Rotor

We just learned about the Electric Motor.

In the motor, the spinning pole or shaft in the middle is called the Rotor.

The electric motor spins the rotor around, and then the rotor is connected to other gears or pulleys to use the spinning to move other things.



(from: wikipedia - rotor (electric))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Inertial Navigation System

Electric Motor

We just learned about the Bearing.

One type of motor used for a lot of things is an Elecric Motor.

This motor usually has some electric coils wrapped around a metal pole, spinning around inside a tube.

Some electric motors use the tube to force the pole to spin, and others take the energy from the spinning pole and use it to charge up electricity from the tube around it.


(from: wikipedia - electric motor)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Reaction Control System

Bearing

We just learned about the Axle.

Another part of machine work is a Bearing.

This is something that lets one part of a wheel spin around without moving another.
Like on a fidget spinner, you can hold the middle of it and the outside will spin around.
Or like a front bicycle wheel, the wheel will spin around the hole in the middle where the front handlebar is attached.

Usually this is done using ball bearings, which are tiny little balls covered in slimy grease.
On the outside is one metal cylinder, then a bunch of ball bearings, and then a smaller inside cylinder.

The outside cylinder can spin while the inside one is stopped, or the other way around.



(from: wikipedia - bearing (mechanical))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Attitude Control

Axle

We just learned about the big long spinning pole called the Shaft.

Another part of machines is an Axle.

An axle is a long spinning pole like a shaft, but it is connected to wheels on either side.
It is also usually used to help hold up something like a car or a train.

Sometimes the axle doesn't spin but the wheels do, kind of like on a bike.
When a bicycle's wheel spins, the metal post inside the wheel does not spin.
This is usually called a spindle instead of an axle.

Cars and trucks are sometimes talked about by how many axles they have.
This really means how many sets of wheels across from each other are there.
So a normal car would be 2 axles, but a big semi truck might have 5 or more axles on it to help spread out the weight carried by each axle.

Sometimes they have more than one set of wheels on an axle to help hold the weight, but that still only counts as one axle.


(from: wikipedia - axle)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU)

Shaft

We just learned about the Pulley.

Another part of a machine is a Shaft.

A shaft is a long pipe, rod or pole that is on the inside of some kind of bigger spinning wheel.
This can be part of a gear, sprocket or pulley.

When the gear spins around, it turns the pipe.

In some machines, the pipe is used to move something else farther away from the gear.
Like in a windmill, the big wheel outside that is moving has a long shaft attached to it.
The shaft goes into the building where it is hooked up to other gears to turn them and do something useful like grid up corn into flour.

When the windmill turns, the shaft spins, and the gears inside spin and do the work.

A car also has a shaft. When the car burns up gas it makes a shaft spin which then connects to other shafts that turn the wheels.



(from: wikipedia - shaft (mechanical engineering))


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Airspeed Indicator

Pulley

We just learned about the Sprocket that has teeth like a gear, but is made for a chain.

Another type of wheel that is used in machines is a Pulley.

Just like a gear or sprocket it is a wheel that spins for a machine, but the outside of a pulley does not have any teeth.
It has a cable, rope or belt around it that spins around the wheel.

Sometimes a pulley wheel is flat, and sometimes it has a groove for the rope to try and hold the rope or cable in the right place.


(from: wikipedia - pulley)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Spacecraft Magnetometer

Sprocket

We just learned about the Gear.

Another piece of a machine is a Sprocket.

This is a wheel with teeth that looks a lot like a gear, but it is made to hook into a chain or a track.
If you look on a bicycle you will see a chain hooked to a wheel with teeth.
When you move the pedals it turns the wheel, which moves the chain, which turns the bike wheels and makes it go.
The wheel with teeth hooked to your pedals is a sprocket.

Sprockets are also used in things like tanks, or in other big machines.



(from: wikipedia - sprocket)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gyroscope

Gear

We just learned about the Motor or engine that makes things move.

One very important part of most engines is the Gear.

Gears are wheels that have teeth on the end, and usually a hole in the middle.
The teeth on the end can match up with other gears that also have teeth.
So when one gear moves, it also turns the other gear.

If there is a big wide gear that is moving very slow, it can be hooked to a small gear that will spin very fast.
Or it can be hooked to a gear that is sideways, to change the direction of the movement.

Gears are in everything from car motors to clocks to bicycles.
Pretty much everything with moving parts uses at least one gear to help control the movement made by the energy!

The teeth on gears are called "cogs", and gears are sometimes called cogwheels.
Sometimes people will even refer to themselves as a "cog in the machine" meaning that they are just one part of a bigger machine that makes things work.



(from: wikipedia - gear)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rockets - Star Tracker

Motor

We just started learning about Machines.

One of the most important things about a machine is the Motor, also sometimes called the engine.

