Matter

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.

How effective is fighting a wildfire with controlled fire?

By Oisin Curran

An atom is made up of neutrons, protons and electrons, and its atomic number is calculated by adding up the number of protons and neutrons in the atom's nucleus. Learn about the basic structure and the atomic number of an atom in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

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

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

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

By Desiree Bowie

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

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

Researchers have come up with the most precise determination of Planck's constant ever, making it possible to reframe the idea of what a kilogram even is.

By Patrick J. Kiger

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

There are many types of energy in the world, from potential and kinetic to electrical and thermal, along with many others. But what exactly is energy?

By Mark Mancini

A decade of science and trillions of collisions show the W boson is more massive than expected. A physicist on the team explains what it means for the reigning model of particle physics.

By John Conway

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

By Ian O'Neill, Ph.D.

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

By Jesslyn Shields

For nearly 40 years, science has relied upon the Standard Model of particle physics to describe the universe. But now some are saying that it's time for a rewrite.

By Patrick J. Kiger

Science is still working out exactly what makes frozen water so slippery, but there are a few intriguing theories.

By Laurie L. Dove

Your eyes can only perceive things in the presence of light. Learn how the photoelectric effect supports the particle theory of light in this article.

By HowStuffWorks.com Contributors

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

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