Introduction !1 why ?

Why You ask , physics answers….

Written by : Alice H Akkush

Proofreading : Muharrem çiftçi

Introduction !2 why ?
"
From the time immemorial human beings ask
questions and seek explanations. Human is the only
animal who asks and searches for knowledge.Since the
primary man , he has a thirst to know why phenomena
happens and how nature goes on around him. This
thirst is called curiosity .

"
Curiosity is born with us and with time it may be
crushed by society,family or school. How many times do
you meet child who asks : why is the moon following
us ? Why is the sun shining ? Why the stars appear at
night ?Why I can’t reach the sky? Why I can’t fly like
birds? etc.Then you see the same scenario that
happened to you when you were a kid ,when your
parents or teachers shouted at you.Why?
Undoubtedly,they didn’t know the answer.Maybe you’re
now remembering each question you asked and left
behind without an answer.And as the great American
cosmologist Carl Sagan said:“Every Kid starts out as a
natural-born scientist ,and then we beat it out of them”.

"
"
"
Introduction !3 why ?

"
Living without knowing can be considered as
ingratitude for grace and greatness of nature.The blue
of the sky ,the darkness of night , the warmth of the
sun, the glitter of the stars,the tides in the seas ,the
motion of galaxies planets and even the vibrations of
particles and so on. All such great natural phenomenas
and scenes are very interesting to know about .

"
"
In this book we answer 100 “why?” questions in a
brief and simple way.While reading you’ll become aware
of what really happens around you ,from galaxies to
quarks . Your curiosity will be revived and you may ask
more “why?” questions that we didn’t answer or
questions no one ever answered or even asked.

"
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 !4 why ?

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The most important thing is not to stop
questioning .Curiosity has its own reason of
existence.
Albert Einstein(1879-1955)

 !5 why ?

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"
“My goal is simple .It is complete
understanding of the universe ,why it is as it is
and why it exists at all.’’
"
Stephan Hawking
English cosmologist and physicist (1942)

Index !6 why ?

"
Index :The questions are arranged according to alphabetical
order.
1. Why is air invisible ?…………………………………………………………9
2. Why do astronauts feel weightless?..……………………………….9
3. Why do athletes jump backward over the bar?……………..…10
4.Why do asteroids burn when entering the Earth’s
atmosphere ?…………………………………………………11
5.Why does aurora occur…….……………………………………….…11
6.Why are bubbles round?………………………..……………………..….13
7. Why don’t birds get electrocuted on the power lines ?..….…13
8.Why do scientists support the Big Bang theory?……..…….….14
9.Why change of state is at constant temperature ?….…………16
10.Why compass needle always points north?…..…………………16
11.Why are clouds white?………………………..…………………….….…17
12.Why do similar charges repel and opposite charges
attract?…………………………………………………………………………….. 18
13.Why do scientists start thinking about extra dimensions ?
……………………………………………………………………19
14.Why can we see only three dimensions……..……19
15.Why are there only 11 dimensions in the universe not
more or less?……………..20
16.Why is Earth spherical?………………………………………………..21
17.Why Earth spins around itself?………………………………………22
18.Why is Earth slowing down in its spinning ?….…22
19.Why does Earth have water?)…………………………….…..23
20.Why does Earth have seasons……………………………….….24
21.Why does Earth have magnetic field?…………….….25
22.Why is the Earth’s temperature increasing ?………………25
23.Why do earthquakes occur?……………………………..……26
24.Why doesn't electron fall into nucleus?……….……27
25.Why do some objects conduct electricity and others don’t
do?……………………………………………28
26.Why is the entropy of the universe increasing?………………28
27. why do our ears pop in plane?………………………………………29
28.Why is the electric field inside a conductor zero ?………..29
29.Why doesn’t centrifugal force really exist (fictitious)?…..31
30.Why does the flame of a fire go upward against gravity?…32
31. Why do flames have different colors?…………………………33
Index !7 why ?

