Applied Physics

In my previous article, you learned how to build a hot liquid level indicator for the vision impaired to help them fill cups with hot liquids such as tea or coffee. The 555 test circuit was used to generate a tone when the liquid in the cup reached the des ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Aug 18 2013 - 11:37am

Snap Circuits Science: Lie Detector Or "Voodoo Psychology"

In my previous article, you learned how to use the 555 test circuit as a cable tester. It can also be used to test whether different materials conduct or don’t conduct electricity such as plastic, glass, cloth, wood, a coin from your pocket, a house key, a ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Aug 26 2013 - 9:46am

Redox Redux: Oxygen 'Sponge' Absorbs Or Sheds Oxygen Atoms, Even At Low Temperatures

Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers have developed a new oxygen “sponge” that can easily absorb or shed oxygen atoms at low temperatures. Materials containing atoms that can switch back and forth between multiple oxidation states are very rare in ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 3 2013 - 6:11pm

Iron Ions In The Sun: A Greenhouse Gas For X-Ray Radiation

Scientists at the synchrotron PETRA III have investigated X-ray absorption of highly charged iron ions. Highly charged ions- that is, atoms which have been stripped of most of their electrons- play an important role in astrophysics. Within the large accum ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 6 2013 - 3:46pm

DIY Laser Interferometer (an Introduction To Interferometry)

This is a simple build of a Michelson Interferometer using the SpyNet Laser Tripwire. About a year ago, I accidentally came across this toy and noticed that it has a red laser and two adjustable mirrors. It also has a receiver that will sound an alarm when ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Sep 10 2013 - 12:49pm

Snap Circuits Science: Digital Modulation

In previous articles, we've used the 555 test circuit as a hot liquid level indicator for the vision impaired and a cable tester as examples of some of the things that can be used as inputs to the 555 test circuit. In this article, we’ll take a look a ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Sep 16 2013 - 9:26am

Snap Circuits Science: Magnetic Stirrer

In my previous article, we took a look at one of the signals generated by the 555 test circuit where the output pin (pin 3) is connected to ground (-) which is a simple series of very brief pulses. This series of pulses can be used to generate a tone that ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Mar 18 2015 - 6:42am

Snap Circuits Science: Pencil And Paper Potentiometer

An ordinary No. 2 pencil contains graphite (from the Greek γράφω, graphō which means "to write" or "to draw"). Graphite conducts electricity and you can use your pencil and a piece of paper to draw your own potentiometer then experim ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Sep 27 2013 - 8:37am

Crowdsourcing Earthquakes: Tiny Sensor Used In Smart Phones Could Create Urban Seismic Network

A tiny Micro-Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) accelerometer used in smart phones to adjust the orientation of the screen could serve to create a real-time urban seismic network and increase the amount of strong motion data collected during a large earthqu ...

Article - News Staff - Sep 30 2013 - 1:22pm

Snap Circuits Science: Create A Capacitor

You can think of a capacitor somewhat like a rechargeable battery. It is able to store energy temporarily except that a rechargeable battery will last much, much longer than a capacitor. The simplest capacitor is two conducting plates with a non-conducting ...

Article - Steve Schuler - Oct 4 2013 - 2:31pm