Education

News: Vortex Cannon Demolishes House

Jem Stansfield from BBC's Bang Goes the Theory has "put scientific theory to the test" with his Vortex Cannon. Filmed at 1300-fps, you can see the cannon knock down three different houses made of straw, stick, and brick with an explosive vortex ring.

How To: Use a Peltier module to create free electricity from heat

A Peltier module allows you to turn heat into electricity. Because you can place it in areas that are normally warm anyway, the electricity created is "free" in a sense, though it does work best when one side of the module is cold and the other is hot. In other words, all you'll need for this project is the Peltier module and a cooler surface such as soil or water, and a warm area such as a well lit window or warm pan.

How To: Test for boron with curcumin

Want to test whether the soil sample or a water sample contains boron, watch this video. As shown in the video, the first step is to create test specimens of various concentrations using a simple turmeric and ethanol solution as a base for comparison. The basis of this experiment is the fact that curumin present in turmeric reacts with boron to form a reddish compound and so the result of this reaction can easily be verified visually.

How To: Blow a large bag up with one breath

How many breaths would it take to blow up an eight-foot long bag? Depending on the size of the person, it may take anywhere from ten to fifty breaths of air. However, with a little practice you will be able to inflate the bag using only one breath.

How To: Do the Coanda effect science experiment

Check out this simple experiment using running water from a tap, and air blown through a straw, as it flows over the back of a vertically hanging plastic teaspoon are used to demonstrate the Coanda effect. Here the attachment of the back of the teaspoon to the flowing stream of fluid (air or water in this case) is what is referred to as the Coanda effect. Watch this how to video and you will be able to create the Coanda effect with your kids at home.

How To: Make This Amazing 9-Layer Density Tower from Things Found in Your Kitchen

Ralph Waldo Emerson once observed that "the seed of science" was "wonder," and taking a look at this nine-layer liquid tower from Steve Spangler's Sick Science! channel, one can't help but do just that — wonder. How is this possible? Is this magic or what?

How To: The Best Investigatory Projects in Science: 16 Fun & Easy Ideas to Kickstart Your Project

Most of us have conducted an investigatory science project without even knowing it, or at least without knowing that's what it was called. Most science experiments performed, from elementary to high school students and all the way up to professional scientists, are investigatory projects.

How To: Use ">" (greater than) and "<" (less than) symbols

In this video the author explains how to identify the less than (<) and greater than (>) symbols and when to use them. She explains to us to relate the numbers to animals stating that the smaller numbers are smaller animals and bigger numbers are bigger animals. Now she tells us to imagine that smaller animals are eaten up by the larger animals. So she shows a smaller number comes on the left side of '<' sign and bigger number comes on the right side of '<' sign stating that the bigger number...

How To: Make a Crazy Foam Explosion Science Experiment

Check out this video to see our Fantastic Foamy Fountain in action. The experiment uses Hydrogen peroxide and dry yeast. Hydrogen peroxide is similar to water but has an extra oxygen atom. This makes it more dangerous, and only adults should handle the hydrogen peroxide.

How To: Find a number given Its percent

This how-to video is about how to find a number when its percent is given. This video is really helpful and effective in finding the number when the percent is given, the following steps are explained in the video to find the number when its percent is given:

How To: Find the standard deviation with the Z-Score formula

In this tutorial, we learn how to find the standard deviation with the Z-Score formula. First, take your problem and write it out one by one underneath each other. Then, you will need to substitute the numbers in for the variables that are in the problem. Once you do this, you will follow the basic rules of math to find out what the answer to the problem is appropriately. Once you have done this, finish off the problem to find the answer, then you will have found the standard deviation using ...

How To: Calculate Faster Than a Calculator

When you need to crunch numbers quickly — and I mean really quickly — there's a cool method you can use to multiply two numbers together in just a few seconds.

How To: Build a Simple Paper Bridge as a Science Experiment

Every day we pass bridges, whether it's a foot bridge, a highway overpass, a span over water, or a viaduct over a valley. We pass on these structures without even thinking of the engineering genius that went into their design and construction, let alone the science behind their strength.

