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Science Terminology Glossary So you're a little confused about what a thingamajig is? Well, you've come to the right place. Here's the glossary of scientific terms used in Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab. If you don't find a definition for a term you found on Reeko's site, feel free to email Reeko and he'll update this page accordingly.
Internet Explorer 4.0 users - don't forget. When a scientific term is used within an experiment, it will be colored red . When you see a scientific term colored in red, simply click on it and the definition will pop into the page inline!
acid - a sour tasting, corrosive substance - the opposite of a base substance. Acidic solutions will turn a litmus red.
alkali - a substance having marked basic properties (i.e. substance with properties of a base).
atoms - made up of protons and neutrons in a central nucleus surrounded by electrons. The smallest particle of a chemical element that can take part in a chemical reaction without being permanently changed.
anemometer - a device used to measure the speed of wind.
atmosphere - the blanket of air that surrounds the Earth. It is thickest near the ground and gradually fades away to nothing in outerspace.
barometer - a device used to measure the pressure of the atmosphere. The barometer unit of measure is called millibars.
base - a bitter tasting substance (and often slimy) - the opposite of a acid substance. Base solutions will turn a litmus blue.
battery - a device that produces electricity by means of chemical reaction. A battery consist of one or more units called electric cells. Each cell has all the chemicals and parts needed to produce an electric current.
bernoulli effect - described by Swiss mathmetician Daniel Bernoulli in 1738. Bernoulli's theorem (sometimes called the Venturi effect) implies that a decrease in fluid pressure is associated with an increase in the fluid's velocity (speed). It's the basics for aircraft wing design explaining that air flowing over the upper, curved part of the wing moves faster than the air on the underside of the wing so that the pressure underneath is greater and hence causes lift.
buoyancy - the ability to float, or in more technical terms - the upward forces exerted by a fluid on a body in it.
capacitor - a device that stores electric energy in the form of an electric charge.
carbon dioxide - a heavy colorless gas that does not support combustion, dissolves in water to form carbonic acid, is formed in animal respiration and in the decay or combustion of animal and vegetable matter, and is absorbed from the air by plants in photosynthesis.
Celsius - a unit of measurement for temperature. Water freezes at 0ºC (zero degrees Celsius) and boils at 100°C (100 degrees Celsius).
capillary action - the tendency of liquids to move into or out of tiny, hairlike passages.
charge - the state of an atom that has lost or gained an electron.
chemical reaction - a process by which one substance is chemically converted to another. Chemical reactions involve the formation or destruction of bonds between atoms.
circuit - the path followed by an electric current. Electricity must flow in a circuit to do useful work.
coanda effect - described by Henri Coanda, a Romanian scientist, in the 1930's. This effect describes the tendency of moving air of fluids to follow the nearby curved or inclined surface.
condensation - when a substance changes state from a gas to a liquid.
conductor - a thing that transmits heat, electricity, light, sound or other form of energy.
current - the movement or flow of electric charges
decibel - a unit of measurement for sound, it measures the loudness or volume of the sound waves.
density - the ratio of the mass of a body to its volume, usually expressed as its specific gravity.
dynamo - a device that creates electricity by turning around a magnet near a coil of wire.
electric current - see current.
electrolysis - splitting a substance into the separate chemicals that make it up, by passing an electric current through it.
electrons - a negatively charged subatomic particle. Electrons are found at varying distances from a atom's nucleus. They make up almost the entire volume of a atom but only account for a small part of the atom's mass. Compare to protons.
element - a basic chemical substance in which all the atoms are the same, and different from the atoms of any other substance.
emulsion - tiny droplets of one liquid floating in another liquid, such as oil droplets floating in water.
energy - the name given to the ability to do work.
freezing point - the temperature at which a liquid becomes a solid. Increased pressure usually raises the freezing point.
friction - the resistance that occurs when two objects rub together.
gravity - the attractive central gravitational force exerted by a celestial body such as earth.
humidity - the amount of water vapor in the air.
immiscible - incapable of mixing or attaining homogeneity.
induction - the process by which an object having electrical or magnetic properties produces similar properties in a nearby object, usually without direct contact.
inertia - the tendency of a body to remain at rest or stay in motion unless acted upon by an external force.
ions - Atoms that carry an electric charge, either positive or negative. If an atom gains an electron it takes on a negative charge. If the atom loses an electron it takes on a positive charge.
lightening - a powerful flash of electricity between the negative electrical charges in clouds or between a cloud and the ground.
magnetism - the force that electric currents exert on other electric currents.
mass - often defined as the amount of matter in an object. Note that mass and weight are not the same thing. Weight is the force on an object due to the gravitational pull of a planet or other heavenly body. Mass on the other hand, remains constant, no matter where it is.
molecule - one of the basic units of matter. It is the smallest particle into which a substance can be divided and still have he chemical identity of the original substance.
momentum - the speed or force of something that is moving.
osmosis - the natural passage or diffusion of water (or other liquids) through a semi permeable membrane.
oxidize - to combine with oxygen.
oxygen - a colorless, odorless, tasteless gas that is the most plentiful element in the Earth's crust. It was discovered in 1772 by Swidish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele.
potential - the amount of electrification of a point with reference to some standard.
pot of gold - a hidden treasure, many of which can be found in Reeko's Mad Scientist Lab.
pressure - the application of a steady force upon another object.
protons - a positively charged subatomic particle. Protons, along with other subatomic particles called Neutrons, make up the nucleus of a atom. The number of protons in an atom is called the atomic number of the element. Compare to electrons.
reaction - when two or more chemicals combine to make a new chemical substance.
refraction - the bending of a wave path, as of light or sound, at the boundary between two different mediums.
resonance - when the vibrations of a substance, such as the wood of a violin, correspond to the air vibrations which make the sound.
secondary battery - a battery that can be recharged.
specific gravity - the ratio of the density of a body to the density of water, the latter being taken as unity.
static electricity - describes the situation where objects carry a charge.
transformer - a device that changes the voltage of electricity.
treasure - something that is very valuable to you. Could be your pet dog, pirate's loot, or a pot of gold.
turbine - pronounced TUR bihn or pronounced TUR byn, is a device with a rotor turned by a moving fluid, such as water, steam, gas, or wind. A turbine changes kinetic energy (energy of movement) into mechanical energy (energy in the form of mechanical power).
voltage - differences in potential (or electric state) related to the electrical forces that 'push' charges through a conductor. Can be thought of as the pressure which pushes electricity through a wire.
weight - the force on an object due to the gravitational pull of a planet or other heavenly body.
wock - hard, inanimate object that you throw at a wabbit.
Sources:
World Book Encyclopedia (1997)
Microsoft Encarta 98
Britannica Encyclopedia
Compton's Encyclopedia
