The First World War, that began in 1914, put chemists to work. Their chemicals could harm as well as heal … but on balance the outcome was … horrific. As the author of two...
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As food burns it releases energy. This energy can be used to heat up water. If you know how much water you used, and how hot it gets, you can calculate the food’s energy...
Fats, such as the fats in milk, need to be digested by your body. They are broken down into fatty acids and glycerol by an enzyme called lipase. You can do this in the...
Measuring the appearance of cloudy sulfur when we mix acid and sodium thiosulfate is a popular science teaching activity. We can change the temperature or concentration of the reagents, and see whether the mixture...
If you were a chemical manufacturer you would certainly be interested in finding ways to increase the rate of production. One way is to do the reaction at a higher temperature, and in this...
Hydrochloric acid and marble (CaCO3) react to form carbon dioxide gas. The gas can be captured and measured using a gas syringe. A position sensor can be attached to the syringe to record the...
Sometimes you need to graph several variables one after the other – for example, in this weather database, we plotted the daily maximum temperature against time. For clarity, we plotted just 10 days.Next we...
Datasets (files) like the one below are useful in science. There is data to analyse by drawing graphs. The file below is in a ‘CSV’ format. Open it in your spreadsheet or Datalogging Insight program...
Plaster of Paris is white powder you mix with water and pour into a mould. You can make models with it while hospitals use it on broken limbs. When you mix it with water...
I expect that when something cools, it will get cooler in a plodding kind of way. That’s true, but when something changes state, the cooling is not so steady.The graph below shows how liquid...
The label on my milk bottle tells me how long the milk will ‘last’ at different temperatures. What do they measure to make this assessment? Is it the pH? I summoned patience, collected a glass...
Scientists need to measure and communicate, to handle information and model ideas. In essence, they need to process information. Young scientists have similar needs. When they write, draw graphs, do maths and make measurements,...
what affects the rate of reaction? A chemical reaction can be made to go fast or slow. In this activity you will try to measure how a chemical reaction is affected by temperature. When...
When quicklime is mixed with water an exothermic reaction takes place. A temperature sensor can collect information about the heat generated over time. Other things being equal, this reaction might be used in a...
As acid drains into alkali the pH changes. This can be monitored using a pH sensor to produce an instant graph of pH against volume. The easy way of doing this is to not...
As a candle burns oxygen is used and heat and water are produced. A few sensors can be used to monitor this process. A light sensor indicates when the candle is extinguished, a humidity...
This podcast concerns the science of food crops. The growing world population leads to a demand to farm the land several times more effectively than we used to. But growing crops comes with risks....
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Hear about measuring the properties of materials that are not just solids or liquids or gases but are all three in one. The soil under your feet is one such material – it is of course a solid...
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In this podcast, a Cambridge chemist talks about drug discovery. Sean McKenna, a scientist in the pharmaceutical industry, describes techniques that take the guesswork out of making pills. We think you will be intrigued...
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Fracking was once uneconomic, but today’s energy crisis has led to new options. As the government has issued licences to drill in the UK, there have been protests in the UK. This podcast wises-up...
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We visit the Centre for Atmospheric Science in Cambridge University and speak to Professor John Pyle about modelling the lower atmosphere using supercomputers. Follow-up link: Centre for Atmospheric Science atm.ch.cam.ac.uk See also ‘the earth...
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The Cambridge Science Centre is a really useful educational attraction in the city centre. Founder Dr Chris Lennard tells Roger Frost what the centre aims to do for science education. The Cambridge Science Centre opened in 2013 at 18 Jesus Lane,...
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We hear how British Antarctic Survey scientists drill ice to discover how the world has changed over thousands of years. Dr. Robert Mulvaney of the British Antarctic Survey in Cambridge talks to the Science Show’s Roger...
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Chocolatier Cheryl Brighty of Artistry in Cocoa, tells Nicola Terry how chocolate is made from a cocoa pod. Follow-up link: Artistry in cocoa www.artistryincocoa.co.uk Tagged biology, making chocolate, cocoa, chemistry, artistryincocoa, Nicola Terry 19/05/2012
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Stuart Dye from Granta Design in Cambridge explains how the company help engineers choose materials to make a product. Tagged engineering, chemistry, materials, choosing, physics, Granta Design, Cambridge, Nicola Terry, Stuart Dye 22/01/2012
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Roger Frost speaks with Matt Bruff of Altela Inc, a Denver company making technology that turns the most polluted water useful again. The company licence large-scale water recycling plants that handle the massive quantities...
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As the season switched from spring to summer we look at weedkillers. How do weedkillers (aka herbicides) work? How can a weedkiller target one plant and not another? Roger Frost asked plant scientist, Chris Creese...
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Cambridge science teacher Dr William Hirst tells Roger Frost how learning the language of science can improve children’s success at school. Dr Hirst is the author of a science dictionary for ages 10 -14 called “William’s...
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How the First World War, that began in 1914, put the world’s chemists to work making chemicals to harm as well as heal though overall with horrific outcomes. The author of two books about...
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Answers to the most intriguing questions in science today. The author of a riveting book called “The Big Questions in Science” explains how they researched How did life begin? Why do we dream? And...
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rogerfrost.com is a compendium of ideas for teachers using technology in school. It shows how to use technology, such as measuring sensors, to find answers to science questions.
Now retired, Roger Frost was a copywriter and journalist so you’ll stumble on articles from wayback when. Do use and credit anything with a link back here. And do drop us a helpful line sometime.
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