Question

• May 2012
  • Wed., 9 – Why are eggs egg-shaped?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Do refridgerators use more energy when they are empty or full?
     
• April 2012
  • Wed., 25 – How do seeds know which direction to send up their shoots?
     
  • Wed., 18 – When you take a cake out of the oven, the air inside the oven doesn't burn you, and touching the top of the cake doesn't burn you but touching the metal pan does. If they're all at the same temperature, why is there a difference?
     
  • Wed., 11 – In large lakes, you see can see the water oscillate from side to side. What causes these seiches?
     
  • Wed., 4 – When you pour some liquids such as oil or honey from a distance onto a plate, the stream will start to circle onto the plate. Why does that happen?
     
• March 2012
  • Wed., 28 – When you pump up a bike tire with a bicycle pump, the valve will heat up. Why is that? (If it because of the air passing through the valve, why doesn't the valve heat up when you fill your car tire at the gas station?)
     
  • Wed., 21 – When an orchestra warms up, the pitch of the wind instruments increases and the pitch of the strings instruments decreases. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why will a heavily loaded raft drift more quickly with the current in a river?
     
  • Wed., 7 – If you place a block of wood in a glass of water, and put that glass in an elevator, will the block float higher in the water as the elevator descends?
     
• February 2012
  • Wed., 29 – The moon experiences the gravitational pull from the earth and the sun, but the sun's pull is twice as powerful as the the earth's. Why then, doesn't the moon get pulled out of our orbit?
     
  • Wed., 22 – When lightening hits a tree, sometimes it scars it, sometimes it blows the bark off and sometimes it blows it up. What accound for those varying effects?
     
  • Wed., 15 – Why do some candles flicker, even if there is no breeze?
     
  • Wed., 8 – Why do the blood vessels in your eyes become more visible when you're tired?
     
  • Wed., 1 – Why does skin dry out in the winter?
     
• January 2012
  • Wed., 25 – Where would you expect a traditional pendulum clock to run the slowest:?
     
  • Wed., 18 – If the earth were a perfect sphere, it would be completely covered by the ocean. From 50 m to 25000 m, how deep would that ocean be?
     
  • Wed., 11 – Why does snow at the base of apple trees melt faster than it does elsewhere?
     
  • Wed., 4 – Does the earth lose heat as it travels through space?
     
  • Wed., 4 – Why does the colour of sunsets vary?
     
• December 2011
  • Wed., 21 – An old wives tale says a paste of bicarbonate soda and water will cool a burn. Is that true?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why do things smell more when they're wet?
     
  • Wed., 7 – Will a log that's decomposing produce as much carbon dioxide, over time, as a log that is burned?
     
• November 2011
  • Wed., 30 – Does wind exert more force on the sails of a yacht when it's humid?
     
  • Wed., 23 – If you wear a wind up pocket watch, it will keep good time but if you hang it up, it won't. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 16 – Cheerios in milk cluster together within a few minutes, even though they were randomly distributed. Why?
     
  • Wed., 9 – If you squeeze a pile of double edged razor blades the sharp edges will look dark. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 2 – When you drop an icecube into a drink at room temperature, what causes the crackling noise you often hear?
     
• October 2011
  • Wed., 26 – How can you stabilize a hanging picture, without interfering mechanically?
     
  • Wed., 12 – You can have a rainbow at night, by the light of the moon, but they are rare, and have no colour. Why is that?
     
• September 2011
  • Wed., 21 – In tennis, is there really such a thing as a slow or fast court? Why?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why can nearsighted people see better underwater than the rest of us?
     
  • Wed., 7 – How can a hydrophone pick up the sound of a submarine propellor 1000 km away?
     
• July 2011
  • Wed., 27 – 75% of the moon is illuminated by the sun, why can we see the other 25%?
     
  • Wed., 20 – Will black coffee or white coffee stay hotter longer (assuming the milk you added did not lower the temperature)
     
  • Wed., 13 – Swimmers move by pushing and pulling on the water. If the water were more viscous, would they move faster?
     
  • Wed., 6 – When bungee jumping, at what point do you experience the greatest forces and the greatest acceleration?
     
• June 2011
  • Wed., 29 – When you stir a martini, the olive often turns in an opposite direction than the liquid. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 22 – When you ball up a peice of paper, you can only compress it so far, even though there is still alot of air in the ball. Why can't you compress it further?
     
  • Wed., 15 – If you overhead fan is covered with dust and you turn it on high, why doesn't the dust fly off?
     
  • Wed., 8 – Hot air balloonists say when they are in the air, about half a kilometre up, they can hear what people on the ground are saying. The people on the ground, however, can't hear them.... Why?
     
  • Wed., 1 – A magnetic needle on the surface of water will orient to north, but will not move. The same needle, if placed near a magnet, will orient to North but it will also slide toward the magnet. What's the difference?
     
• May 2011
  • Wed., 18 – You can warm your hands by blowing on them gently, and cool your hands by blowing vigorously. What's the difference?
     
  • Wed., 11 – An orange slice dropped in beer will sink and rise repeatedly. Why?
     
  • Wed., 4 – If you were builidng a North-South freeway next to a city, would it better for people's health to build it on the East or West side?
     
• April 2011
  • Wed., 27 – Why do tuning forks have two prongs?
     
  • Wed., 20 – Put some ice in the bottom of a test tube, and hold it there with a weight. Add water to the top and then apply heat to the top of the tube. The water at the top can be boiling but the ice will remain at the bottom. Why is that?
     
