SCIENCE

Aug 16, 2010

ELECTRONS CAN MOVE

The protons and neutrons in the nucleus are held together very tightly. Normally the nucleus does not change. But some of the outer electrons are held very loosely. They can move from one atom to another. An atom that looses electrons has more positive charges (protons) than negative charges (electrons). It is positively charged. An atom that gains electrons has more negative than positive particles. It has a negative charge. A charged atom is called an "ion."

Some materials hold their electrons very tightly. Electrons do not move through them very well. These things are called insulators. Plastic, cloth, glass and dry air are good insulators. Other materials have some loosely held electrons, which move through them very easily. These are called conductors. Most metals are good conductors.
How can we move electrons from one place to another? One very common way is to rub two objects together. If they are made of different materials, and are both insulators, electrons may be transferred (or moved) from one to the other. The more rubbing, the more electrons move, and the larger the static charge that builds up. (Scientists believe that it is not the rubbing or friction that causes electrons to move. It is simply the contact between two different materials. Rubbing just increases the contact area between them.)

ELECTRICAL CHARGES

Protons, neutrons and electrons are very different from each other. They have their own properties, or characteristics. One of these properties is called an electrical charge. Protons have what we call a "positive" (+) charge. Electrons have a "negative" (-) charge. Neutrons have no charge, they are neutral. The charge of one proton is equal in strength to the charge of one electron. When the number of protons in an atom equals the number of electrons, the atom itself has no overall charge, it is neutral.

Parts of atom

So what are atoms made of? In the middle of each atom is a "nucleus." The nucleus contains two kinds of tiny particles, called protons and neutrons. Orbiting around the nucleus are even smaller particles called electrons. The 115 kinds of atoms are different from each other because they have different numbers of protons, neutrons and electrons.

It is useful to think of a model of the atom as similar to the solar system. The nucleus is in the center of the atom, like the sun in the center of the solar system. The electrons orbit around the nucleus like the planets around the sun. Just like in the solar system, the nucleus is large compared to the electrons. The atom is mostly empty space. And the electrons are very far away from the nucleus. While this model is not completely accurate, we can use it to help us understand static electricity.

(Note: A more accurate model would show the electrons moving in 3- dimensional volumes with different shapes, called orbitals. This may be discussed in a future issue.)

What is static electricity?

You walk across the rug, reach for the doorknob and..........ZAP!!! You get a static shock.

Or, you come inside from the cold, pull off your hat and......BOING!!! Static hair - that static electricity makes your hair stand straight out from your head. What is going on here? And why is static more of a problem in the winter?

To understand static electricity, we have to learn a little bit about the nature of matter. Or in other words, what is all the stuff around us made of?

EVERYTHING IS MADE OF ATOMS

Imagine a pure gold ring. Divide it in half and give one of the halves away. Keep dividing and dividing and dividing. Soon you will have a piece so small you will not be able to see it without a microscope. It may be very, very small, but it is still a piece of gold. If you could keep dividing it into smaller and smaller pieces, you would finally get to the smallest piece of gold possible. It is called an atom. If you divided it into smaller pieces, it would no longer be gold.

Everything around us is made of atoms. Scientists so far have found only 115 different kinds of atoms. Everything you see is made of different combinations of these atoms.

Jun 17, 2010

Enjoy Science

Enjoy science

If you enjoy science and its applications you may be interested in finding a fun science project to do. There are any number of fun science projects that will be both educating and entertaining for those who conduct them. Many fun science experiments can be conducted on a small budget or utilizing the very items you have in your household currently. Creating and carrying out fun science projects is a great way for teachers and students alike to learn new things in the realm of scientific experimentation. A fun science experiment can be applied to a simple or complicated concept, while maintaining the educational purpose of the project. Here are a few fun science projects that you can conduct safely at home:
1.) Volcano- This is a traditional experiment that has been conducted time and time again. It illustrates on a smaller scale what happens when a volcano erupts. By using chemicals that interact causing the eruption, you are able to recreate the look of a real volcano at home or at school. The two chemicals that are interacting that you will need to do this fun science project are baking soda and vinegar. The two will come in contact and cause the volcano to erupt, spewing its contents over the side of the volcano you build. This is a quick and easy project that will have you mesmerized. It may be a little messy but its a fun science experiment.
2.)Home-Made Silly putty- This is another fun science project that children especially can enjoy. This is also a very simple and inexpensive fun science project that anyone can do. A cup of liquid starch and a cup of Elmer’s glue slowly mixed together will create a chemical reaction that will made the glue become more rubbery in texture. The ultimate result is a substance that is very similar to silly putty and can be used in the same ways. A fun science project, this is definitely one that will put a smile on anyone’s face.
3.) Coke Geyser- This is another simple science project. Simply unscrew a bottle of Diet Coke, attach a small funnel to the opening and pour in mentos candies, then run because there will be an almost instantaneous eruption. The eruption is cause by the interaction of the mentos and the carbon dioxide released by the bottle. This is a cheap way to conduct a science experiment while learning and having a good time.
Any one of these projects can be considered a fun science project. The best part about these is that while learning science you are able to have fun and not spend a lot of money. Understanding simple concepts associated with chemical interaction and reaction can be interesting and these science projects certainly do the trick. Anyone can recreate these experiments at home, but it is suggested that the third project is conducted outdoors or somewhere where it would be okay to create a spewing geyser of diet coke all over the place.