32.why does an iron/steel nail sink but an iron/steel

ship float ?……………34
33.Why do things floats more on dead sea?…………………………35
34.Why does gravity exist?………………………… ………….36
35.Why is there less gravity on moon than on Earth?37
36.Why does water freeze faster than cold water?38
37. Why Helium balloon rises up in air?………………………………39
38.Why does Helium balloon rise up in air?).40
39.Why is ice slippery?……………………………………………………..42
40.Why is salt sprinkled on ice roads in winter?……………….43
41.Why does an ice skater spins faster with her arms in?…43
42.Why do kites fly?…………………………………………………………….45
43.Why does lightning occur ?……………………………….46
44.Why does light slow down in a medium?………….47
45.Why things can’t travel at the speed of light?…………….…47
46.Why does light refract?)…………………………………………48
47. Why is light affected by the gravitational field?……………49
48.Why is light bulbs hot to touch?……………………………………49
49.Why do we have leap year?……………………………………….….50
50.Why are not 1700 , 1800 and 1900 leap years but is 2000 ?
………………………………………………….….50
51. Why does the moon shines?……………………………………….51
52.Why do we see only one face of the moon?…………52
53.Why does the moon change its shape every night?……….52
54.Why does the moon look bigger at the horizon?…………….52
55.Why is the moon drifting away from Earth?……….………….54
56.Why doesn’t the moon fall on Earth’s surface?……………….54
57. Why is mars red?…………………………………………………………55
58.Why don't we need for the motion of Earth?…….55
59.Why do objects of different masses reach ground at the
same time?…………………… …………………..56
60.Why do objects have mass?……………… …….56
61.Why does mass)mass increase when speed increases?…57
62.Why does magnet attract some metals?…………………………58
63.Why are not other elements attracted by magnets?……..59
64.How do mountains form?……………………..59
65.Why are mountains top full of ice while desserts hot?…….61
66.Why does a nucleus need neutron(s)?…………………………….63
67.Why does nuclear fission release enormous energy ?………64
Index !8 why ?

68.Why does nuclear fission need very high temperatures ?

………………………………………………64
69.Why do stationary objects appear to move when we are in a
moving car?………………………………………………………………………65
70.Why does the prism shows the color of the rainbow?……66
71.Why do planets orbit the sun ?……………… ………..67
72.Why do planets orbit in the same plane?………………………68
73.Why is not Pluto a planet anymore ?……..…………69
74.Why do Quantum mechanics and General relativity conflict
each other?…………………………………………………………….…………71
75.Why do we see rainbows?…………………………………..……..……73
76.Why are not rainbows arced circular?………………..74
77. Why do some metals go rusty?…………………………..………..74
78.Why do things go rusty faster at sea levels?……………….…74
79.Why does it rain?……………..……………………….…………………..75
80.Why do we see different colors?……………….…………………..76
81. Why do we get static shock?…………………………………………..76
82.Why do stars twinkle?………………………………………………….77
83.Why doesn't the sun twinkle like other stars?..77
84.Why do stars die?………………………………………………………..78
85.Why is the sky blue?…………………………………………………….78
86.Why the sky doesn't appear violet instead of blue?……79
87. Why is the sky red at the sunset? …………………80
88.Why is the sky dark at night?………………………………………80
89.Why is the sun yellow?…………………………………………………80
90.Why is the seawater salty?……………………………………………..82
91.Why does time slow down the faster you go?………84
92.Why do scientists care a lot about having a theory for
everything?………………………………………………………………………85
93.Why does the sap of the tree goes up (against gravity)?…86
94.Why is the temperature more at the equator that at the
poles?……………………………………………………….……………………….86
95.Why is the universe expanding?…………………………………..88
96.why is Uranium-235 commonly used in nuclear fission?89
97. Why does our voice sounds different in recording?………91
98.Why water expands when it freezes?…………………………..92
99.Why do we see like water ponds on roads at summer time?
……………93
100.Why do we move our hands while walking?……………..93
""
A !9 why ?
"
1.Why is air invisible ?
"
Air does affect light,but not much,so it seems
invisible.First reason is that the
average air molecule is
about 1 nm across,while light waves
are on the order of 500 nm
across.Hence,light continues its way
not being affected.Another reason is
that atoms are widely spaced where light pass
through,since it has a small chance of interacting with
air .However,if there is a lot of air,light can affect
molecules in a phenomenon called “scattering “ later we
will discuss it in the question‘Why is the sky blue ?’
"
2.Why do astronauts feel weightless ?
"
Most people will answer that
they are weightless because
there is no gravity,this answer
is wrong !.Space stations are
very close to earth and there is
a strong gravitational pull on
astronauts.The truth is that
astronauts have weight but

A !10 why ?

they feel weightless since they are always falling

toward Earth!.To explain the space station and
everything inside it is in free fall toward Earth.So they
are accelerating toward it, but they don’t crush with it
because of their orbital speed.
"
"
3.Why do athletes jump backward over the bar ?

