UCSB Science Line

144 questions in the Category: metrology.

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1:	Are ther any charts that shows the stages of rotting for any type of produce?
2:	Hello- My partner and I are doing a science project on Hydroplaning. We're having trouble findind a way to test different tire designs, because our project is on the best tire design to lessen hydroplaning. So our question is How can we test different tire designs on hydroplaning?
3:	We're studying the universe right now in science and it said that the universe is expanding but the book or my notes didn't say how fast it's expanding, I was hoping you could help me.
4:	I am trying to do a science experiment for my AP Biology class to see the effects of over eating. I need to know if there is any insect or mammal that lives for a short period of time that I will be able to see changes in. Also I was wondering if there have been any studies done about early deaths in humans, and if so where I might find this information.
5:	On many maps and globes, there is a figure 8/infinity symbol--vertically placed in the middle of the map. We have a geochrom map in our library. A dark sphere traverses the "infinity symbol." What does this represent? Please explain so that we can explain it to our third graders and their parents.
6:	What is weather? What is climate?
7:	How old is the Universe?
8:	What is a light year?
9:	What is the degrees in Fahrenheit of liquid nitrogen?
10:	What do scientists use to measure thermal energy?
11:	Serratia marcescens is red at 25 C and white at 37 C. I did an experiment and checked it in a book. I know that this is due to a pigment. But, if the colonies thrive at both temperatures why the change in color? Is one more helpful or protective?
12:	How can you find out how warm the water is without a thermometer?
13:	How long is the distance around the earth?
14:	Why is the sky and ocean blue, and the grass green?
15:	What are the possible ways we can detect radioactivity in a room? I know that radiation affects the brain but really how does it affect us over all as a human?
16:	Would you please help me to understand how I could determine the atomic weight of a sample of an unknown pure element? I don't understand the procedure or the equations involved in the process? THank you!
17:	How do you make a newton meter at home?
18:	What instrument is used to measure inches of rain? How can I do it at home?
19:	Which species of plant that mainly produces chlorophyll (green) would be good to experiment on? It has to be fast growing and have the ability to survive experimental conditions.
20:	I am in the process of working on my science fair project about water pressure and density. I have five questions that I could not find in any books from the public library and on the internet. Question 1. What is the pressure at the greatest depth of the Santa Barbara Chanel. Question 2. How does temperature make the density of ocean water change. Question 3. What is the greatest density salt water can be ( I was wondering because I know that waters greatest density is 1 at 4 degrees). Question 4. Does a large amount of rain water change the density in a small body of water (such as a pond). Question 5. What keeps Anti Freeze Coolant from freezing, what substance and how that substance works to keep it from freezing?
21:	How do you make a newton meter out of house hold items?
22:	What caused the planes in the Bermuda triangle to go down?
23:	Hi Science Line, I had my secondary science student teachers conduct a toxicology investigation following a standard protocol. They investigated the effects of a toxin of their choice (diet Pepsi, nail polish remover, etc.) on the germination and growth of lettuce seeds. They used six different concentrations of the toxin, three plates per concentration, five seeds per plate. They counted the number of seeds germinated per treatment and measured the length of the seeds' radicle in mm. My questions: (1) What is the appropriate number of significant figures to use when calculating the average germination and average radical length? (2) If a seed hasn't germinated or has germinatd but has no radicle, do you include a 0 for radicle length when calculating the average or do you leave it out of the calculation all together? Thanks much for your help!
24:	What are the instruments that meteorologists use on site in order to predict and track hurricanes?
25:	How weather can be predicted?
26:	How do you measure the moon from the distance?
27:	I just won 2nd place in our district science fair. I grew a bunch of different types of crystals and compared them with store bought crystals to see which ones grew faster and better. I'm now going on to regionals and need to expand my project. Do you have any ideas of what I can do to expand my crystal growing project for regionals?
28:	How do you find limiting reactants and limiting yields?
