How Many of These General Science Words Do You Know the Meaning Of?

Force is a push or pull on an object. Scientists measure the strength of these forces in Newtons. You might be more familiar with the unit "pounds," which measures how much something weighs. Fun fact: 1 Newton is approximately 0.224809 pound-force!

A car is a good illustration of some different types of acceleration. When we hit the gas, the car speeds up, and when we turn the wheel, the car travels in a new direction. When brakes are applied, the car slows down, which is an example of negative acceleration.

About 80% of the universe is made up of materials that are not observable by scientists, Known as dark matter, it exists in order to hold the elements of the universe together.

The weight of an object changes with the strength of gravity. The acceleration due to gravity on Earth is 9.8 m/s/s. Someone with a 60kg mass on Earth weighs about 132 pounds. That same person would weigh about 21 pounds on the moon, due to smaller gravitational pull.

Scientists once thought the atom was the smallest measurable substance on Earth. They now have discovered that the atom is made up of even smaller particles including protons, neutrons and electrons.

An ion is an atom that has either gained or lost electrons. Since electrons are negatively charged, an atom that has lost an electron has a positive charge, while an atom that has gained an electron has a negative charge.

An ecosystem includes all of the living and non-living things in a particular environment. The Earth contains many types of ecosystems, ranging from large areas such as the Siberian tundra to the puddle in your backyard.

Enzymes are typically proteins that speed up reactions that take place in cells. Some enzymes help break down larger molecules, and others bind molecules. All enzymes are highly selective and only help speed up specific reactions.

Force is a push or pull on an object that causes an acceleration. This can include making an object start moving, stop moving, speed up, slow down or change directions. Examples of forces include: gravitational, magnetic, friction, applied and elastic.

Mass is measured in grams, and this measurement remains the same regardless of an object's location in the universe. If you have a mass of 75kg on Earth, you will also have a mass of 75kg on the moon. Gravity does not affect mass.

Photosynthesis is the process of converting carbon dioxide into glucose. Animals must consume glucose, but plants have the unique ability to create their own. The glucose is used in various metabolic processes in most living things.

Mutualism, commensalism and parasitism are all types of symbiosis. Mutualism has benefits for both species involved, while commensalism benefits one part but does no harm to the other. Parasitism benefits one species while causing harm to the other.

Humans are eukaryotic organisms. Our cells contain membrane-bound organelles such as mitochondria, the Golgi apparatus and ribosomes. Each organelle has a different job within the cellular system.

There are five kingdoms in the eukaryotic domain: monera, protists, fungi, plants and animals. Each kingdom can be further divided into the categories of phylum, class, order, family, genus and species.

Most of the property of an atom comes from the number of protons and electrons, with neutrons still playing a part. The neutron has an impact of the mass of an atom, and some isotopes are more radioactive than others.

The breakup of a large super continent known as Pangea helped scientists establish the modern theory of plate tectonics. It is thought that the Earth's outer shell is made up of several plates that slide over the mantle.

Mitosis is the primary mechanism organisms use to reproduce cells. In the eukaryotic cell, this process has five phases: interphase prophase, metaphase, anaphase and telophase. These phases produce the two identical daughter cells.

The end goal of meiosis is to produce four daughter cells with genetic variation. Meiosis involves two rounds of nuclear division rather than just one. Variation is further increased when two gametes meet during fertilization.

Momentum is the product of mass and velocity. A large bus traveling at 60 mph has more momentum than a Prius traveling at 15 mph. A head-on collision of these two objects would cause considerable damage to the Prius, because the change in momentum would be greater with the Prius.

The human body uses a number of homeostatic processes. Humans maintain a normal body temperature by sweating when too warm and shivering when too cold. We must also maintain homeostasis in regards to pH levels and blood pressure.

Gravity is the force that brings you back to the ground when you jump, and it also keeps the Earth in orbit around the sun. Gravity is a product of an objects mass. This is why a person weighs more on Earth than they would on the moon, which has a much smaller mass than Earth.

The periodic table of elements, like the one seen in science classes, lists all the elements known to humankind. Each one is defined by a set of unique characteristics, including the number of protons and its inclination to interact with other elements.

An object has potential energy if it has the possibility of motion. Examples of potential energy are: gravitational, elastic, chemical and nuclear. Potential energy can move to kinetic energy and back again. A classic example of this would be a roller coaster.

The mantle is mostly a solid layer of Earth. It lies between the molten core and the outer crust. It's the thickest layer, making up about 84% of the Earth's volume, at almost 2,000 miles thick.

Your genome contains the instructions for all of your human characteristics, written in a chemical code known as DNA. Human DNA contains around 20,000 genes. Each of these genes are specific instructions for making proteins, the building blocks of our body.

Kinetic energy is a product of an object's mass and velocity. The faster an object travels, the more kinetic energy it has. The more kinetic energy an object has, the more work it can do.

Inertia is an object's tendency to continue doing what it is doing unless acted upon by a force. If not for friction, a ball's inertia would keep it rolling forever. Earth's inertia keeps it revolving around the sun.

Each person inherits two alleles for each gene, one from each parent. These various alleles give rise to all physical traits such as eye and hair color. Some alleles are more dominant than others. The combination of alleles is called the genotype, and the physical trait expressed is called the phenotype.

A light-year is the distance light travels in one year. This is roughly equal to 6 trillion miles. The Earth is about 8 light-minutes from the sun and 4.3 light-years away from the next closest start, Proxima Centauri.

Fusion occurs when wo atoms fuse together to create a single new atom. This new atom contains less mass than the two previous atoms combined. This missing mass is given off in the form of energy as described in Einstein's equation E=mc^2. This is the main source of energy for the sun.

Conductors can be metal, solutions and even the human body. The only requirement for a conductor is they allow electrons to flow freely. Some of the most conductive materials include silver, copper and aluminum.

Velocity describes the rate at which position changes. Accelerations describes the rate at which velocity changes. Scientists can analyze further derivatives of position including snap, crackle and pop, each describing how the previous derivative changes.

Stem cells have the potential to develop into any type of cell. It has huge medical implications because it allows for the creation of any kind of tissue. Stem cells can be found in an embryo's bone marrow and in the umbilical cord.

Igneous is the type of rock formed when liquid magma cools and solidifies. The most common type of igneous rocks are basalt, obsidian and pumice. The variety comes from the different chemical composition of magma.

A zygote is a single-cell organism resulting from the unification of a sperm and egg cell. A zygote will continue to divide until it becomes a blastocyst, at which point it will implant in the wall of the uterus. This will eventually develop into an embryo and then a fetus.