Science definitely doesn't end at high school, and it's once you take your learning to the next level that things get really interesting. In no particular order, here are some mind-bendingly incredible facts that we didn't learn at high school.
1. Water can boil and freeze at the same time
It's called the 'triple point', and it occurs when the temperature and pressure is just right for the three phases (gas, liquid, and solid) of a substance to coexist in thermodynamic equilibrium. This video shows cyclohexane in a vacuum.
2. Lasers can get trapped in a waterfall
Yes. Not only is this an incredible example of total internal reflection, it also shows how fibre optic cables work to guide the flow of light.
3. We've got spacecraft hurtling towards the edge of our Solar System really, really fast
We all know rockets are fast, and space is big. But sometimes when we're talking about how long it takes for us to get to distant parts of the Solar System are you kidding me?) it can feel like our spacecraft are just crawling along out there.
This gif shows just how wrong that idea is by comparing the speed of the New Horizons probe, which flew past Pluto last year, to a 747 and SR-71 Blackbird.
4. An egg looks like a crazy jellyfish underwater
A cracked egg on land might make a big mess, but 18 metres (60 feet) below the surface of the ocean, the pressure on the egg is 2.8 times atmospheric pressure, and it holds it all together like an invisible egg shell. True story.
5. You can prove Pythagoras' theorem with fluid
Not buying what your maths teacher is selling when they tell you a2 + b2 = c2? You can actually prove it with liquid.
6. This is what happens when a black hole swallows a star
Check the original article here: https://www.sciencealert.com/13-science-facts-never-learned-high-school-2018
As the star gets sucked up into the black hole, a huge jet of plasma is burped out, spanning hundreds of light-years. "When the star is ripped apart by the gravitational forces of the black hole, some part of the star's remains falls into the black hole, while the rest is ejected at high speeds," explains Johns Hopkins University researcher, Suvi Gezari.
This post will continue next Smart Friday ... Stay tuned for more...
Want to learn more?
Keep reading our Smart Fridays articles and check all the different lessons on our learning platform Engage!K12
Check more Smart Fridays articles!
1.Robotic Arms and Assembly Lines 7.The Geometry of Snowflakes
2.Design Thinking 5 Stage Process 8.Light: Wave-particle duality
3. History of Virtual Reality 9.Optical illusions 4.Computer Science Vs Computer Programming Differences
5.Learning how to create your own story! 10.Let's talk about Gravity!
6.Triangle Inequality Theorem 11.Autonomous Cars