29:	I am doing a science experiment on the energy output of some different fuels. I am going to be burning small amounts of fuel in a closed chamber and then measuring the heat generated, and the pollutants generated. I am going to filter the air for soot and unburnt hydrocarbons, and use a thermometer for measuring heat, but I want to know what products are produced from the burning of the fuels. I need help finding out the chemical formulas for burning these fuels with air (not pure O₂, just air). I managed to find out the formula for methanol, but am having trouble with the rest. The fuels I am thinking of testing are: Gasoline Methanol Diesel fuel Kerosene If you know of any web sites that might help me find this information, or know the formulas yourself, I would appreciate it if you could inform me. Also, if you know of where I could find some thermal testing instruments, I would like to know. Thank you for your help!
30:	What method do scientists use to count the number of species within a population?
31:	I am doing a science project regarding the corrosion of pipes. I know that the amount of oxygen in water would effect how much a pipe corrodes; but my question is: Is there a way to measure or add oxygen to water so I could do an experiment involving this?
32:	How can you calculate your age on the Sun?
33:	Imagine that you make contact with an extraterrestrial intelligence. What units would you use to communicate ideas about how our planet or solar system operates? It seems that the units of time, distance, and mass which we use are based on features of our own system and wouldn't necessarily make sense to an intelligence from somewhere else (e.g. Second, Hour, Day, Year, Lightyear, AU, Kilogram, Meter, are all arbitrary or based on the location or movement of the Earth). What are units which anyone from our universe (but not necessarily our planet) would be able to recognize?
34:	If the density of the ostrich shell is about 3000 Hounds field Units, or 38 Grams/cm³ for a new egg... and the natural loss reduces the density for an egg of an ostrich to 28 around the year 1850, to 25 around 1750 and to 23 around 1700, and to 20 around 1600 and to 18 around 1500, or the weight of about 125 grams. Can this decline of density be a proof of the age of an un-mounted, engraved ostrich egg?
35:	I wish to find out the speed of sound in air, but I am having trouble thinking up an experiment to do so ? What materials will I need and how do you think I can possibly do it at home?
36:	How waves can lead to theories about the internal structure of Earth?
37:	What would be used for a wave that has the wavelength of about the size of a molecule of water?
38:	What is heat measured with?
39:	If I wanted to do a science project having to do with does middle school math stay with through adulthood? Should I test them on basic everyday life questions or more complicated math that is not used in everyday life?
40:	Hello, my name is Jenna. I am an 8th grade student at La Colina J.H. I am currently working on my science fair project. My Science fair question is: How does a wetsuit affect drag? My procedures are: 1.Wear a competition swimsuit. 2. Swim in 25m pool 3. Swim 100m. 4. Measure and document time of 100m swim. 5. Rest 2 minutes. 6. Repeat steps 1-5 nine times. 7. Average the times of all 100m swim sets. 8. After a week of rest, wear a triathlon swimming wetsuit of 3mm thickness neoprene with no arms. 9. Repeat steps 2-7 wearing wetsuit. My hypothesis is: If the wetsuit does create drag then I think the competitive swimsuit will provide better speed and time then the wetsuit. IF you have the time I would really appreciate answers to these questions. a. Do my procedures sound like they would work for my experiment? b. Is there anything I could do to make my experiment better? c. Would it be better to do five trials of the competition suit and then five trials of the wetsuit on one day then do the same thing a week later? d. Is there any vital information about drag I should know before conducting my experiment? e. What is the best way to measure drag?
41:	Hi scientists, I am in 8th grade and I\'m starting to work on the science fair project. The question for my project is: How does sight affects taste? I will test that by having 3 equal amounts of soda drinks in clear cups. One will be cherry, one will be grape and one will be lemon/lime. The volunteers will first taste each drink and try to guess the flavors. Next, I will blindfold the volunteers and have them guess again. Then I will add food coloring to the drinks to make the cherry look like grape, lemon/lime look like orange and grape look like root beer or cocoa cola. The volunteers will then test each drink and tell me what they think each flavor is. My hypothesis is that on the control and blindfolded test, most people will guess correctly. On the incorrect colored test, I think people will guess the cherry to be grape, the lemon/lime to be orange and the grape to be coca cola. a. Do you think that the procedures should be done differently in order to answer my question (How does sight affects taste)? b. Do you think the colors of each flavor make a difference, or should I change them? c. Do you think my hypothesis is correct? d. Is there anything important that I need to know before I start conducting the experiment? e. How many volunteers do you think I should have to make the experiment reliable? f. How do you think I should graph this information? g. Do you think this are too many variables to deal with, and should I make it to just one flavored drink? h. Is there anything else you know about why sight effects taste that you think is important to conduct this experiment? i. What do for your career, and what is your knowledge in this topic? Thank you so much for your time and expertise on this subject. This will help me greatly on my science project.