"
Actually this technique is based on a physics concept
called center of mass.A center of mass is a point not
necessarily inside the body-where the whole mass of
the object is concentrated.We human have a center of
A !11 why ?

mass, when stand up the center of mass is around the

belly.It moves all the time according to how our body is
positioned even it can be outside our bodies.The jumper
runs very fast so he can divert his horizontal velocity
to vertical velocity and jump.When he jumps backward
above the bar his center of mass becomes below his
body.If he was not jumping backward he has to apply
more force to lift not only his body but also his center of
mass.
"
4. Why do asteroids burn when entering the Earth’s
atmosphere ?
"
An asteroid comes from space with a very high speed
thousands miles per hour.When it hits the
atmosphere,air in front of it compresses rapidly.Since
air is compressed,its temperature rises to a very hot
degree .Hence,astroid burns up into pieces.

5.Why does aurora occur?

"
The story starts with
the sun,in some
places where the
magnetic field is very high
it pushes itself out of the
A !12 why ?

surface via plasma(ionized gas).When several tons of

plasma leaves the sun it is called solar storm.The storm
continues its way till it becomes close to the Earth’s
magnetic field.Therefore,The magnetic field of Earth
deflects the storm by coupling together(see image
below).What happens is that the electrons from the
solar storm interact with the Earth’s atmosphere
following the field lines to north and south
poles.Again,the interaction of electrons with the gas
atoms causes them to release both light and more
electrons.


B !13 why ?

"
6.Why are bubbles round ?

Bubbles are made of soap and water,where water

molecules contain two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen
atom.Hydrogen has positive charge and oxygen has
negative charge,this
causes water molecules
to attract each another
giving water a surface
tension.Surface tension
makes the thin film of
soapy water assume
the smallest surface
area which is a sphere
(sphere has smallest amount of surface area and lowest
energy).
7.Why don’t birds get electrocuted on the power
lines?
To be electrocuted the bird needs to complete the
circuit by creating potential difference
between two wires.But the bird is sitting
only on one wire where there is no
potential difference.If it sits on 220 V
power line,it will not get electrocuted
unless its wing touches the other line .

B !14 why ?

"
8.Why do scientists support the Big bang theory ?
"
Big bang theory states that from 13.8 billion years ago
our universe has begun as an infinitesimally small,
infinitely hot, infinitely dense point called
singularity.This singularity expanded and cooled, going
from very, very small and very, very hot, to the size
and temperature of our current universe.Scientists
have gathered a lot of evidence and information about
the universe,where the big bang theory seems to be the
most correct one out of the all theories about the origin
of the universe.
First evidence: In 1929,astronomer Edwin Hubble
discovered that the universe was expanding where the
galaxies appear to be moving away from us (redshift),
this supports the idea that the universe was once
compacted.
Second evidence : In 1965, Radio astronomers Arno
Penzias and Robert Wilson discovered what we now call
the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB)
that comes from everywhere in the sky,which supports
the idea that after the big bang there early universe
was very hot and it cooled down since radiation have
been shifted from visible light to the microwave
background radiation we see today.
B !15 why ?

"
Third evidence : The observed abundance of hydrogen,
helium, deuterium,that is a proof the entire universe
was once a really big star where fusion chains occur to
create deuterium helium and other elements (as
proposed by big bang theory that protons and neutrons
could fuse to make stable deuterium nuclei ,deuterium
nuclei react to make Helium-3 nuclei, and Helium-3
nuclei react to make the stable Helium-4 nucleus).

"
Forth proof : in the early 2014 scientists discovered the
existence of gravitational waves that means the rapid
expansion of the universe in the moments after the Big
Bang actually happened.
"
(Philosophically, big bang should be a reference to start
universe creations. Otherwise,we should seek for a back
ground to allow big bang happen. And then we need to seek
for creation of the back ground. This procedure is
infinitive)

"
C !16 why ?

9.Why change of phase(state) is at constant

temperature?

There is a difference
between temperature and
heat .Temperature is a
number proportional to
the kinetic energy of the
particles,while heat is
energy.During change
of state as in melting of
water,there is an increase in
energy.This energy is responsible for the change of
bonds between atoms but not change in the kinetic
energy consequently no change in temperature.We call
it ‘latent heat’.In other words,the energy can change
allowing a change in the bonds but no change in
temperature(Kinetic energy of particles).
"
10.Why compass needle always points north ?
"
The Earth has its own magnetic field.It acts like there
is huge bar magnet buried inside,but this bar magnet is
not on the earth rotational axis it is shifted by some
angle.The south of the bar magnet is on the magnetic
north and the south polarity is on the magnetic
C !17 why ?

north(image).As opposite
polarities attract the magnetic
needle (north) is attracted to the
south polarity in the magnetic
north.That’s why the needle
always points north.If you want to
know “why earth has magnetic
field?”go to letter E.
"
11.Why are clouds white ?
"
This is due to what we call light scattering(throw in
various random directions) where light strikes a
particle or a collection of particles,thereby changing its
direction.Clouds are made up of water or ice droplets
and they are just the right size to scatter all colors of
light.When the white light from the sun hits the
cloud,water and ice droplets scatter all the wavelength
of light in all direction to reach our eyes.
"
Note : But rain clouds tend to be grey that is because
the clouds block sunlight due to their thickness.The
thicker the cloud,more light it blocks.