News: What Happens When You Mix Coca Cola and Milk

Interesting reaction coke and milk The reaction of phosphoric acid (V) to proteins in the milk - they are cut and causes a precipitate

How To: Make a Paper Plate Speaker That Actually Works for Under $1

Back in 2007, YouTube user HouseholdHacker posted a parody video on how to make a high-def speaker for under a buck. MythBusters took on the challenge and busted it.

How To: Make a Monster Dry Ice Bubble

Sure it's been done before, but it never gets old. There's something magical about dry ice, bubbles, and especially the result you see when they're combined!

How To: Find the perimeter & area of a complex figure

In this video tutorial the author shows how to find the perimeter and area of a complex figure. He shows that a complex figure can be subdivided into standard geometric figures. In the current example he divides the complex figure into a rectangle and a triangle. Now he computes the perimeter by adding the three sides of the rectangle and the two sides of the triangle. Similarly he computes the individual areas of the rectangle and the triangle and finally adds then up to find the area of the...

How To: Determine volume measurement

In this how to video you will learn how to measure the volume of solids and liquids. The formula for determining volume is width x length x height.

How To: Write a sum/difference of logarithms as a logarithm

To write the sum or difference of logarithms as a single logarithm, you will need to learn a few rules. The rules are ln AB = ln A + ln B. This is the addition rule. The multiplication rule of logarithm states that ln A/b = ln A - ln B. The third rule of logarithms that deals with exponents states that ln (M power r) = r * ln M. Using these three rules you can simplify any expression that involves logarithms to arrive at a single logarithm. The instructor shows how to apply these rules to a f...

How To: Find a slope of a straight line with: Ax + By + C = 0

In this video the instructor shows how to find the slope of an equation which is in the form Ax + By + C = 0. He says that the formula to find the slope of a line in the above form is slope m = -A/B, where A and B are the numeric constants of the variables x and y in the given equation. He goes on and further shows how to do this with a couple of examples. He shows how to reduce any equation into the general form and how to apply the slope formula then. This video shows how to find the slope ...

How To: Remember "greater than" & "less than" symbols

This video shows you how to easily remember "greater than" and "less than" math symbols. The first thing you have to remember is that "less than" symbol looks like the letter L ("less than" symbol is "<"). When you see this sign, remember that < looks like L and means "less than". The other symbol, "greater than" does not look like the letter L, therefore it cannot be "less than" and it's easier to remember. The "greater than" symbol is ">". That's it! Good Luck!

How To: DIY Ninja Turtle Ooze! Make Your Own Radioactive Canister of Glowing Green Slime at Home

There's a broken canister of mutant ooze leaking down into the sewers! But don't worry because this sticky slime is non-toxic, and it's so easy to make, a three-year-old can do it!

How To: Calculate electrical power

This video introduces the formulae for watts in an electric circuit, P=IxE, P=I^R, and P=E^/R. It also explains how P=I^R and P=E^/R are algebraically derived from P=IxE and Ohm's Law.

News: Dissecting a Human Head Through Anatomical Illustrations

Human anatomy is something every physician must undergo as a medical student. Some move on to become great doctors, some move on to become great artists, helping to better educate students and improve upon many illustrated representations of the human body since the days of medieval medicine. But thankfully, you don't have to be in the medical profession to enjoy the beautiful art of the human body created for teaching purposes.

How To: Convert temperature using y = mx + b

In this video the instructor shows how to do temperature conversions using y = m*x + b. Now if Celsius is represented by the variable C and Fahrenheit is represented by the symbol F, you can replace then in the previous equation in place of the variables x and y giving you the equation C = m*F + b. Now to solve for the values of the constants m and b you need to have values of two sample temperatures in both Celsius and Fahrenheit. Take the first sample and substitute in the above equation gi...

How To: Make Soap Out of Guava Leaf Extract for a Science Investigatory Project

Unless you're a high-schooler building a nuclear fusion reactor, the hardest part of a science investigatory project often is coming up with a good idea. You want it to be cool yet feasible, novel but still useful.

How To: Extract DNA from a Strawberry with Basic Kitchen Items

We all know that DNA is pretty amazing, but it's not something that most of us get much hands-on experience with. Even though it's in every living thing around us, we never see it, so we rarely think about it either.