42:	How wide is a gray whale?
43:	1. What do you think the effects of magnetism will have on plants? 2. What did you major in? 3. Do you think weather will play a role in magnetism affecting plant growth? 4. Do you think lettuce or pansies will have a greater increase of growth based on the affects of magnetism? 5. How many plants should I use to be sure my experiment is based on the fact that magnetism affected the growth?
44:	In my experiment, I will be testing how effective the pinky is at estimating the temperature of water. I was wondering how many sensor cells there are in the human pinky? I recently did some research on how the brain gets these sensory details from the skin and found that the part of the brain that receives these signals is called the Hypothalamus. Where in the brain is the Hypothalamus and how large is it in comparative size to the rest of the brain.? What is the rate of temperature increase or decrease to room temperature for water that I should use in my experiment? When using statistical analysis, what is the most effective way to have realistic numbers? I plan on using set ranges of temperatures for people to estimate the temperatures for. I am going to tell them what these ranges are; just that they are hot, room temperature, and cold. I plan on having the cold at around 30-40 degrees, the room temperature from 60-75, and the hot at 100-110. Do you think this is a good idea or should I just have a set temperature for each section of the test? Thanks for answering these questions for my Science Fair Project
45:	How would I be able to measure the texture of a cake according to its fluffiness?
46:	My project is what is the fastest way to cool a beverage. The beverages I am using are coke, sprite, cow milk, and goat milk.I am going to put each beverage into 3 coolers. One cooler with ice, another with water and ice, and the last one with water, ice and salt. I have a few questions about my project and about you. 1. What is your career choice? 2. How would I find the starting temperature of the cooler? 3. What do you think will happen? Why? 4. What do you have your crudentials in? 5. How does salt affect the freezing rate?
47:	What is the main difference between a Newton meter and a spring balance?
48:	I'm doing my science fair project on black holes. I learned that inside a black hole there is a very strong gravitational pull. My hypothesis is that around the black hole there might be a spinning force (similar to tornadoes)as the galaxy rotates around it. This spinning force should draw objects toward the black hole. Am I on the right track? Do you have any suggestions about how to test my hypothesis?
49:	I am doing a science project on which a bat hits a baseball farther, a bat made of wood or aluminum? Do you have any idea of how can I set up my experiment?
50:	According to question: click here please So since i'm doing 5 cakes using whole eggs and 5 cakes using egg whites. Would I compare the density of the whole egg cake with the density of the egg white cake and then from comparing both densities I would find which one is fluffier right?
51:	My science project is about the conductivity of different metals (such as copper, aluminum, brass, etc.) Which of your topics relates to my question? What can you tell me about the conductivity of metals? How would you test this?
52:	For my science project I am testing to see the most efficient way to generate geothermal energy using a pinwheel and boiling water. The dependent variable is how many times the pinwheel spins in a full circle in a 20 second time span. How many variables do you think are necessary for a decent grade? Is one data table enough or should I have more? What type of graph should I use. Also, could you be sure to finish this before my project is due? The date is January 22, 2013. Thanks!
53:	About how many stars are in space?
54:	What is the biggest star that scientists know?
55:	How small can a particle be?
56:	What are different types of Newton meters used for?
57:	Why is the sun so bright and hot?What instruments do scientists use to study the sun?How big can a solar flare get?
58:	What evidence and experiments show the core of the Earth to be made of iron and nickel?
59:	1) How do scientists calculate and work out the density of the earth? 2) How do scientists know the different dimensions of the earth?
60:	How do satellite guided missiles, drones, and intercontinental ballistic missiles work? These are devices that are capable of autonomous flight. How is the technology of these devices related to that of the auto pilot on private and commercial aircrafts?