Physical science

Physical science is a challenging field of study. Teaching non-biological information and focusing more on theory is the aim of this discipline. Teaching physical science entails non-living systems. Teaching physical science may be in any number of topics. If you are teaching physical science you should first understand the breakdown of the fields that are in the broad category of physical science. Teaching takes a lot of time, patience and dedication. Because of this those teaching physical science must work hard to convey the concepts in their special field of teaching to their students. Physical science teachers can specialize teaching in any one of these fields of study that are listed below. The description of what they will be teaching follows the topic of physical science.

Physical Science Category List

-Astronomy. Teaching this physical science entails study of the planet, stars, galaxies, and the components and properties of each. This is considered a branch of physics. Within this category there are several sub-topics that can be studied specifically.

-Physics. This is a field that strives to understand nature by teaching individuals to apply established principles and concepts. There is quantum, atomic, nuclear and theoretical branches of physics. Usually those who study physics will choose one of these sub-categories to specialize in.

-Chemistry. Another component of physical science would be chemistry or the study of substances, their components and reactions. Teaching this science would provide students with a basic understanding of the elements, composition of substances and interactions that can occur when two substances are combined. These reactions and elements are governed by scientific laws that help to explain their function and process.

-Earth Science. This is a branch of physical science that can be broken down into many other sub-categories. Teaching earth science could be in anything from geological principles of the earth, to meteorological concepts concerning the weather.

Physical science is only the broad definition of what consists of many different topics. Teaching this science, you have several options as to what discipline you would like to specialize in teaching. Any on of these topics will be a challenging field to enter into your lesson plan. The concepts and theories are often difficult to understand at first, but there are ways to help incorporate the facts into a fun and educational lesson plan. You can try to insert difficult concepts into a learning game for your students, in order to help them understand and be able to recall those concepts. The theories that are associated with physics especially, can be extremely difficult to remember and apply. Science principles, laws and theories are similar to any other topic in that practice makes perfect. Students will only be able to retain the information if they are applying the concepts in a way that they can understand their uses. Developing the skills of the students in any of these areas of study will take a lot of time and effort but ultimately make them more aware of the world around them and how the things in it work.

Jun 12, 2010

The social aspects

While performing experiments, scientists may have a preference for one outcome over another, and so it is important to ensure that science as a whole can eliminate this bias. This can be achieved by careful experimental design, transparency, and a thorough peer review process of the experimental results as well as any conclusions.After the results of an experiment are announced or published, it is normal practice for independent researchers to double-check how the research was performed, and to follow up by performing similar experiments to determine how dependable the results might be.

Once a hypothesis has survived testing, it may become adopted into the framework of a scientific theory. This is a logically reasoned, self-consistent model or framework for describing the behavior of certain natural phenomena. A theory typically describes the behavior of much broader sets of phenomena than a hypothesis—commonly, a large number of hypotheses can be logically bound together by a single theory. These broader theories may be formulated using principles such as parsimony (traditionally known as "Occam's Razor"). They are then repeatedly tested by analyzing how the collected evidence (facts) compares to the theory.

Theories very rarely result in vast changes in our understanding. Indeed it may be the media's overuse of words like "breakthrough" that leads the public to imagine that science is constantly proving everything it thought was true to be false. While there are such famous cases as the Theory of relativity that required a complete reconceptualization, these are extreme exceptions. Knowledge in science is gained by a gradual synthesis of information from different experiments and even across different domains of science, more like a climb than a leap. It should be noted that all theories vary in both the extent to which they have been tested and verified, as well as their acceptance in the scientific community. For example, heliocentric theory, the theory of evolution, and germ theory still bear the name "theory" even though, in practice, they are considered factual.