Education

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: Write A Letter From Teachers To Parents

Parental involvement is a crucial ingredient in the success of many children. Teachers know the saying all too well that it takes more than a village to raise a child, for one - it takes parental involvement. Thus, it is important for teachers to reach out to parents in that first week of school. Teachers should write a formal letter that is welcoming and easily comprehensible to the parent and the student. This letter should be able to communicate that the teacher values the child’s educatio...

How To: Divide small numbers by big numbers

This is a mathematical educational video on how to divide a small number by a larger number. You are aware that it is easy to divide a larger number by a small number. For example, if you want to divide 379 by 9 it is easy to do so. But if you have to divide 9 by 379 it is a bit difficult. You have to add a zero and see if you can divide. You need to add one more zero so that you can divide 900 by 379. But you should know that the answer would start like this 0.0 as we have added 2 zeros alre...

How To: Convert Fahrenheit to Celsius with a formula

In order to convert Celsius to Fahrenheit, you will need to use this formula: F = 9/5C + 32. Therefore, you will need to solve for C or substitute values and solve in that manner.

How To: Find and sketch the domain of a multivariable function

Looking for a primer on how to find and sketch the domain of a function z = f(x, y) in calculus? Learn how with this free video calc lesson. 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).

How To: Solve equations with the order of operations

In mathematics, the order of operations define the priority in which complex equations are solved. The top priority is your parenthesis, then exponents, followed by multiplication and division, and finally addition and subtraction (PEMDAS). This video tutorial demonstrates the order of operation with various examples and explains the associated methodology. From Ramanujan to calculus co-creator Gottfried Leibniz, many of the world's best and brightest mathematical minds have belonged to autod...

How To: Simplify a quadratic formula result

In this video the tutor shows how to simplify a quadratic formula result. You can solve a quadratic equation using the quadratic formula. The first thing you have to do when given the quadratic equation is bring all the terms to one side so that you have a zero on the other side of the equals to sign. Now the formula to calculate the roots of the quadratic equation ax*x + bx + c = 0 is x = (-b + root of(b*b - 4*a*c) ) / 2 * a. The other root can be obtained by using the minus sign before the ...

How To: Graph an equation in point-slope form

This video tells you how to draft an equation in point-slope form. Consider the equation (y+4) = 2(x+7) for example. The formula for the point-slope form is (y-y1) = m(x-x1). To plot the graph you have to identify m the slope, the x intercept x1 and the y intercept y1. In this equation the slope is 2 and (x1,y1). The x intercept according to the formula is -x1 but the given value is +7 so you have to figure out what will give you +7,only -(-7) can give you +7 so the point is -7 and now the y ...

How To: Do long division with remainders

This video goes through the step by step process of doing long division with remainders. Multiple examples are used throughout the video to give the viewer a better idea of how to properly complete the difficult task. Perfect for anyone learning long division for the first time, or for anyone attempting to relearn long division after forgetting how to do the process (an all to common occurrence in a world with calculators on every cell phone).

How To: Find the percentage of a number

In this tutorial the author explains of how to compute percentages of a given number. He explains that x percent of some number y is x multiplied by y and divided by 100. He says that of means multiply and percentage means for hundred. He goes on and explains this concept with numerous examples. He suggests a small trick to move the decimal point of a number two digits to the left to get it divided by hundred. The author demonstrates many more similar tricks and short cuts using which one can...

How To: Form hydrothermal quartz

How can hot water form beautiful quartz crystals? This mine is red Georgia clay, with veins of minerals running through it. The veins are hydrothermal. Hydro means water. Thermal means heat. So the veins were caused by hot water. But how could hot water form quartz crystals?

How To: Use a Dean Stark apparatus in the chemistry lab

The Interactive Lab Primer (ILP) has been developed as part of the Royal Society of Chemistry Teacher Fellowship Scheme, one of the themes of the Chemistry for Our Future program, and initiative which aims to secure a strong and sustainable future for the chemical sciences in higher education. The aim of the ILP is to address the diverse range of experience and skills students bring with them to a university by offering a resource to support their transition from school to the university chem...

How To: Make shaving cream expand 4 times its size and boom!

Back when we took chemistry, most of what we read and learn went in one ear and out the other. If only we had a cool experiment like this one to perk up our pubescent ADD.

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: 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: 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: Evaluate factorials with a TI-83 calculator

The factorial of a number n can be defined as the product of all positive integers that are greater than 0 but less than or equal to n.

How To: Do long division without a calculator

This video shows you step by step how to do long division without the use of a calculator. The video shows viewers two different ways to solve a division problem. It first shows how to do the problem the traditional way, then it shows how to do it according to the long division process. The long division process is where you write the whole division, multiplication, and subtraction process out showing all your work. Long division is mainly used when dividing large numbers. There are three com...