61:	Thank you very much for opening this fantastic forum to benefit students from all over the world. My question is if the planet Earth emits heat from radioactive decay, I will also be right to say that it emits all the dangerous radiation as well. If so, why are humans more afraid of a nuclear explosion when we have been exposed to dosage and dosage of nuclear radiation naturally? And we seem to careless about it.
62:	If I am going to grow plants exposed to different types of light, which will be my independent variable, and which will be my dependent one?
63:	Can you tell me how bright is the sun?
64:	What is the principle for measurement of Precipitation? How it is measured?
65:	How do scientists explore the crust of the Earth?
66:	I would like to know how does it work the conductivity of electricity in metals and which are the units that scientists use in this process. I would also like to know the several ways for determining electrical conductivity of metals. Thank you.
67:	How do we know the distance that a star is from earth? How is it calculated? Also how do we know how hot stars are? And how do we know that there is plasma on them?
68:	How do we measure the radius of other planets? Thanks.
69:	How can I know how many moles are in 4.0 grams of Hydrogen gas(H₂)? And then how do I convert that into molecules and atoms of H?
70:	How did the earth layers form?
71:	How "Avogadro constant" was invented and how scientists calculated it for the first time?
72:	How do I measure Happiness indirectly and reliably, using a survey?
73:	How many tornadoes do we have every year?
74:	How can we locate earthquakes?
75:	What evidence supported Wegener's theory of continental drift?
76:	How well can scientists predict earthquakes? What are some of the different ways to make these predictions?
77:	What does each dark, long line on the spring scale represent? And what do the lighter smaller lines on a spring scale represent?
78:	When drilling stopped in 1994, the hole was over 7 miles deep (12,262 meters),(572°F), that's pretty HOT! My question is that if that's the deepest humankind has gone, 7 miles deep & Earth has continental crust of 35-40km which is 21-24 miles thick (33,796 meters). How do we know Earth's insides, like how were told in the books & by the professors that there is a mantle & a core beneath Earth's crust when we haven't gone that deep? It is easy to go deep into space because it's empty, but going deep into Earth, theirs a lot of pressure.
79:	I put 8 oz. of water in a cup and added enough ice to make it 12 oz. When the ice melted it was still 12 oz. So if the polar ices melted, would it not cause flooding because it is all the same volume?
80:	Why is weather important in people's lives?
81:	What is the highest frequency that most humans can hear?
82:	My son Max is investigating which materials are the best conductors. He built a circuit with a 6V battery and a light bulb, hoping to distinguish which materials are the best conductors by the brightness of the light bulb. The experiment worked, but the results were not satisfactory to Max. The ligh bulb was either on or off, and it was difficult to tell if one material was better than the other. He asked if there was a way to measure the conductivity of materials with another instrument. I purchased a multimeter from Radio Shack hoping to measure the conductivity/resistance of the materials. However, I am not sure I am properly operating the instrument. We removed the test material from the circuit and set the multimeter to the OHMS setting. The results for the metals (copper, aluminum foil, a nickel, and a penny) bounce all over the place and often end at zero, and the non-conductors do not show any change on the screen so the end result is also zero.I would really like to help Max find more specific results, but I am not sure what else to do. Is there a particular bulb that would show more variety in the intensity? He has shown such a curiosity about this. I sincerely hope there is a way to help him! Thank you for your time. Max's mom.
83:	How many people are on earth?
84:	What instrument did you use to gather information about stars?
85:	How does a pendulum clock work?
86:	How can we measure the speed of light?
87:	What is the principle of piezoelectric transducers?
88:	Hello! I am teaching 6th-11th grade sciences. I have a B.S. in science, but only took a year or so of microbiology in college. Every year we have students who want to do microbe projects for science fair. We have good success growing microbes in petri dishes. As yet, my best method for measuring microbe growth is to give students a 5mm x 5mm grid which they lay on top of the petri dish and have them estimate how much of these boxes are filled with the microbe that has grown. Then they add up the portions of the boxes or whole boxes filled by the microbes and arrive at an mm squared value. One science fair judge asked about the height of microbe growth. I guess students could arrive at an estimate of height by the same method. I have done online searches which have only yielded dilution methods. We do not have any specialized equipment for observing microbes in dilution, nor do I have stains for the various microbes to show up on a microscope slide. Any websites or suggestions you can give a generalist 6th-12th grade science teacher would be very much appreciated. Thank you!
