Isaac Newton

   Well, hello there! It's nice to see y'all again! This week I'll be telling you about one of the most influential people in science: Sir Isaac Newton.
   Isaac Newton was an English physicist, natural philosopher, astronomer, and mathematician. I know, that's a lot of stuff. He was born in Woolsthorpe-by-Colsterworth in 1643. This is the place where quite a bit of his most important discoveries and work would take place. Before any of that, however, Newton almost became a farmer! Can you believe that? While he was away studying at school, his mother ordered him back to their farm so he could learn the business. Thankfully, his headmaster managed to convince his mother to send him back to school, where he graduated later with flying colors. After, he enrolled in Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. He studied there for four years before the school was shut down in 1665 due to an outbreak of the plague.

   Newton returned home after acquiring his degree and continued studying science. This is where he was said to have seen the famous apple. He had been sitting near a window at Woolsthorpe Manor when he saw an apple fall from a nearby tree. Then, he began thinking about the force that pulled the apple to the ground; this in turn caused him to question whether the force that pulled the apple down was the same as what kept the moon orbiting the Earth, and the Earth orbiting the sun. He called that force gravity, which affects every object in the universe depending on said object's distance and mass. In 1687, he published this the law of gravitation in book called Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica, along with his three laws of motion.
   Not only did he make major contributions to physics, but he also took great strides in the field of mathematics by helping create Calculus(a type of math that helps us measure curves and irregular shapes). You know Calculus, that math that you stay awake trying to figure out until 3 a.m.?

   Then there was his work in optics, another branch of physics that deals with light properties. He refracted light through a prism and discovered that white light is actually made up of many other different colors. With this knowledge, Newton invented the reflecting telescope, which helped create a more high-quality picture.

   Later in life, he was knighted by Queen Anne for his contribution to the Royal Mint(go figure). He helped to reform English currency and find and punish counterfeiters as well. Newton became the President of the Royal Society in 1703, which was the most prestigious organization of scientists in England.
   Newton died in 1727 and became the first scientist to be buried in Westminster Abbey. Even though he is dead, his extraordinary contributions to science are still remembered and used today.

Hope you guys enjoyed that little lesson on Isaac Newton! Make sure to leave a comment in the comments section below; I'd love to here your input!

Energy

   What's up guys, I'm back with another post! This one will be about energy, and the two different types that are related to motion. Let's get started, shall we?
   When an object has energy, it possesses the ability to cause change. The two types of energy dealing with motions are potential and kinetic energy. Potential energy is stored energy that increases or decreases depending on an objects position or condition. For example, have you ever been on a roller coaster? When the cars are climbing all the way to the top, just before the drop, they have potential energy.
   Kinetic energy is the energy an object has when it is in motion. So when the roller coaster cars drop, that stored energy(potential energy) is turned into kinetic energy. If an object isn't in motion, it does not have kinetic energy. The more mass and speed an object has increases it's amount of kinetic energy! For instance, if you were holding a heavy textbook and a marble above your head and drop them at the same time, and from the same height, which would land first? The textbook! Why, you ask? Because the textbook is much heavier than the marble, therefore it will gain more speed faster than the marble would when falling. Cool, huh?

   Lastly, kinetic energy can be transferred from one object to another when those objects collide. Have you ever been bowling? Well, when you roll the ball down the lane, it builds up kinetic energy when it gains speed. When it hits the pins, that kinetic energy is transferred from the ball to the pins, and causing them to fall.

   I hope this was helpful for you! Make sure to leave a comment, I'd love to hear what you think! Au revoir!

  Hey guys, I'm back with another post! Hope you enjoy!
   Has anybody ever told you that they can see their hand moving in the dark? Have you been able to see your hand move in the dark? If you have and you think that's weird, don't fret, because it's not!
 
    Recent studies have shown that when somebody is in a dark room or area, and they wave a hand in front of their face, they may be able to see their hand in the darkness. And no, not because they have night vision. It's because the movement of your hand will trigger cell activity in parts of your brain that are involved in controlling hand motions. Your brain might translate those movements into sight, giving you a visual of your hand moving, even though it is pitch black around you. Your brain may try to compensate for there being no light around you, and you are able to see your hand moving, since the brain is already able to picture this common movement.

   Well, that's it for now guys, I'll be back with another post asap. Au revoir!

Matter Matters!

   Hey guys, I'm back with another post! Today we'll be talking about all of the different states of matter and its various states. The first thing you'll need to know is that matter is anything that takes up space and has a mass. You. me, the fish in the sea, spiders(eek!), bananas, EVERYTHING! Matter is split into three main groups: solids, liquids, and gases. Matter changes states due to changes in temperature and pressure, which are both physical changes; it does not undergo a chemical change. A good example of this is water! It changes from ice, to water, to water vapor but still retains its chemical properties.

