Physics Facts

If two pieces of the same pure metal touch in the vacuum of space, they can permanently fuse together through a process called cold welding.

Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

You can start a fire with ice.

So that's how they cheat - a microwaved baseball will fly farther than a frozen baseball.

If you put two straws in your mouth, one inside a drink and one outside it, you won't be able to drink through either straw.

The Space Shuttle main engine weighs 1/7th as much as a train engine but delivers as much horsepower as 39 locomotives.

Today's top fuel dragsters take off with more force than the space shuttle.

The earth is .02 degrees hotter during a full moon.

The bright flash of lightning you see actually travels upward from the ground. While invisible downward 'stepped leaders' descend from clouds, the brilliant 'return stroke' that creates the visible lightning bolt travels from ground to sky at one-third the speed of light.

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.

When pitched, the average Major League baseball rotates 15 times before being hit.

-40 degrees Celsius is equal to -40 degrees Fahrenheit.

A bullet dropped (not fired) from the Empire State Building would reach a terminal velocity of only about 50 mph—not fast enough to kill someone. However, heavier objects like pennies could still cause painful injuries.

Sound at the right vibration can bore holes through a solid object.

Sound travels fifteen times faster through steel than through air.

You can tape a small mirror onto a cone speaker, play music and shine a laser on to the mirror and the reflection will look like a laser light show on your wall.

At 120 miles per hour, a Formula One car generates so much downforce that it can drive upside down on the roof of a tunnel.

The face of a penny can hold about thirty drops of water.

A small airplane can fly backwards.

A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball made of rubber.

If you put a raisin in a fresh glass of champagne, it will rise and fall continuously.

Tidal forces between the Earth and Moon are slowing the Earth down and pushing the Moon further away.

Because heat expands the metal, the Eiffel Tower always leans away from the sun.

If you shake a can of mixed nuts, the larger ones will rise to the top.