C !18 why ?

12.Why do similar charges repel each other and

opposite charges attract each other ?
"
Since we started learning science they teach us that
similar charges repel and opposite charges attract.They
show us countless of experiments and we take it as a
fundamental law without knowing the reason.This
question can’t be answered using classical physics,
the modern theory of quantum electrodynamics solve
this puzzling question.The charged particles interact by
emitting and absorbing photons (photons:particles that
transmit electromagnetic force).The particles exchange
is the force of interaction(repulsion or
attraction)because interacting particles change speed
and direction.So one particle
emits a photon and the
other particle absorbs it,and
the way particles are
moving in space-time
determines whether this
force is attractive or
repulsive.The possible
predicted ways are
represented in what we call
Feynman diagrams like in image below.

D !19 why ?

13.Why do scientists start thinking about extra

dimensions ?
"
In Einstein’s general theory of relativity he combined
the three spatial dimensions with additional dimension
of time into four-dimensional space-time.From the
curvature and wrap of space-time he described
gravity.Then a German physicist named Theodor
Kaluza said that there are other forces beside gravity
like electromagnetic force.Hence,he tried to unify
gravitational and electromagnetic field where he
proposed their might be extra dimension(we don’t see).
The curve and wrap of those extra dimension describe
electromagnetic force.And he was right! when he
examined Einstein’s math and work them in 5
dimensions(one additional dimension),he got one
additional equation which was maxwell equation of
electromagnetism.Hence,scientists start thinking about
extra dimensions.
"
14.Why can we see only three dimensions ?
"
String theory proposes that there are more than 3
dimensions.We haven’t seen them either because those
dimension are bigger than to see or smaller than to
detect.If you look at the wire in the power lines you will
D !20 why ?

see it as one dimensional because you are far away, in

which visually you are unable to see that this wire is
three dimensional.But in this case you can easily detect
the true dimensions by coming close enough or by using
binoculars.Maybe we see our universe in the same way
we see the wire from far away and we are unable to
detect the true dimensions of it.
"
15.Why are there only 11 dimensions in the
universe not more or less?

We are familiar with 4 dimensions,up-down,forward-

backward,left-right and time.In a theory called M-
theory physicists assume there are 7 more
dimensions.We have as a total of 11 dimension.Why 11?
For mathematical constancy to unify quantum
mechanics and General Relativity it requires 11
dimension.Where it turns out that if we write the
theory in 17 , 16 ,.. dimensions the theory is
unstable .Also,to put electromagnetism with gravity
with nuclear force in four dimensions is not big
enough,when we expand to 11 dimensions everything
form perfectly well.
"
E !21 why ?

"
16.why is Earth spherical ?
"
The answer for this question is somehow similar to
the answer of the question "why is bubbles
round?" ,that’s how nature works.Earth and other
planets are spherical since spherical shape has
lowest energy a material can
be.Due to the gravitational
force that pulls the masses
together equally in all
directions.The stronger the
force of gravity is more
spherical the shape
becomes.That is why mars has
larger mountains than Earth
(force of gravity of mars is
weaker) .Moreover,as long as the maximum mountain
size is small compared to the radius of the planetoid the
body will be spherical.

"
Note: Earth is not perfectly a sphere , it is
approximately spherical .

E !22 why ?

17.Why Earth spins around itself ?

