Category: Physics

How hard is it to push a car uphill? If you have a winch or a tow-strap (and a friend to pull your car with said tow-strap) then you’d be in business, but pushing any car up an incline in the dry is virtually impossible (it takes effort to move a car even on a […]

What do you know about the Milky Way? The Milky Way is a large barred spiral galaxy. All the stars we see in the night sky are in our own Milky Way Galaxy. These stars form a large disk whose diameter is about 100,000 light years. Our Solar System is about 25,000 light years away […]

Can human eye see real images? The cornea and lens of an eye act together to form a real image on the light-sensing retina, which has its densest concentration of receptors in the fovea and a blind spot over the optic nerve. The power of the lens of an eye is adjustable to provide an […]

What is a good title for a lab report? The title says what you did. It should be brief (aim for ten words or less) and describe the main point of the experiment or investigation. An example of a title would be: “Effects of Ultraviolet Light on Borax Crystal Growth Rate”. If you can, begin […]

Why does the small pebble sink in water? The reason that most rocks sink is because of the law of buoyancy, which is all about how things float or sink. This law is also called Archimedes’ Principle. Archimedes’ Principle says this: An object will float if it displaces as much water as it weighs. Why […]

Is timeout a positive or negative punishment? In Applied Behavior Analysis verbiage (ABA), time out is considered a negative punishment procedure. The “negative” means something is removed and the “punishment” refers to decreasing a behavior. Although time-out can be an effective tool to reduce problem behavior, there are times when time-out is not appropriate. What […]

How many years will it take to clean the ocean? How long will it take to clean up a gyre? A complete cleanup of a gyre is unrealistic, but calculations show we can clean up 50% of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch five years from full-scale deployment of our systems. Why are ocean gyres important? […]

Are NPN and PNP transistors interchangeable? Answer: NPN and PNP transistors are interchangeable if you remember one simple rule: A bipolar transistor is essentially two back-to-back diodes with the base being the common connection. The collector (C), on the other hand, goes to +V — in effect, reverse biasing that diode. Can you convert PNP […]

How do you find the distance and midpoint? To calculate the distance d of a line segment with endpoints (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) use the formula d (x2 x1)2 (y2 y1)2. To calculate the midpoint of a line segment with endpoints (x1, y1) and (x2, y2) use the formula , . What is the […]

Why is zener diode reverse biased? When connected in parallel with a variable voltage source so that it is reverse biased, a Zener diode conducts when the voltage reaches the diode’s reverse breakdown voltage. From that point on, the low impedance of the diode keeps the voltage across the diode at that value. What do […]