  • Wed., 13 – When people go swimming, why is it easier for women to float on their backs than men?
     
  • Wed., 6 – When you pour a beer or root beer, you will get a thick head of foam. If you put your finger in it, it will dissipate quickly. What's happening?
     
• March 2011
  • Wed., 30 – Why do we need to dehumidify the air when we use air conditioning?
     
  • Wed., 16 – If you were at a base camp on the moon, would it be harder or easier to walk on the sidewalk than it is on earth?
     
  • Wed., 9 – Take two wooden pails, without lids, and fill one with hot water and one with cold water and put them outside in freezing weather. Which one will freeze first, and why?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Why is it easier for a male speaker to fill a room with his voice than it is for a female speaker?
     
• February 2011
  • Wed., 23 – When you drop water of a very hot surface, why does it form a ball and dance around?
     
  • Wed., 16 – Usually, sound travels faster through solids than through water. Why is lead the exception?
     
  • Wed., 9 – If the walls of a very high or very wide building were perfectly vertical, would they also be perfectly parallel?
     
  • Wed., 2 – Why are industrial smokestacks so tall?
     
• January 2011
  • Wed., 26 – Why are there so few echos in a mountainous terrain?
     
  • Wed., 19 – If you hold an opaque material over your eye and look through a peephole, it will improve your eyesight. how does that work?
     
  • Wed., 12 – Why are waves parallel when they approach the beach?
     
  • Wed., 5 – Why are Mars' mountains higher than earth's?
     
• December 2010
  • Wed., 22 – Why are deer mesmerized by headlights?
     
  • Wed., 1 – If you fill a bucket with rain, will the rate of filling change if it's windy?
     
• November 2010
  • Wed., 24 – Why is the sky blue on a sunny day and white on a hazy day?
     
  • Wed., 17 – If Earth has a much larger mass than Mars, why do these planets have about the same length of day?
     
  • Wed., 10 – Can you boil bottled water in boiling water?
     
  • Wed., 3 – Is it easier to blow bubbles with a liquid that has a high surface tension, or a low surface tension?
     
• October 2010
  • Wed., 27 – If you shine a flashlight into water, it looks like the light bends downward under water. But if you put a straight stick in the water, at an angle, it looks like the stick is bending upwards. Why is there a difference?
     
  • Wed., 20 – You have a container that holds 30 glasses of water, with a tap at the bottom. It takes ten seconds to fill the first glass. How long does it take to empty the container?
     
  • Wed., 13 – Why can you use a compass to find True North in southern Quebec, but not in southern BC?
     
  • Wed., 6 – On a clear night, why do we see more meteors toward the morning?
     
  • Wed., 6 – Why do we have a blind spot in each eye?
     
• September 2010
  • Wed., 15 – If you're driving in a car with a helium balloon and the car turns left, your body will shift right, but the balloon will move left. Why?
     
  • Wed., 8 – Why does your car antenna change direction when you speed up?
     
• July 2010
  • Wed., 28 – An electric shock of 240 volts can kill you. However on a hot dry day, you can touch a metal surface and receive a shock of up to 10 thousand volts, and be fine. What's the difference?
     
  • Wed., 21 – Why are snorkels only 20 cm long?
     
  • Wed., 14 – Why does quicksand behave like a liquid when you go in, and go rigid when you come out?
     
  • Wed., 7 – Why put the blood pressure cuff on our arms, not on our legs?
     
• June 2010
  • Wed., 30 – When you put a drink in the freezer to chill, it sometimes freezes AFTER you open it. Why?
     
  • Wed., 16 – Why is getting a sunburn less likely in the morning than the afternoon, and more likely at the beach than your backyard?
     
  • Wed., 9 – Is it better to use heat or air conditioning to clear a foggy windshield? And why?
     
• May 2010
  • Wed., 26 – Why does a lightening rod have a sharp point, and not a round end?
     
  • Thu., 20 – Why would open air fires be allowed at night, and not by day?
     
  • Wed., 12 – Try this experiment with a glass of water
     
• April 2010
  • Wed., 28 – We always only see one side of the moon. Is this chance, or is there a physical reason for this?
     
  • Wed., 21 – How can a lava flow create lightening?
     
  • Wed., 7 – How can a ship exit a closed canal, and sail, without internal power?
     
• March 2010
  • Wed., 24 – Why would a submarine have trouble rising from the ocean floor?
     
  • Wed., 17 – If you're driving north very quickly, and veer to the east, which two wheels will lift off the ground?
     
  • Wed., 10 – Why does 21 degrees not always feel the same?
     
  • Wed., 3 – People with metal internally often don't trigger airport detectors. Why?
     
• February 2010
  • Wed., 24 – Why does water in a canvas bag always stay cool?
     
  • Wed., 10 – Why does you voice sound better when you sing in the shower?
     
  • Wed., 3 – Why, when we hear our voices on a recording, do we think it doesn't sound like us?
     
• January 2010
  • Wed., 27 – Can ice on a lake be colder than 0 degrees Celcius?
     
  • Wed., 20 – Why does the Antarctic have eight times more ice than the Arctic?
     
  • Wed., 13 – Is it possible for an animal to make a sound it can't hear?
     
  • Mon., 4 – Do baseball pitches actually curve, or is it an optical illusion?
     
• December 2009
  • Mon., 28 – Why is it difficult to pour salt in humid weather?