nature

Building simple circuits on a breadboard is a time-honored way to learn electronics. Breadboard, also called protoboard, is a sturdy plastic panel perforated with rows of holes. On some parts of...

Leyden jars are containers meant to hold and store electrical energy. In the 18th century, scientists called them condensers because electricity was believed to be a fluid, tangible substance....

An electromagnet requires an electrical current to work. When an electromagnet is disconnected from its power source, it is no longer magnetic. The huge cranes that pick up metal in junkyards work...

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...

Its easy to cook a hot dog without a mess and using two nails. 1. Hammer 2 nails thru a board a little less apart than the length of a winnie. 2. Remove 1 1/2"in. of the insulation from an...

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...

You'll learn how to make your own dowsing L-rods using a simple coat hanger. You can buy professionally made L-Rods and spend a few dollars. Or you can follow my few easy directions using supplies...

Bird feeders play an important role in the supplemental feeding of backyard birds. In fact, you can use a bird feeder to attract beautiful species of birds to your own backyard, while also...

Mallards are part of a group of waterfowl known as dabblers, named for the upside position of a feeding bird. These ducks prefer shallow ponds and marshes, feeding on greens and aquatic...

A spool gun is a hand-held, metal inert gas (MIG) welding device that feeds a soft aluminum wire from a small, 4-inch-wide spool. MIG welding with aluminum, however, is strikingly different than...

A common problem to test calculus students of their understanding of the line integral is to determine the total mass of a wire that varies by density. Of course, if the density is constant...

Electromagnets are fundamentally useful devices, producing controllable amounts of magnetic force from an electric current. The strongest magnets are cool, have many turns of wire in their coils...

The beauty of this project is its simplicity. Making this motor will show you the basics of how a motor works. All you need are a few cheap household items. This project is great for kids or...

Making a crystal radio is an easy and fun project for kids and newbies who want to learn about electronics. Crystal radios are easy to build and they don't require any batteries to work! The...

Michael Faraday was the first to notice, in the 19th century, that a magnet creates electricity in a closed electric circuit that cuts through its magnetic field lines. Faraday noticed this by...

Tubular welding wire comes in dozens of different metal grades and alloys, designed specifically for the type of material to be welded. The manufacturing process begins with massive coils of...

Arc welding features three kinds of electrodes: non-consumable ("TIG welding"), consumable wire ("MIG/MAG welding") and consumable flux-cored rod ("stick welding"). While the production methods...

A square D transformer uses a squared loop or ring of magnetizable material as the medium through which electrical energy is transferred from one electrical circuit to another. The square D is...

The width of a wire is categorized by gauge. Though gauge describes the width, it is not a direct measure of it. The higher the gauge number, the narrower the wire. There are many wire gauge...

Twin batteries need to be connected in parallel in a boat, meaning the positive terminal from the first battery has to go to the positive of the second, and the negative to the negative. This will...

When your running lights go out and you're trying to find the cause, remember that all troubleshooting follows the same steps: Verify that there is a real problem; find out what's happening and...

Although it might seem like there is a world of difference between a candle and an electric light bulb, in fact an incandescent light bulb like the one perfected by Thomas Edison produces light...

Catching nightcrawlers for a day of fishing can be challenging if you go by traditional means of digging and sifting. You can expedite the process by using electricity to draw the nightcrawlers...

Nightcrawlers, more commonly known as earthworms, live underground and often are used as fishing bait or for composting. You can gather them from your backyard by using electricity. The...

Archimedes' Principle says that, for a boat to float, the water displaced by the boat has to weight more than the boat. This means that a concrete boat that weighs three tons has to displace more...

A very simple doorbell can be constructed by creating a circuit that is completed or broken by the press of a button. This is basically how all doorbells work. The oscillation of the circuit's...

A transformer is used to change the voltage and current from an energy-supplying circuit to a receiving circuit. A magnetizable piece in between called a "core" is used to transmit the energy...

A magnet creates electricity directly when an electric circuit cuts through its magnetic field lines---a phenomenon first noticed by Michael Faraday quite by accident during a demonstration during...

Putting bacteria into a Petri dish is another way to describe what is termed inoculation of the bacteria. The dish contains a specific growth medium with agar to make it solid. You'll use a...

Copper is the most widely used electrical conductor because it is inexpensive and second only to silver in electrical conduction. Although low, copper does provide some resistance to current that...

Newton's cradle is a toy consisting of balls hanging as pendulums. Each ball hangs from two strings instead of one---from opposite supports---to ensure centering. The balls rest in contact and in...

Magnets attract, or pull, some kinds of metal objects. Stronger magnets exert a greater pull on the objects they attract. Sometimes it would be useful if you could "turn off" a magnet when you did...

The resistance of a wire refers to the ease at which current is able to flow through it. A wire with a higher degree of resistance will not perform as efficiently as a wire with less resistance.

Making an electromagnet is a quick and simple way to learn about electricity and magnetism and how they interact. All you need are just a few items that are probably lying around your house...

Coaxial cable is used to connect a television to an antenna or a cable television service. An RG-6 cable is capable of conducting electrical signals over short distances (less than 100 yards) with...

If you live near an urban area, chances are you've noticed flocks of pigeons roosting on rooftops, in sheds and garages, and scrounging for food in doorways and on sidewalks. They'll feed on...

In the 1930s, soldiers found a nifty way to listen to the news. Using a few simple household supplies, anyone can build a foxhole radio. You don't need a crystal diode or batteries to make it...

Pigeons can be a nuisance to those living in or near urban areas. These birds often gather in large groups and roost on top of buildings and inside garages or sheds, and they feed on nearly...

Since electricity was brought to our homes, life kept getting easier. Inventions that use electrical power to run and that make our activities easier, continue to be developed, including personal...

A potentiometer is an adjustable electro-mechanical transducer. The user can adjust a potentiometer freely; the adjustments made change the resistance over a circuit. As part of a circuit the...

When the discoverers of DNA announced their research findings in 1957, they probably never envisioned the lengths to which teachers would go to get kids enthused about science. Maybe you were...

If you have a pond near your home chances are turtles are one of its main residents. For the most part, turtles are harmless and will do a lot of good for your body of water, feeding on dead fish,...

Resistors are electrical components designed to limit the amount of current flow in circuits. The values of their resistance may be either fixed or variable. Fixed resistors share common elements...

Magnet-making has been taught in classrooms for many years, and with good reason. It is an interesting and educational project that is simple to accomplish with the right materials and the proper...

Bolts are made from long steel alloy wire. The manufacturer chooses a wire with the same diameter as the final bolt and obtains coil several hundred feet long. The wire is then heat treated for up...

Electromagnets are powerful magnets that work by using an electric current to create a charge that makes an iron core magnetic. These powerful devices are commonplace in industry and consumer...

In an electromagnet, a magnetic field is generated around a piece of metal wrapped in copper wire by the flow of electricity through the coiled wire. Electromagnets were design by a danish...

The hydrogen fuel cell splits hydrogen molecules away from water molecules through the process of electrolysis. The end result is hydrogen gas that can be used to charge batteries or as a fuel...

AM radios inside the home can be interfered with by the appliances operating within the home. Radios that utilize built-in antennas can pick up this interference and be heard as white noise or...