VanCleave's Science Fun

Your Guide to Science Projects, Fun Experiments, and Science Research

Retrieving Petroleum

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Petroleum Means Rock Oil or Oil From the Ground Petroleum is a Nonrenewable Energy Source Petroleum engineers, as their title implies, are concerned with petroleum, such as: How to Find Underground Sources of  Petroleum How to Remove Petroleum How to Transport Petroleum One method of removing oil  is to force water down a pipe where […]

Antioxidant vs. Free Radicals

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Free radicals are substances that have unpaired electrons. These substances act like “electron scavengers,” in that they snatch away electrons from other chemicals, thus turning these chemicals into free radicals on the prowl for electrons. This ongoing robbing of electrons can result in damage to critical chemicals needed for life processes. Antioxidants are molecules that […]

ROY G. Biv

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The rainbow colors are so spectacular. Notice that the rainbow colors are always in the same order. R is for red light, which is light with the least energy.O is for orange light.Y is for yellow light.G. is for green light.B is for blue light.I is for indigo light.V is for violet light, which is […]

Compounds: Hydrates

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Chemistry Facts: Hydrates are chemicals that have water as part of their structure. If these chemical lose some or all of this water they change in appearance. Cobalt Chloride is an example of a chemical hydrate.When cobalt chloride is hydrated (having water) its color is pink.When cobalt chloride is dehydrated (loses water) its color is […]

WebSite: Unattached Art

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Did I really delete 1000 pieces of art? Why would I do such a crazy thing? How am I going to fix it? Yes, I deleted about 1000 pieces of art. This means that about 900 posts on this website are without art. Was it an accident? No! I methodically deleted about 1000 pieces of […]

DNA Extraction Research

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Discovery Investigation: DNA Extraction 1. Why is the banana smashed? Smashing the banana breaks cell wall as well as cell membranes so that the nuclei are released. 2. What is the purpose of the dish washing liquid? The membrane around cell membranes as well as the membrane around the nuclei contains material that dissolves in […]

Vision: Color Perception

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Color is the perceived image of a surface determined by the wavelength of light reflecting from the surface. The color of a flower depends on who or what is viewing the flower. The top photo show the flowers as perceived by a person with color vision. The bottom photo shows the pattern revealed to bees, […]

Moon Illusion

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Apparent Distance A fourth grade student recently asked me why the Moon and the Sun seem to follow her no matter where she goes. This is a question asked by many kids, and it is one that is not the easiest to explain. After all, Einstein’s Theory of Relativity is based on where the observer […]

Ten Penny Nail

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In the United States, some nails are measured in pennies, such as 10-penny, which is written 10d. The penny measurement goes back to the 15 century in England and referred to the price for 100 nails. A nail about 3 inches long would cost 10 pence per hundred. The larger the nail, the higher the […]