Classic Chemistry: Colorize Colorless Liquids with "Black" Magic, AKA the Iodine Clock Reaction

Want to make boring old colorless water brighten up on command? Well, you can control the color of water with this little magic trick. Actually, it's not really magic, but a classic science experiment known commonly as the iodine clock reaction, which uses the reactions between water and chemicals to instantly colorize water, seemingly by command. You can use different colorless chemicals to produce different colors, and you can even make the color vanish to make the water clear again.

Make Slime Without Borax: 5 Easy Recipes for Gooey Homemade Ooze

One of the only things I remember from watching Nickelodeon as a kid is the epic green slime. Looking back, I don't know what was so great about it, but every kid my age thought that being drenched in slime would be the coolest thing on earth.

How To: Make hydrochloric acid from salt

In this tutorial, we learn how to make hydrochloric acid from salt. First, you will pour some salt into a distil flask. After this, you will add in some concentrated sulfuric acid to the salt. Next, you will let these react with each other. You will start to see gasses bubble up and the excess hydrogen chloride gas come out through the top of the tube. To create a stronger reaction, you can add heat underneath the reaction. Then, test this by exposing it to ammonium chloride. If it's the righ...

How To: Find extra points for a parabola (quadractic equation)

This is a mathematical educational video on how to find extra points for a parabola. In the first two examples there is no need for finding extra points as they have five points and have zeros of the parabola. In example 3 we need to find extra points. The equation is y=4xsquare-4x+4. You can take x= -1 and get the value for y. You will get a point now. Similarly you can substitute -2 for x in the same equation and get the value for y. Now you get another point. Now you can draw the parabola.

How To: Make fire 4 ways without matches by using chemistry

Watch this science video tutorial from Nurd Rage on how to make fire 4 ways without matches by using chemistry, without matches or lighters.

How To: Make Water Freeze into Ice Instantaneously

Have you ever seen water freeze instantly? This "Quick Clip" shows some of my personal experiences with making instant ice using a bottle of water supercooled in a freezer.

How To: Work out the area of a triangle and a parallelogram

This tutorial describes the method to calculate the area of a triangle and a parallelogram To calculate the area of a triangle:

How To: Find the equation of a circle given: center & tangent

In this video, the instructor shows how to find the equation of a circle given its center point and a tangent line to it. To do this, take a graph and plot the given point and the tangent on that graph. Now, from the center of the circle, measure the perpendicular distance to the tangent line. This gives us the radius of the circle. Using the center point and the radius, you can find the equation of the circle using the general circle formula (x-h)*(x-h) + (y-k)*(y-k) = r*r, where (h,k) is th...

How To: Evaluate logarithms using a calculator TI-83

A video to help calculator users find the natural logarithm (log base e, or "ln") and standard logarithm (log base 10, or simply "log") of any number using a TI-83 calculator (works for any issue of the TI-83 calculator or even a TI-84 calculator). Turn on your calculator. To find the natural log of a number, press the "ln" button (the third button from the bottom left), enter the number you want to find the natural log of, press the ")" (closed parenthesis) button, then press enter. The same...

How To: Solve an equation with a radical under a radical

In this video the instructor shows how to solve an equation with a radical under a radical. If you have an equation with a square root on both sides, with one of the sides having another inner square root under the original square root, it can be a little tricky to solve it.

How To: Make Your Own Homemade Glow Sticks

Glow sticks, a popular favor at parties and outdoor events, and a must-have on Halloween, can be traced back to the United States Navy in the mid-1960s. The military desired improved visibility during night operations, and glow sticks, with their small-size portability and lack of batteries, were a perfect tactical solution.

How To: Find the equation for a growth pattern

From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autodidacts. And, thanks to the Internet, it's easier than ever to follow in their footsteps (or just finish your homework or study for that next big test). With this installment from Internet pedagogical superstar Salman Khan's series of free math tutorials, you'll learn how to find an equation that describse the growth pattern of a sequence of blocks.

How To: Use and find x & y-intercepts in algebra

A straight line can be represented in the form of a liner equation containing two variables x and y. When the equation is graphed on a pair of coordinate axes, the line passes cut through the axes in two points. The point where the line cuts the x-axes is called as its x coordinate and the point where the line cuts the y-axes is called as its y coordinate. In this way a line has x-intercept and y-intercept. The x-intercept of a line lies on x axes and is in the form (a,0). Similarly the y-int...