What causes thunder? Thunder is caused because the air around a lightning bolt is superheated. Lightning is caused when there is an imbalance in the electrical charge within clouds. During a heavy storm, strong winds circulate through storm clouds. The wind picks up water droplets at the bottom and carries them to the top of […]
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What is the difference between snowflakes and hail? Snowflakes are made up of ice crystals and hail is a frozen raindrop. Hail are frozen raindrops. They are generally between 5 mm and 15 cm in diameter. Hail is not as common as snow and can only form in a thunderstorm. For hail to form there
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What causes quicksand? It forms in saturated loose sand when the sand is suddenly agitated. Quicksand is an example of a non-Newtonian fluid. That means it is a liquid, but has the properties of a solid when the pressure applied to it changes. A Newtonian fluid is a liquid such as water that flows exactly
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Why are rubies red, emeralds green, and sapphires blue? Rubies and sapphires are varieties of the mineral corundum. Emeralds are a variety of the mineral beryl. They all have impurities that give them their color. Rubies are obviously red. Their name comes from the Latin ruber, which means red. They come in many different shades
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How does a Geiger counter work? By using radiation to create an electrical signal. There are four types of radiation and they all have different mass and energy. The types are alpha, beta, neutrons, and electromagnetic waves. Alpha particles are the heaviest. They have two protons and two neutrons. They are made by many of
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Why is the Dead Sea so salty? Because the sea evaporates very quickly and there is only one source of freshwater coming in. The Dead Sea is not actually a sea. A sea is defined as “a body of water that is partly surrounded by land”. There are about fifty seas in the world, but
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What is the tallest a mountain can be? It depends on the strength of the surface gravity, the amount of volcanic activity, the movement of tectonic plates, and the weather. The highest mountain on Earth is Mount Everest at 8,848 meters high. Technically Mauna Kea in Hawaii is the tallest mountain if you measure from
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Why do we get jet lag? We get jet lag because rapid travel puts our circadian rhythm out of sync with the local time. Jet lag is a fairly recent problem. In fact, the expression “jet lag” was only coined in 1966. The reason for this is that you have to be able to jump
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How quickly are the continents moving apart? Our continents are moving apart at a rate of 2.5 cm every year. The surface of Earth is divided up into 15 tectonic plates. There are seven major plates and eight minor ones. The major plates are named after the continents that are on them: African, Antarctic, Eurasian,
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Why is New York called New York? New York is called New York because it was named in honor of the British Duke of York. Before European people colonized the Americas, the Algonquian speaking Native Americans lived in the area where New York is now. The Algonquian speaking people were the largest indigenous group in North
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