Matter

If you’ve ever priced out cargo or read about a ship carrying coal, grain or bricks, you’ve seen tonnes vs. tons. These two words look similar yet refer to different systems and units. In international trade and technical writing, that small spelling shift changes real-world numbers.

By Grant Virellan

From lifesaving medical components to everyday essentials, the most expensive liquid on Earth isn’t always what you'd expect. These liquids are priced by rarity, production difficulty, and real-world value — and some cost far more per liter than gold.

By Grant Virellan

What exactly is an atom? What is it made of? What does it look like? The pursuit of the structure of the atom has married many areas of chemistry and physics in perhaps one of the greatest contributions of modern science!

By Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D.

Wavelengths are used to measure the size of a wave. Learn about wavelengths in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

How effective is fighting a wildfire with controlled fire?

By Oisin Curran

Atoms: the building blocks of life and the universe. We're all made of these microscopic bits of matter, but how many does it take to make a complete human being? And exactly what kinds of atoms do we have inside us?

By Laurie L. Dove

Boyle's Law describes the relationship between pressure and the volume of a container with gas in it. As the volume of the container decreases, the pressure inside the container increases.

By Jesslyn Shields

It isn't magic but instead science that causes the bottled water to completely freeze - and some pretty simple science at that. So, how long does it take water to freeze?

By Kristen Hall-Geisler & Austin Henderson

Something very strange is afoot above the frozen landscape of Antarctica.

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

Protons and neutrons, the particles that form the nuclei of atoms, are themselves made up of even smaller particles known as quarks.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Weight is the measurement of gravity's pull on an object. And it varies by location. Mass is a different beast altogether.

By Mark Mancini

Entropy is the disorder of a system, but that means a lot more than making a mess of a room.

By Jesslyn Shields

A research team has found that water acts strangely on an air-drying towel, which contributes to its signature stiffness.

By Jesslyn Shields

Metallurgy involves studying how metals behave and using that understanding to manipulate and shape them into various forms.

By Desiree Bowie

It looks completely impossible that this rock should stand, balanced as it is, but it has not moved since the last ice age.

By Jesslyn Shields