89:	Why does not all rising air form clouds?
90:	What is a measure of energy?
91:	If I use a balance pan what physical property of the object am I measuring?
92:	I recently learned that the velocity of blood moving in veins is faster than that in capillaries, but the blood pressure in veins is much lower than that of any other blood vessel. Since veins have a relatively high blood velocity (at least compared to capillaries), shouldn't they also have a higher blood pressure? Why don't velocity and pressure in fluids go hand in hand?
93:	Does drinking caffeine increase your reaction time dramatically or noticeably?
94:	How will the melting of the glaciers on Greenland and Antarctica affect global circulation?
95:	Why do astronomers use astronomical units to measure distances in our solar system?
96:	My son is doing a science experiment on which color of shirt dries the fastest - black, red, blue, white. Of course he hypothesized that the black shirt would dry the fastest. He also got many helpful info regarding his topic on your wonderful site.BUT, he really have to perform the procedure and test by measuring the amount of moisture on all shirts when left outside to dry. What would be the best way to measure the amount of moisture? He thought about getting a soil or wood/humidity meter but he is not sure if that would work, he plans on sticking it to the fabric, wrapping it around, but it might not give an accurate reading. He did further research and came across a portable moisture meter that is industrial grade and is used in the textile industry (this would really work because the device has a ring that can be gently rubbed on the cloth and has an indicator if its wet or dry) but the $$$$ is way out of reach---starts at $1200! So he saw your site and is asking for your help on other ways to measure the moisture content of a 100% cotton shirt. Thanks in advance for your help.
97:	Between which lines on a ray diagram will you measure an angle of reflection?
98:	How do scientists measure precipitation?
99:	What is density?
100:	What is the average radius of the sun, in meters?
101:	My name is Charlotte and I am a biology student in 8th grade. We are doing an Independent Research Project, and my topic question is "What Enzyme causes gelatin to lose its setting properties and how, and what fruits contain this Enzyme in addition to pineapples?" I was wondering if you could provide me with more information on how you found out that the certain Enzyme that causes gelatin to stop working and how it does so. Thank you so much,
102:	How much time does it take for an ice cube to melt completely?
103:	The current that runs along the East Coast eventually reaches England. England is at the same latitude as far north as Canada and Northern Europe, yet it has a much more mild climate. Then why does England has a milder climate?
104:	How far is the sun?
105:	How can you measure air?
106:	Why do scientists use North Pole and South Pole as different examples and references?
107:	How small do things can get?
108:	Why is measuring and finding the volume or mass of something important to Science?
109:	What is the difference between all fingerprints? And how are they different? I looked at my fingers and they are not different. How do we know if they are the same or different?
110:	How small can things get?
111:	What is an Independent variable?
112:	What is photo electron spectroscopy?
113:	Hello, we are learning about cell respiration and mitochondria and are wondering how scientists know enough about what is occurring within the mitochondria to make animations such as the one presented by Bioflix ( watch here ). We have learned about electron microscopes and have a basic understanding of how scientists see individual organelles, but we are skeptical as to how they actually know what the ATP synthase 'turbine' looks like. How on Earth do they know that H protons are what cause it to spin? We have tried Googling this but haven't come up with anything satisfying. Thank you!
114:	I just read answers to some questions on your forum. here I am confused by your statement that ancient rocks were formed at a certain time by comparing lead to uranium ratios. How can this be if the uranium must have been formed in prior supernovae explosions that seeded the nebula from whence the solar system was formed? It seems we are ignoring the time between this previous supernova and the forming of said rock. Much thanks for any thoughts as this has been bugging me for quite some time.
115:	How can humans be impacted by extreme weather?
116:	Suppose you have an Avogadro's number of nitrogen atoms. How many grams does this represent?
117:	How can I isolate chloroplasts from spinach leaves and make a solution viable for it to be used in a spectrometer, keeping in mind the chloroplasts still need to be able to photosynthesize? What would be a good phosphate buffer to use with this chloroplast solution, DPIP, and distilled water?