The motor is the thing that takes some type of energy and turns it into movement.
Like a car's engine takes in gas, and then the engine burns the gas to turn it into movement that makes the car go.

Electrical motors can take electricity from a plug or a battery and use that to move something like a toy or a fan.

There are even types of motors that use steam, air, liquids or coils like toys that you wind up and they walk around.

Anything that takes in energy and then makes something move is a motor.
Really you can even think of our human bodies like engines that take in food and make our muscles move!


(from: wikipedia - steam engine)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Accelerometer

Machines

We've learned a lot about the science of forensics that detectives use to solve crimes.

Another type of science is the study of Machines, which are the things that make the world move.

This could be anything from a car that is driving down the street to a windmill that takes wind power and turns it into energy.

There are many types of machines in the world, and there are lots of jobs for people who work with machines.
One type of job for working with machines is a mechanical engineer.

These people help figure out how to build machines and how to use them to build the things we need in our lives.

Another types of job is a machine operator, like the people who use the machine to do work.
This could be someone driving a big bulldozer, or someone working in a big building using a machine to cut or lift things.

Sometimes our machines break down and we need people to fix them.
There are lots of people working those jobs too, like a mechanic that looks at a car when it isn't working any more and has to figure out how to get it running again.

There are so many machines in our world that we need a lot of smart people to help make them work!


(from: wikipedia - mechanical engineering)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Altimeter

Fire Investigation

We just learned about how Tire Skid Marks can help show what happened in a car accident.

Another type of forensic science is Fire Investigation.

After a big fire happens, the forensic scientists will go into the burned building or car, and look for evidence.
They look for things to tell them what may have started the fire.

There are lots of accidents that can start fires, like stoves or electrical plugs, or even magnifying glasses.

But sometimes bad people start fires either to hurt someone or to burn down a building they don't like.
When someone starts a fire like that on purpose it is called arson.

The scientists can tell from the different kinds of chemicals in the burned building or from the way the flame burned how it started and maybe even tell if it was an accident or on purpose.


(from: wikipedia - arson)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: GNC - Guidance, Navigation, and Control

Tire Skid Marks

We just learned about the Forensic Podiatry.

Another part of forensic science is Tire Skid Marks.

These are the marks left on roads from tires.
Sometimes cars can leave these marks if they are going really fast, taking a sharp turn, stopping very fast, or if there is an accident.

The marks on the road usually look like one of three kinds:

- acceleration marks: These are when someone goes from slow to really fast and the tires are just spinning.

- braking marks: These are when someone hits the brakes and their tires lock up and slide.

- yaw marks: If the car slides sideways either on a turn or because they hit something.

When there is a car accident, the police can look at the skid marks to figure out how the crash happened.


(from: wikipedia - skid mark)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Gimbaled Thrust

Forensic Podiatry

We just learned about the Forensic Epidemiology, trying to prove what causes things like diseases or accidents.

Another part of forensics is Forensic Podiatry.

Podiatry is the study of feet, so this means looking at a person's foot to figure out evidence.
This might be checking to see if a footprint matches their bare feet, or it might be looking at a shoe footprint and trying to find out if that person's foot fits into that shoe.


(from: wikipedia - foot)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Thrust Vectoring

Forensic Epidemiology

We just learned about Forensic Entomology, looking at evidence of bugs!

Another part of detective science is Forensic Epidemiology.

This is the science of looking at someone who is sick or injured, making a guess as to why it happened, and then trying to prove that the guess was right or wrong.

A lot of times people get sick or injured, and we think we know what caused it.
If someone has really bad breathing problems, detectives can look around for bad chemicals in the house, and then do some tests to see if that was really what caused their problems or if maybe they were a smoker or something else.

When a person gets into a car crash and then has neck problems, the science of epidemiology helps prove whether or not their neck problems were because of the car crash or if they would have had the same neck problems from something else.

This type of science is very important, because if scientists can prove that something is bad and causes sickness or injury, then things like bad chemicals can be made illegal, cars can be changed to have better safety, medicines and surgeries can be proven to be good or bad.

(from: wikipedia - forensic epidemiology)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Fire Arrow

Forensic Entomology

We just learned about how Forensic Dentistry can help use teeth to solve crimes.

Another type of science used by detectives is Forensic Entomology.

Entomology is the study of bugs!

Bugs can be pretty scary and gross, but sometimes they can actually help solve crimes that no one else can figure out.
When someone dies, and a detective has to figure out how it happened, they can look at all different types of bugs.

When a scientist is in a laboratory looking at the body of someone who died, they can sometimes find clues of different types of insects that touched the body.
This can help them figure out how long it's been since the person died, and even sometimes it can tell them where the person was at when they died.
This can be very useful in solving crimes!

