For astronauts, dust is no joke. On the moon and Mars, dust isn't at all like the stuff under your bed. It can be poisonous, corrosive, even made of razor-sharp glass. So future astronauts are going to need more than a dust buster to get...

Improving batteries is a tough problem, but it’s also an important one because in many ways the future of our planet also depends on the future of batteries. Luckily, scientists are on the case, figuring out ways to give this essential...

Molecules come in infinite varieties, so in order to help the complicated chemical world make a little more sense, we classify and categorize them. One of the most important of those classifications is whether a molecule is...

The Sun delivers more energy to Earth in one hour than all of humanity uses in an entire year. How can we make this power more accessible to everyone, everywhere? Solar designer Marjan van Aubel shows how she's turning everyday objects...

We’ve all heard the phrase “opposites attract.” It may or may not be true for people, but it’s definitely true in organic chemistry. In this episode of Crash Course Organic Chemistry, we’re learning about electronegativity, polarity,...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how conservative forces can be used to store potential energy in an object or a system. The work done is equal to the amount of potential energy in the object. The following conservative forces are...

So, electric current works like a river... kinda... Instead of flowing based on elevation, electric current works a little differently. But it's a good metaphor. In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini talks to us about electric...

Hank continues our series on the four fundamental forces of physics by describing the weak interaction, which operates at an infinitesimally small scale to cause particle decay.

In this video Paul Andersen explains how economic models, like supply and demand, can be applied to environmental systems. The market forces will not protect environmental services until proper valuation and externalities are...

In this video Paul Andersen describes the intermolecular forces associated with dipoles. A dipole is a molecule that has split charge. Dipole may form associations with other dipoles, induced dipoles or ions. An important type of...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how all objects contain positive and negative charge. Neutral objects contain an equal amount of positive and negative charges. Charged objects have more positive or negative charges. Like charges...

If you ask someone to picture a thunderstorm, chances are they will have no problem slipping into a memory of dark clouds and bright flashes screaming out from them. But, incredibly, they’re probably picturing the tame version of...

As we learn more about electricity, we have to talk about fields. Electric fields may seem complicated, but they're really fascinating and a crucial part of physics. In this episode of Crash Course Physics, Shini chats about capacitors,...

In this final segment on the four fundamental forces of physics, Hank tackles the magnetic force, the second of the two ways in which electromagnetism is apparent in the universe

In this video Paul Andersen introduces electric charge. Electric charge has been studies by humans and was generalized by scientists such as Benjamin Franklin. The amount of charge in a system is conserved but individual charges can move...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how we can use Coulomb's law to predict the structure of atoms. These predictions can be verified through the use of Photoelectron Spectroscopy (PES). Electron's are help around the nucleus because...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the polarity of water makes life on the planet possible. Oxygen is highly electronegative and pulls the electrons closely creating a partial negative charge. The polarity of water (and the...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the conservation of charge applies to objects in a system. When a charged object induces charge or conducts charge to a neutral object the net total of charge will not change. Grounding allows...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how electric charge is quantized and how the smallest unit of charge is 1.6x10^-19 C, or the elementary charge. Robert Millikan discovered the elementary charge using the oil drop experiment. ...

Sunday is Mole Day! And researchers are working on a more delicious way to treat malaria.

In this video Paul Andersen explains how Kirchhoff's Junction Rule can be applied to series and parallel circuits. Kirchhoff's Junction Rule is an application of the conservation of charge. The current into a junction will always equal...

In this video Paul Andersen explains how equipotential lines show equal electric potential in an electric field. Equipotential lines can be created from scalar values or by observing the electric field lines. An charged object can move...

You just wanted to shuffle across the room in your pajamas and bunny slippers, but when you go to reach for the door knob... you get shocked! What gives!? What causes this strange effect?

In this video Paul Andersen explains how the electric field strength is directly related to the amount of charge that generates the field.