Engineering Fundamentals

Scientist versus engineer: are they the same? Different? Here's a look at the definitions of scientist and engineer and the difference between a scientist and engineer.

Materials science involves physical science and engineering. Science fair projects can invent new materials, improve existing materials, test the properties of materials, or compare the suitability of different materials for a specific purpose. Here's a look at some science fair project ideas in this field of research.

Look up engineering definitions and acronyms with this engineering glossary and dictionary.

Perimeter, surface area and volume formulas are used for many chemistry calculations. You may need to find surface area and volume to determine density and concentration, for example. While it's a good idea to memorize these formulas, here a list of formulas to use as a handy reference.

There's a worked example for coffee cup calorimetry and another for bomb calorimetry, with links to review calorimetry and thermochemistry concepts.

Here is a worked example of how to convert English to Metric measurement units using the unit cancellation method. This example converts yards to meters.

The Greek Alphabet is used extensively in science and mathematics to represent variables and symbols. This table lists all twenty four Greek letters in upper and lower case. Learning the names of these letters is easy and you may be surprised to find you already know them.

Certain rules or laws apply to thermochemical equations and enthalpy. These are explanations and examples of these laws, including Hess's Law.

Here is a step by step example of a conversion between metric units. This illustrates how to cancel units to convert measurement units.

Metric units of measurement are all based on units of ten. Here is a list of the most common metric unit prefixes.

The metric system or SI (from Le Système International d'Unités.) is based on seven base units. These units describe the basic properties on which all other measurements are based.

Many metric units used in science have specialized names for the values they represent. They are considered derived units and can still be reduced to factors of the seven base units. This table lists many of these units and their corresponding base unit values.

Newton's Laws of Motion help us to understand how objects behave when they are standing still, when they are moving, and when forces act upon them. There are three laws of motion. Here is a description of Newton's Laws of Motion and a summary of what they mean.

Scientific notation uses exponents to express numerical figures. Here's an explanation of what scientific notation is, plus examples of how to write numbers and perform addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems using scientific notation.

This article discusses the use of significant figures in taking measurements and performing calculations. Learn about significant figures, uncertainty, accuracy, precision, rounding, and truncating. Losing significant figures and effects of exact numbers are also described.

These are examples of significant figure, accuracy, and precision problems, with links to other worked chemistry problems and homework help.

Need a value for a fundamental physical constant? This handy reference table contains commonly used physical constants used in chemistry.

These are examples of temperature conversion problems, with links to other worked chemistry problems and homework help.

Use these printable worksheets to practice unit conversions. These pdf questions and answers will test your understanding of metric-metric, metric-English, and temperature conversions.

These are examples of unit conversion problems, with links to other worked chemistry problems and homework help.

Get the definition for a chemical element.

Learn about absolute zero and the Kelvin and Celsius temperature scales.

Distillation is a common chemistry process used to separate materials by changing their states of matter. Learn more about how the process works and find out about different types of distillations.

This handy technique is used to desalinate seawater and purify bottled water. Find out how it works!

Learn about the chemistry of stainless steel. This article, from your About Guide, also includes descriptions of the different types of stainless steels, comments on passivation, and numerous links to sites offering related information.

This is the definition of ablation.