   

   The next thing we'll talk about is an objects melting point. Melting point is the temperature at which a solid passes through to a liquid state. Every object has its individual melting point. When an object, for example ice, is heated, the molecules are given energy. This makes the molecules vibrate faster and faster, until their bonds break. Once all of the bonds have broken, the ice melts into water. Heat energy that helps break the molecular structure of a solid is called heat of fusion. Similarly, an object has a boiling point, which is the point at which a liquid turns into a gas. Heat of vaporization is when heat energy required to break the bonds of liquid molecules.

   Lastly, we'll talk about sublimation, condensation, and deposition. Sublimation is when a solid turns straight into a gas, completely skipping the liquid state. For example, dry ice, which is frozen carbon dioxide, changes straight from its solid form to steam. Condensation is the process of a liquid changing back into a gas. You can see an example of this while you are cooking. If you boil something, and you put a pot lit over it, the water vapor will start to change back into water, which will collect on the top of the lid. Deposition is the reverse of sublimation, where gas turns back into liquid. A great example of this is when you sub-freeze air, and the water vapor turns directly into ice, without passing through the liquid state.

   I hope this post was helpful for you guys! I'll be back soon, au revoir!

The Hidden Giant

Hey guys, I'm b-a-a-a-ck! Does anyone know anything interesting going on in the world of science lately? Well I know I sure do! Now, behold, the largest volcano on Earth- hiding underwater!


Tamu Massif, the largest volcano on Earth, is thought to be 145 million years old! The top is located about 6,500 feet below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, and the base of the volcano is believed to be in waters almost 4 miles deep. Until recently, Tamu Massif was thought to have been multiple volcanoes molded into one large one. However, that was proven to be false, and Geophysicist William Sager said that nobody would have paid attention if that were true.


I found the article about Tamu Massif very interesting! I hadn't known that this volcano existed, and I'm eager to learn more about it. Hope you all enjoyed this post! Y'all come back now, ya hear?

The Name's Bonds, Chemical Bonds

   Hello good people of Earth and...everywhere else! I'm back again, and today we are going to review atomic structure, and learn about something new that we call chemical bonds.


 





    Atoms are the first step to learning about chemical bonds. The atom's nucleus is located in the center, and it is surrounded by a cluster of protons (positively charged), and neutrons (no charge). Around all of this are electron shells, which hold a certain number of electrons inside each one. On the first shell, there are two electrons, on the second there are eight, and on the last there are sixteen. All of these electrons move around the nucleus in a roughly spherical orbit inside of a cloud. When the outermost shell of an atom is completely full, the atom is stable, meaning it will not try to bond with another atom. When the shell is unstable, however, the atom will seek out other unstable atoms, and try to bond with them.

   Now let's move on to types of bonds, shall we? The first type of bond I will talk about covalent bonds. A covalent bond is the sharing of electrons between two unstable atoms, a great example of this being oxygen, which is vital to our existence. The next kind is an ionic bond, which happens when one atom takes an electron from another atom("Talk about rude!"). One of the atoms becomes negative, and the other becomes positive, and this process occurs through electrostatic attraction. Electrostatic attraction is when two atoms with opposite charges bond("Opposites attract!"). Sodium chloride is a great example of an electrostatic attraction.

 
   Hope you all enjoyed this! I'll be back with another as soon as possible, but until then, please leave a comments, I'd love to hear what you think! Au revoir, mes amis!

The Periodic Table

   Here's Johnny! No, just kidding, it's still me. This post is going to be about the periodic table, which really isn't a table, but a chart. This is a chart of all the chemical elements that occur in the universe, and they are organized according to the property of their atoms. The periodic table was created by a Russian chemist and inventor named Dmitri Mendeleev. He made a table very similar to our modern table, and he left spaces for undiscovered elements on the table.

The Periodic Table of Elements 


    Now, let's back-track for a moment and talk about atoms again, but a bit more in depth. They are the smallest units of an element, and they have a nucleus made of protons and neutrons. Many electrons orbit this part of the atom in different shells, also called orbitals, and it is the number of protons, neutrons, and electrons in the elements atoms that determines what properties it will have. These three particles are part of what make each element different from the other.

Iodine Atom

   The elements on the periodic table are listed by their atomic number, or the number of protons found in their atomic nuclei.When you read across the periodic table, you will see that all of the elements are organized by their atomic number. The rows of the table are called periods, and they describe the number of electron shells elements have. If you read across a period, the outer shell of the element begins to fill with electrons, and when you reach the other side, the outer shell is already full. Did you know that the sixth and seventh periods had to be moved to the bottom because they contained so many elements?! Next, we have groups, which are the vertical columns on the periodic table numbered from one to eighteen.










