The total energy available in wind and the power that can feasibly be extracted from it will be determined using the fundamentals of kinematics. Following, the limitations of location and machinery of wind turbines that restrict the amount of power that can be harnessed will be examined, before comparing the impact of wind energy with various other common sources of energy.

The measure of ionizing radiation dose, as is applicable to human health, is the Sievert (Sv). One Sv implies a health impact equivalent to one joule of X-rays being absorbed by each kg of living tissue. Activity, the mean number of decay events per second, is measured in Becquerels (Bq). Knowledge of the activity, mean energy release per event, and exposure time, allows to estimate the dose.

A look at the amount of power potentially available in water waves.

The pupil acts like an aperture which diffracts light. The effect of this for humans and birds of prey is explored.

A summary of numbers commonly used throughout the articles and where they came from. (e.g. energy content of fuels, solar power, greenhouse gasses etc.)

A brief overview of normal and post-normal science.

There are many claims made refuting the existence of global warming. Most of these claims come from looking at very short term data in a very localized region. Global warming, as the name implies, is an increase in the global temperature and conclusions about it cannot be reached using measurements localized in time and space. Doing so is called "cherry picking".

Transformers operate on principles of electromagnetism to step up and step down voltages. This allows for efficient transmission of power across the grid to homes and buildings. It also ensures that the voltage from our sockets is appropriate for home and appliance use.

A summary of symbols commonly used throughout the articles.

This article explains why steam at 100 degC transfers more thermal energy to your skin than an equivalent mass of boiling water at 100 degC.

Learn how photovoltaic panels work, converting light into electrical energy.

The article explains the connection between carbon dioxide and an increase in the average surface temperature on Earth.

We examine this perennial student hang-up.

A large portion of humanity's energy demands are met using fossil fuels. Switching from fossil fuel generation to cleaner sources could greatly reduce the carbon emission put out every year. There are many ways to obtain energy cleanly, each with their own advantages and challenges.

This article explains how a Pitot tube is used to measure speed of a fluid and is applied to measure the air speed of aircraft. Bernoulli's equation forms the basic principle of fluid speed measurements using Pitot tubes.

Use order of magnitude calculations to make reasonable approximations.

Students can model a self-sustaining reaction using ping pong balls and mouse traps while varying the density/concentration of the reactants to see how that affects the rate of reaction.

This example takes typical eye-hand and eye-foot reaction times and calculates the average speed at which a signal travels along the nervous system. Why are eye-foot and eye-hand reaction times different?

Heat loss per unit gram is compared for large arnimals versus smaller animals.

With a cheap IR thermometer, low-E glass can be easily distinguished from the normal variety.

This project takes the student through the steps to build a simple Light Theremin, an instrument which changes its pitch depending on how much light is shone upon it.

This activity is part of the LEx (Lend an Experiment) Climate Kit. Students compare the power consumption of incandescent and LED bulbs through the use of hand crank generators and a simple circuit. Concepts include the conversion of mechanical to electrical energy, power and efficiency, and measurement estimation. There is an option to also investigate the efficiency of the hand crank generator.

Find out how to construct your own "(un)mixing" demonstration and learn about how it works here.

This article explains how by having a thin-film the waves reflecting off of the boundaries between media can interfere and result in coloration.

This article explains how to derive the conditions for constructive interference for thin-film interference and finds the thicknesses of alternating layers of melanin and protein to give constructive interference at 635 nm.

An estimate of the power output from a model hydro-electric dam.

Knowing next to nothing about how aerodynamic drag varies as one hits the sound barrier, there is very simple way to assess the aerodynamic drag on a falling object at its maximum speed. Even at 1432 km/h. In fact the maximum aerodynamic drag occurs afterwards when the falling object is slowing down in the denser lower atmosphere. To asses how big the force was on Felix Baumgartner, we create a simple mathematical model of his fall.

Treating the human body as a thermodynamic system, with food energy going in and heat flow due to radiation, convection, evaporation and conduction, we can see how we can maintain a constant core temperature in a huge variety of environmental conditions.

A useful voltage can be obtained by moving a wire perpendicularly through a magnetic field; the electrons in the wire are pushed to one side creating a flow of electricity which is perpendicular to both the magnetic field and direction of wire motion.

We examine how much energy it takes to fly from A to B, whether by bird, model glider, small plane or 747.

This example incorporates air resistance into free fall to derive the terminal velocity reached. The terminal velocities and physiology of cats and humans are compared.

A comparison of the energy cost and greenhouse gas emissions of gasoline and electric cars.

A rough calculation of rolling resistance in cars explores the impact of having underinflated tires.

People recommend commuting by bicycle rather than by car to save energy. However sometimes when a cyclist pushes the button to make a traffic light change, it means that a bus full of people has to stop. When a cyclist makes the bus stop like this, is the extra fuel it has to burn to get back up to speed MORE than the fuel saved by choosing to commute by bicycle rather than car?

We compare how much energy it takes to move something from A to B using a variety of means: road, rail, water, air, and if that something is a human, walking and bicycling.

Energy is the capacity to do work (both are measured in Joules). Power is the rate at which energy is transformed from one state to another, often from a stored state into work (a Joule of energy transformed per second is a Watt of power). Subsistence living requires about 200 W per person. Western living requires about 10 kW per person. Humankind currently uses about 12.5 TW of power, most from fossil fuels. Ten billion people living a western lifestyle (the not-impossible goal of many futurists) would require 100 TW of power.

This article discusses the physiological effects of electric shock as well as a protective device installed in typically dangerous areas: ground fault circuit interrupters.

Some tips to help you in discussions where scientific data is being used to support or dispute a claim.

In this article, we look at how we can save energy, reduce the Earth’s surface temperature and offset carbon dioxide emissions just by making our roofs and pavements a lighter colour!

We set out to find how much of a change it would make environmentally if one cycled instead of drove to work and then further expanded our findings to include the variables of diet composition and material goods ownership.

The prediction of future climate is done using climate models, virtual Earths with their climates simulated many years into the future. These virtual Earths live inside computers and evolve according to complex equations solved for points in time. The results that these climate models give provide us with important information to make decisions relating to climate change before we encounter the potentially catastrophic consequences.

This example combines both constant acceleration and uniform motion to determine the maximum distance that a gazelle can be away from a cheetah for the cheetah to have a chance of catching the gazelle.

Humanity is not without means to control the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. There are ways it can be sucked out of the air and placed deep underground. However, this is by no means a permanent solution and is not without its risks.

This example investigates how the pressure in the major arteries will vary depending on the position of the body and some physiological consequences of such changes.

This example looks at the relationship between physical exercise and calorie consumption.

This example investigates the compensation for Doppler shifts bats perform to keep their echoes within their range of maximal hearing sensitivity.