Question Answered by Brian A Pyper, PhD, Professor of Physics, BYU-Idaho Director of Physics Education Light comes from electrons in their shells around atoms getting excited and falling back down to lower energy levels. When they do this they emit the energy difference as light. Regular light will usually come from lots of different kinds…
Answered by Alana Jensen, INL ESER Program Water is both a reflector and refractor of light. Let’s examine these properties of light separately. Reflection: Reflection is when light hits the surface of an object and then that light travels to our eyes so we can see. All materials reflect light to some extent, but a…
Answered by David Chandler, Pilot, United Airlines While the shape of the top of the wing does contribute to lift because of Bernoulli’s equation it is not the only way wings create lift. When an airfoil is inverted it will still create lift because it is using Newton’s 3rd law of motion The wing exerts…
Answered by Alana Jensen, INL ESER Program This is not simple question to answer because they are several factors that help determine how fast snow and ice will melt. This conditions are constantly changing and form kind of a tug-of-war in the melting process. The most obvious factor is temperature. If the air temperature is…
Question Answered by Dr. Steven Shropshire, Physics Professor, Idaho State University Yes, sound can travel right through you. While some sound is absorbed by your body, all sound waves can pass through you if they are loud enough. Sound is a vibration. It can be a vibration in the air, in water, and even in…
Question Answered by Tyler Smith, Parks and Recreation Foreman, City of Idaho Falls Generally, cracking of roads happens over time from settling or shifting of grade, sub grade or sub soil material. Settling can be expedited if the materials beneath the road are not compacted enough or there is a subsurface water issue, such as…
Question Answered by Dr. Brian Tonks, Astronomy Professor, BYU-Idaho Check out Part 1 of this question at http://www.idahoaskascientist.com. Part 2: Now let’s add the Moon to the figure at the right . We have to be careful when we look at figures like these because they are never drawn to the correct scale. If the…
Answered by Dr. Brian Tonks, Astronomy Professor, BYU-Idaho You can see the Moon during the day because it slowly orbits the Earth. As a result, the Moon lies opposite the Sun during part of its orbit and we see it all night long. During part of its orbit, it lies near the Sun and we…
Answered by Doug Owen, Park Geologist, Craters of the Moon National Monument. Originally answered March 2012. Craters of the Moon is a dormant rather than an extinct volcanic area. The volcanoes here are not dead, only sleeping. Indications of impending eruptions — earthquakes, the opening of steam vents, and ground swelling — have not occurred…
Answered by Gregg Losinski, Conservation Educator First things first. In Idaho, when we are talking about kokanee, we are actually talking about the same fish that we also call a sockeye salmon. These are the fish that are famous for turning bright red when the time comes for them to spawn. (Spawning is the way…
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