118:	I thought the hottest desert on Earth was the Lut Desert in Iran. More than 159 degrees according to my research. Isn't this so?
119:	The temperature of liquid nitrogen is 86K. What is this temperature in deg. C?
120:	We all know that atoms are spherical in shape. So, even if they are packed together there must be some space lying between them. So this space needs to be vacuum. And since vacuum contains dark energy, can we find all the things we need to know about vacuum by just looking between the atoms rather than going into the space?
121:	What is altitude?
122:	Why does temperature make energy?
123:	How wide is our Galaxy?
124:	How much wood could a woodchuck chuck?
125:	Reaction quotient is defined using stoichiometry coefficients as exponents. Reaction rate equations use exponents (reaction orders) that are determined experimentally and are not necessarily the same as stoichiometry coefficients. At equilibrium, forward and reverse reaction rates are equal. Why is the reaction coefficient not defined like the reaction rate, i.e. using experimentally determined exponents instead of the stoichiometry coefficients?
126:	Who invented the numbers on the clock?
127:	I think you are wrong about the densest metal/substance here. A while ago I read about a substance that had been developed and it weighed over 13 pounds per cubic inch. What is that substance?
128:	What is the percentage of oxygen in cut plants when they begin to respire?
129:	What is the probability for Mount St. Helens to explode again?
130:	What is the density of an egg?
131:	How do I measure the rise of a cake? Is it simply the height measurement at its tallest point or something more detailed as this link suggests? I’m researching, “How much water added to a boxed cake mix produces failure to launch aka rise?”
132:	Can we convert the EPE of a stretched rubber band (x=10 cm) to the Work that is done as the rubber band is launched? (Work = Force x distance traveled through the air)? Or do these two things not correlate? I thought the EPE should be similar to Work done (not while being stretched, but while flying through the air). But when we converted cm to m, we got vastly different values (recorded in Joules). Help!
133:	Has the earth changed size since it was created?
134:	Do heavier objects fall faster than lighter objects?
135:	What is the unit of measurement for force?
136:	How does weather work from rainy to sunny?
137:	What is the speed of a comet which passes by Earth and can be watched by us? Why does it seem not to be moving?
138:	When you look up"how many skin cells do we shed a day" you will commonly get an answer of 30,000 to 40,000. How exactly did scientists arrive at this number? What was their method for actually figuring this out?
139:	If a basketball is flat (it won\'t bounce) and we pump it up with air. After it is pumped with air, will the ball have more, less, or the same amount of mass as before air was added?
140:	How do scientists measure the amount of carbon dioxide absorbed by trees and other plants?
141:	I know very little is known about our brains, so what are the more powerful tools scientists have in order to study conditions like schizophrenia, paranoia, or any of those conditions which can affect us?
142:	Which dissolves better in water, salt or baking soda?
143:	Jack did an experiment for color affect heating by absorption of light? We were only able to find a Red colored Incandescent 60 W. When doing the experiment on the 100% cotton, white was hotter when measured than the black, but red was still the coolest. Is this because the wavelengths were not let through for the rest of the colors? Thanks for the help
144:	I will appreciate it if someone looks over the following calculation. Thank you! So I've heard that bananas have tiny amounts of radiation in them, due to potassium, and if you eat too many bananas you can die of radiation poisoning. Of course the next logical step is to ask the question, how many bananas do I need to power my house? We start by getting two values, the radiation energy emitted by a banana and the amount of electricity the average American house needs. According to Wikipedia, a banana emits .1 microsieverts of radiation. According to the US department of energy the average American household uses 893 KWH a month. Therefore we just have to convert 893 KWH into its equivalent in microsieverts, multiply by 10, and get the amount of bananas required to power the average American house for a month. 893 KWH = 3.6⁶ joules, one sievert is equal to 1 joule of energy, therefore we require 3.6⁶ sieverts, which is 3.6¹² microsieverts, multiply by ten is 3.6¹³ microsieverts, which means that it takes 3.6¹³ bananas to power the average American household for a month. (That's a lot of bananas)Thank you for reading this calculation. It's probably wrong (the joule to sievert conversion is really iffy). Please correct me on any errors. Thank you :)



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