   The order of the electrons in the atom's outer shell is also important, and it will determine what other elements it can bond, or connect, with. Also, the periodic table is categorized by color, which are determined by the properties of the elements.
   The first category is alkali metals, such as sodium, which can all react with water to make alkaline solutions(think salt water).
   Next comes alkaline-earth metals, like radium, have the ability to produce alkaline solutions when they are mixed with water. They can be found all over the place on Earth.
   Thirdly are transition metals, an example being iron, are shiny and very strong.
   The fourth category is poor metals, like mercury or tin, are soft, and have low melting points.
   The fifth is semimetals, such as boron, are capable of conducting electricity, but only under certain conditions, and are good for electronics.
   Next is nonmetals, which have a multitude of properties. A few examples of these are nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon, which are vital to life.
   The last category is noble gases, such as neon and helium, which have full outer electron shells, and they don't normally react with other elements.

   Well, I hope this post was helpful for everybody! I'll see you next time!

Little Known Fact:
   There are only 92 elements that occur naturally. Anything above that must be made in a lab, because it is too unstable to occur in nature.
Also...:
   Check out this video I found!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zGM-wSKFBpo

The Atoms Family

Once upon a time, thousands of years ago, a Greek man by the name of Democritus came up with the crazy notion that everything in the universe is made up of particles. Weird, right? Anyway, these particles were so small, they couldn’t be sliced in half. These little things are called atoms, derived from the Greek term atomos, which means “indivisible”. John Dalton, a man who lived in the 1800s, came up with a theory that atoms are the tiniest particles of an element that hold in its chemical properties. So, if you take apart the atom of an element, that element is no longer what it used to be.

 

An atom is made up of even smaller particles that scientist call subatomic particles. These are called protons, neutrons, and electrons. The nucleus of an atom, or its center, is a collection of neutrons and protons. Protons have a positive electrical charge, whereas neutrons have a no electrical charge, making them neutral. The nucleus is held together by a strong force, and it makes sure that the protons don’t repel one another. Around the nucleus are electrons, which have a negative electrical charge, and they move at light speed. Their negative charge attracts positively charged protons, kind of like the saying “opposites attract”. These opposites live in little shells that have differing levels of energy.

 

Now, moving on the periodic table of elements. Which, if you think about it, isn’t actually a table at all, but I digress. On this “table” all the elements in the entire universe is recorded on this one little chart! Seriously, I’m not kidding! All of these elements are arranged by their atomic numbers, the number of protons and electrons that an element has.

 

If two atoms connect, or bond, they make molecules, for example, when oxygen bonds with hydrogen, it makes H20, or water.

 

Sources:

http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_intro.html

    Hello everybody, It's the Science Scorpio here, and I bring with me, a blog post of epic proportions! So today, I am going to tell you about Compounds and Mixtures, a very interesting topic! First off, I know you're probably wondering "What in the name of the universe does all of this mean, anyway?" and boo boo, I got you. The first bit of information I will embed into your brain is when a compound is involved, there is a chemical change, and with a mixture, there is a physical change. So remember that, because it will help when you read the next paragraph!
     

    Compounds are made when the atoms of two or more elements bond, or connect, during a chemical reaction. These odd combinations actually end up looking nothing like the elements they came from. Imagine that! Also, the reaction that you get when compounds are made are rather difficult to undo after. Seems like a lot of work, doesn't it? An example of a compound is Ammonia, or NH3, is the result of the chemical reaction between nitrogen and hydrogen.

     Now on to mixtures! These are the result of two or more elements, or compounds, when they are mixed together without the use of chemicals.Something you also need to remember is that when each substance in a mixture is combined, they still retain their own properties. The next thing you need to know is that liquids, solids, and gases can be blended into homogenous or heterogenous mixtures. A homogenous mixture is one where you cannot see everything in the mixture, but it is still there. Like the ocean, for example. No matter how hard you look at water, you won't be able to see the salt crystals in the water. Kind of like a disappearing act in a magic show. As for a heterogenous mixture, you can see everything in said mixture. For example, have you ever had a bowl of cereal? I'll bet you have. When you mix some Cinnamon Toast Crunch with milk, you can see all of the little cereal squares, cinnamon, and milk separately. Hmm, now I want some cereal. I think I'll got get some!

      Well, I hope you enjoyed my post, and I will post again as soon as possible! Thanks for reading! :D

Little Known Fact:
  Do you like Coca Cola? I know I sure do! Well, did you know that this delicious, fizzy beverage is actually a homogenous mixture of sugar, water, different flavorings, and carbon dioxide gas?
  Mixtures can actually be divided using mechanical or physical methods.
  Almost everything you can see is one type of compound or another. How cool is that?!
 
Sources:
http://www.chem4kids.com/files/atom_compounds.html
http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-heterogeneous-mixture.html