How To: Calculate percent composition for chemistry

To calculate percentage composition we will take the example CO2 it stands for Carbon-Di-Oxide. It is the composition of Carbon and Oxygen. We have one carbon and its weight is 12.01 and 2 oxygen. So, we will multiply 2 with 16.00 which is the weight of the oxygen.

How To: Cite a website with hard to find author or date info

Sometimes it can be difficult to find information essential to a citation on a webpage, like an author or a date. Here are some steps you can take to make up for this lack of information.

How To: Find the area of a triangle when given 2 sides & angle

This video shows you how to easily find the area of a triangle when you know the length of 2 sides and the angle between them. The first thing you have to do is mark the sides of the triangle by a, b, c, where a is the side between A and B, b is the side between B and C and c is the side between C and A. If you know 2 of these 3 sides an you know the angle between them you can find the area of the triangle very simple: Area= (a x b x sin c)/2, where a, b are the two sides and c is the angle b...

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:

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: Find the area of an oblique triangle using formulas

In this tutorial the instructor shows how to find the area of an oblique triangle using different formulas. To find the area of an oblique triangle there are different formulae. The first formula to calculate the area of a triangle is area A = (1/2) * a * b * Sin(C), where a and b are the lengths of the two sides of the triangle and C is the value of the angle of the triangle that lies in between the two sides a, b. Now substitute these values in the given formula to find the area if you have...

How To: Write a slope-intercept equation given an X-Y table

In this tutorial the author shows how to derive a slope-intercept equation of a line given an X-Y table. He explains that the general form of slope intercept form which is y = m*x + b. Now he intends to find value of slope, i.e. m first. Now slope is change in y over change in x. He computes the slope using the X-Y values from the table. Next he substitutes a pair of x, y value in the equation to compute the value of y intercept b. Now finally substituting the values in the equation the slop-...

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: 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: Make Potassium Chlorate from Ordinary Household Bleach and Salt Substitute

If you're not just a chemistry nerd, but also a firearms freak and explosives nut, then this home brew chemistry concoction is just what you need for some cheap homemade potassium chlorate. It's a mixture of potassium, chlorine and oxygen (KClO3) and is used for such things as gun primers, propellents, and explosives (when mixed with the appropriate fuel). And guess what? NurdRage is going to show you the steps for this makeshift potassium chlorate.

How To: Calculate percent error in chemistry lab activities

If you want to know how to calculate percent error easily, you should watch this video. Error is the amount of deviation from accurate values. Error calculation is not possible, unless you make a quantitative measurement of the various quantities involved in your experiment. Measurement can help us in calculating errors and knowing how right we are in our theoretical models. In calculating percent error, We need to get the experimental value and the value which you are aiming at, which is the...

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 it has an extra oxygen atom. This makes it more dangerous and only adults should handle the hydrogen peroxide.

How To: Use superglue to reveal latent fingerprints

Do you need to check a scene for prints, or are maybe just curious about the techniques of forensic science? In this video, Robert Bruce Thompson from the Home Scientist unravels the mysterious of forensic fingerprinting using common materials that you may already have sitting around in your home right now. Explains and demonstrates the process of superglue fuming step-by-step to reveal latent fingerprints. Includes great tips on how to improve and speed up the process using household products.

How To: Measure the volume of a balloon

Here we will demonstrate how to measure the volume of a balloon. A balloon is not a straight edged polygon shape, usually, so the mathematical equations get that much harder, on the flip side, it may be a spherical or ovalish shape, but measurements with math alone are detrimental due to the uneven sizes of the balloon. Here is how to do it properly. You will need a bucket, preferably, to hold water, a larger container than your original bucket, and a measuring container. Place the bucket ins...

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: Subtract a mixed number from a proper fraction in basic math

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. With this free math tutorial, you'll learn how to subtract a mixed number from a fraction in basic arithmetic.

How To: Figure out the domain & range of a piecewise function

Need to calculate the domain and range of a graphed piecewise function? Learn how with this free video lesson. 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).

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: Find the Slope Given 2 Ordered Pairs

Slope is the change in Y over the change in X. Written out, the formula looks is as follows: (y2-y1)

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: Multiply & Divide Numbers (Basic Elementary Math)

Adding and subtracting may be the easiest of mathematical operations, but once you get it down, multiplication and division can be just as easy. That's why it's called elementary arithmetic. If it were harder, it would be called college algebra or trigonometry. But it's not— it's basic math, and once you get your head around the numbers, you'll never hate math class again! (Okay, maybe you will.)

How To: Find the equation of a tangent line

This is the video about how to find the equation of a tangent line. As you may recall, a line which is tangent to a curve at a point a, must have the same slope as the curve. Therefore, the slope of the tangent is m = lim f(a + h) - f(a) h-->0 h Since the slope equation of the tangent line is exactly the same as the derivative definition, an easier way to find the tangent line is to differentiate using the rules on the function f. For example, Find the slope of a line tangent to the function ...