Atomic Arrangements in Solids
This video/animation asks the question "So if the same molecules are in the solid, liquid, and vapor forms of water, why are their properties so different?" The properties of a material are affected not just by the kinds of atom in it, but also by how they are arranged, and how free they are to move around. Forms of carbon are introduced, from graphite to buckyballs.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Bend, Twist and Break: Beyond the Laboratory
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that when scientists study fracture surfaces from controlled experiments to understand the resulting shapes and features, they can use their understanding to deduce what happened when they were not around to see the material fail or break. Further they can predict what will have to a larger or smaller piece of material under stress. This process is how scientists and engineers translate a lab experiment into a design for an airplane, bridge or even a bike frame.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Bend, Twist and Break: Breaking Glass
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that researchers learn about the scientific basis for failure of materials by running experiments in the lab, using a simple shape like a glass rod to calculate the strength of material and predict its failure. The same tests can be done at the micro and nano scale using tiny specimens. Students can run a similar experiment with a bar of chocolate.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Bend, Twist and Break: Fracture Surfaces
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that fracture surfaces can reveal how and why a material has failed. An image of a fracture surface has features or shapes that we can use to understand where a material failed and why. Scientists use an optical microscope or a scanning electron microscope to read a fracture surface at high magnifications, much like we read maps to find our way.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Bend, Twist and Break: The Bridge
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains that the arrangement of atoms in a material determines the properties. He drops an iPod to illustrate how the arrangement of atoms can protect it from damage; he narrates footage of the collapse of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in the 1940s to show how the deformation of materials can cause the collapse of a structure.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Breaking Things on Purpose
*Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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9-12 |
Lesson Plan
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6-8 |
Lesson Plan
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How Hard is Chocolate?
Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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9-12 |
Lesson Plan
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6-8 |
Lesson Plan
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Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Hard is your Chocolate?
Hardness is probably a concept you are well familiar with. You already know that certain materials are harder than others; in fact, you prove it everyday when you chew your food and your teeth don’t break (because your teeth are harder than the foods you chew). Hardness can be defined as a material's ability to resist a change in shape. Modern hardness testers take a well-defined shape and press it into a material with a certain force, observing the indent it leaves in the material when it is removed. In this lesson, you will be performing hardness testing on different bars of chocolate.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-8 |
Lesson Plan
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Mechanical Properties of Chocolate: How Strong is your Chocolate?
*Materials such as metals (aluminum, iron, copper, etc.), ceramics (silicon carbide, porcelain) or polymers (milk jugs made of polyethylene) are tested by scientists and engineers to reveal certain mechanical properties such as the maximum stress a material can withstand. The stress at which a material breaks is a measure of its strength. In this lesson you will be testing the strength of a delicious material you know as chocolate!
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-8 |
Lesson Plan
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9-12 |
Lesson Plan
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Structure and Property Changes of Water
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains the challenge of studying materials that are too small to see with the naked eye. The technique some scientists use to observe individual atoms is similar to the technique of using touch to find out the size, shape, and location of objects in a dark room. By using a very small, sharp sensor, scientists can create an image of atoms.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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9-12 |
Lesson Plan
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Taking Pictures of Things You Can't See
Dr. Chris Muhlstein explains the challenge of studying materials that are too small to see with the naked eye. The technique some scientists use to observe individual atoms is similar to the technique of using touch to find out the size, shape, and location of objects in a dark room. By using a very small, sharp sensor, scientists can create an image of atoms.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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Using Nanoscience to Understand the Properties of Matter
Atoms and molecules are the basic units of matter. The properties of matter that you can see and touch are dictated by the kinds of atoms and bonds that make it up. But if atoms are too small to see, how can scientists figure out their properties? The video shows some special tools that allow scientists to take pictures of and make changes to very tiny or nanoscale materials.
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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What Holds a Molecule Together?
This video/animation illustrates that a molecule is a small group of atoms that is stuck or bonded together with electrons. Dr. Chris Muhlstein introduces the idea of three primary types of bonds: ionic, covalent and metallic; animations show how they form at the atomic level, and give everyday examples
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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9-12 |
QuickTime Video
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What is a Molecule?
This video/animation shows that a molecule of water is made up of oxygen and hydrogen atoms. When oxygen and hydrogen atoms exist alone, their properties are different from the properties they have when they are chemically combined to form a water molecule
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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What is Matter?
This video/animation defines matter, mass, and volume using water as an example. The size, electrical charge and location of the subatomic particles of matter are described.
Different types of atoms are called elements and organized in the periodic table. What happens to the properties of atoms when they exist alone or together?
Collection Developed by:
WPSU
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6-12 |
QuickTime Video
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