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Photo of a laser show

List of science words

Simple scientific concepts that can be little tricky to explain, but we've tried our best.

Photo of liquid water
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Lis forLiquid

A liquid, or fluid, is something that has no shape of its own. It flows around and takes the shape of whatever container it is put into. Water is the liquid most of us are familiar with. When something solid like butter melts, it turns into a liquid.

Mis forMagnet

A magnet is material that produces a magnetic field. Because of this field, magnets can both attract and repel each other (depending on which end of the magnet you use) and can attract ferromagnetic materials, such as iron. The small pieces of iron filing on the magnet in the picture follow the shape of the magnet's magnetic field. Magnets are most often seen stuck to refrigerators.
Photo of melting ice
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Mis forMelt

Melting is the process of something changing from a solid to a liquid. When ice melts it becomes water. When ice cream melts, it makes a mess. You can find lots of things around the house that can be melted in a frypan or saucepan, like butter, cheese and chocolate.
Photo of a mirage
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Mis forMirage

A mirage happens when there are areas of air close to each other at different temperatures, which causes light to bend. This often happens when there is a layer of very hot air just above a road. The result is that something that should be seen in one place is seen in another place. Mirages can look a lot like water on the ground, reflecting the sky.
Photo of a prism
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Pis forPrism

A prism is a clear, solid object, usually shaped with a triangle on the top and bottom and straight sides. Prisms are used to change the direction of light, or to split it up into its colours like a rainbow.
Photo of a man with reflective sunglasses
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Ris forReflect

Something reflects light if it is shiny enough that the light hits it and bounces back off it. The man in the picture has sunglasses that reflect light.
Photo of a tree and its reflection
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A reflection is an image of something else, as seen in a shiny, reflective surface like a mirror. In the picture, you can see a reflection of the tree in the water.
Photo of fingers diffracted in water
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Refraction is the way that light or sound changes direction slightly as it passes through different materials. In the picture, light is refracted as it passes from the air to the water, which makes the fingers in the picture look distorted.
Photo of a shadow
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Sis forShadow

When you stand in front of a light like the sun, some of the light hits you and some of the light goes past you. Where you are in the way between the sun and the ground, there will be a shadow. A shadow is just somewhere there is less light than there is around it. Shadows are the same shape as whatever is blocking the light. Shadows change size and shape depending on how high or low the light is. Shadows are darker and clearer when the light is strong and coming from only one direction. You can make shadow puppets with your hands or some cut-out shapes, a light and a wall.
Photo of an olive in the bottom of a martini glass
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Sis forSink

Something is said to sink in a liquid if it falls to the bottom. The olives in the martini in the picture have sunk to the bottom of the glass. Things sink because they have a higher density than the liquid they are in. The opposite of sink is float.