Studying bugs can also help scientists figure out if there is a problem with bugs in an area.
Like if someone complains that there are fleas in their house, scientists can come by and help figure out where they are coming from, how they got in there, and how to get rid of them.

Forensic entomology also helps figure how helpful insects like bees are being killed, like if there is a type of chemical somewhere that is causing problems for them.

Bugs are not always pretty, but studying the science of bugs can help solve mysteries!


(from: wikipedia - forensic entomology)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Specific Impulse

Forensic Dentistry

We just learned about how scientists can use Forensic Botany to figure out what kind of plants were around during a crime.

Another part of forensic science is Forensic Dentistry.

Sometimes after a crime has been committed, scientists will look at teeth to figure out what really happened.

If there was a fight between two people and one person bit the other person, they can look at the bite mark and try to match it up to the other person's teeth!

There also might be a skeleton that was found from a long time ago, and people aren't sure who it was.
If that person ever went to the dentist and had molds made of their teeth or x-rays of them, they can try to match it up and see who it was.

The teeth can also tell a scientist how old a person was when they died.
This can even be helpful for people that died hundreds of years ago, when people are digging out ancient pyramids, castles or finding cavemen!


(from: wikipedia - forensic dentistry)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Engine Thrust

Forensic Botany

We just learned about the Species Test to test blood to see what kind of animal it belongs to.

Another type of forensic science is Forensic Botany.

This is the study of the plants around a place where a crime was committed.
If the police look at a person's shoes or clothes, sometimes they can find tiny pieces of plants that are on them.
It could be just a seed, or a piece of a leaf, or even a tiny bit of pollen from a flower.

If the forensic scientists find evidence of a type of plant, they can figure out what season a crime happened, like fall winter spring summer.
They can also sometimes figure out the place where it happened, like if a type of flower or plant only grows in one area.
Scientists can also look at the plants and figure out how long ago it was that someone was near those plants, because the plants get brown and decay.

Sometimes the pollen, seeds or bits of plants on our clothes are so small that a criminal wouldn't see it and think they got away with a crime, but the forensic scientists look closely and figure it out!



(from: wikipedia - botany)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Engine

Species Test

We just learned about Forensic Anthropology, the study of a body to see who it is after someone has died.

Another test in forensic science is the Uhlenhuth Test or Species Test.

Way back in 1901 a scientist named Paul Uhlenhuth figured out how to test blood to see if it belonged to a human, or a different type or "species" of animal.

This was important because if a detective found a stain of blood somewhere, people could just lie and say that it was from a cow or a chicken or another animal.

If the blood was from a human, then it was a big deal, especially if someone had been hurt!
Once detectives could use this Uhlenhuth test to see what type of blood they found, people couldn't hide out and lie if someone found a blood stain as evidence of a crime.

One of the most important things about forensic science is finding clues or evidence, and testing to see if people are telling the truth.


(from: wikipedia - blood test)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Combustion Chamber

Forensic Anthropology

We just learned about how scientists can look at guns with Forensic Firearm Examination to see who committed a crime.

Another part of forensic science is Forensic Anthropology.

This is the science of looking at the bones of a person and trying to figure out what happened.
Sometimes this is used in archeology for bones that are hundreds or thousands of years old.
Other times it can be used by police when they find some bones, to try and figure out who the person was.

Scientists can look at teeth to see how old the person was, or the length of their arm or leg bones, or even the size of their skull.

They can even look at the hip bones of a person to see if they were a man or a woman.
Sometimes this helps solve a crime if they find an old skeleton, and they don't know who the person was when they were alive.
If they figure out who it was, they can look for marks on the bones, to maybe tell how they died.
They can also look at the teeth, and sometimes match them up with x-rays from a dentist office to see if they can figure out who it was.

It might seem a little scary or creepy, but by using science with old bones we can solve crimes and make sure the bad guys don't get away!



(from: wikipedia - forensic anthropology)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Propellant Tank

Forensic Firearm Examination

We just learned about Ballistic Fingerprints.

Another type of science is Forensic Firearm Examination.

When guns are made, they are each given a special different code number called a "serial number".
No two guns have the same number, and when someone buys a gun they keep track of who owns which gun with which serial number.

This is done so that if a gun is used for a crime, the police can look at the serial number on the gun and figure out who owns the gun.

The serial number is printed right into the metal of the gun.
Sometimes people try to scrape off the metal where the serial number is, but police can use special electromagnets and chemicals to tell what the serial number was even if it has been scraped off.

Some guns these days are also being made to mark the serial number of the gun on the bullet when it is fired.
That way each bullet can be tracked down to who fired it if a crime is committed.



(from: wikipedia - forensic firearm examination)


Kid Facts - Blast from the past: Rocket Engine Nozzle