"
Earth has formed from a spinning cloud of gas and
dust that collapsed due to the gravitational force.As
things collapse they spin faster (like an ice skater
spinning faster and faster as they bring their arms
in).Earth continues spinning since mass maintains its
state of motion unless acted upon a force,due to inertia.
"
"
18.why is Earth slowing down in its spinning ?
"
"
As Earth is
rotating around its
axis,the moon
having a
gravitational pull
on earth’s oceans
and some of the
crust below(moon
arises tides on the
earth).It turns out
that the moon attracts the ocean tides.Roughly every
100 years, the day gets about 1.4 milliseconds,or 1.4
thousandths of a second, longer.But this is a small effect
E !23 why ?

because the tides aren’t very high and the moon is very
faraway.
"
19.Why does Earth have water?
"
Earth is the only planet in our solar system that has
water that has a rate of 70% on its surface.The weird
thing is that everything we know about how planets
formed,says that earth must be dry.
As we know after some minutes from the big
bang,hydrogen and helium has formed(being the lighter
elements on earth).Time goes over other elements
appear including oxygen.But the formation of hydrogen
and oxygen and the formation of water are two
different things!!.So scientists concluded that water
must come from outside source”astroids and
comets”.Recently this theory also collapsed since
researches discovered that comets have more heavy
water than Earth’s oceans.There are some other
theories but we are uncertain about why Earth is the
only planet with water.While some say it is our fortune
others believe the reason is God and we exist for a
purpose.
"
"
E !24 why ?

"
20.Why does Earth have seasons?
"

"
Here on Earth-as we all know-we have four
seasons:Spring,summer,winter and autumn.The Earth
axis of rotation(red arrow-an imaginary line the passes
through the poles and cut the earth into two equal
parts) is not parallel to the sun’s axis,actually is it
tilted by an angle of 23.5o.Therefore the tilt of earth’s
axis causes the hemispheres to receive different
amount of sun’s energy.This tilt not only affects the
angle the places on earth receive from the sun,but
E !25 why ?

also,the duration of day and night.For six months of the

year, the Northern hemisphere is tilted towards the
Sun, while the Southern hemisphere is tilted away. For
the next six months, situation is reversed.The part that
is tilted toward the sun experiences more heat energy
to warm up.
"
Something to know:The equator is an imaginary line
on Earth’s surface equidistant from the North pole and
the south pole,dividing earth into northern hemisphere
and southern hemisphere.
"
21.Why does Earth have magnetic field?
"
Magnetic field protects Earth from solar winds and
anything that encounters it.Our Earth has strong
magnetic field .Why? Magnetic field is generated in the
Earth’s core.The core is rich in iron and nickel
liquids,the flow of this hot liquids due to Earth’s
rotation around its axis generates electric
currents,that in turn produce magnetic field.
"
22.Why is the Earth’s temperature increasing ?
"
Carbon dioxide(CO2 )is found in nature and
everywhere around us.The proportion of CO2 is
regulated by forests,seas and so on.Due to deforestation
E !26 why ?

(cutting trees) part of the CO2 is no longer absorbed,so

that the amount of CO2 is increasing.And the problem
with CO2 is that it absorbs radiation from the sun and
radiates out heat (infrared radiation).Moreover,
methane from greenhouse gases trap the heat within
the atmosphere never allowing it to get out to
space.Hence,earth gets warmer.
"
23.Why do earthquakes occur?

"
Earth’s crust is made
of tectonics plates that
float on mantle.Since,
these plates are free to
slowly move, they can
either drift towards
each other, away from
each other or slide past
each other. Many
earthquakes happen in
areas where plates collide or slide past each other.
"
"
"
"
"
"
E !27 why ?

"
"
24.Why doesn't electron fall into nucleus ?
"
We can’t answer this question using classical physics
as we did in the previous questions. According to
classical physics the electrons would spiral into the
nucleus within a tiny fraction of a second(by treating
the electron as a ball that can fall into the nucleus
under electrostatic attraction).That means all matter
would collapse,that’s why quantum mechanics became
the model for describing what happens at the
microscopic level .In QM we know electrons occupy
certain energy levels,and there is possibility of finding
an electron everywhere in the universe so the question
is more like : what is the probability of finding an
electron in the nucleus ?.
This is explained in the uncertainty principle
ỎxỎp≥h/4π.
Ỏx: uncertainty in position .
Ỏp: uncertainty in momentum .
h: plank’s constant .
"
In other words , Ỏp≥h/4πỎx ,as the electron collapses
to the nucleus Ỏx→0 so Ỏp→∞ .But as we know p=mv
(mass times velocity ) and since mass of electron is
E !28 why ?

very small,velocity should tends to infinity(ν→∞) which

is impossible since nothing can exceed the speed of light
c.
"
25.Why do some objects conduct electricity and
others don’t do?
"
The materials that conduct electricity are called
conductors.Conductor has free electrons and they are
loosely connected to the nucleus they jump around
from an atom to another and this what makes it easy
for electricity to flow.While in insulators electrons stick
with their atoms.
"
26.Why is the entropy of the universe increasing ?
"
Entropy is the measure of the disorder of the system.
Entropy of the universe
always increases since the
universe is in irreversible
cycle,we are all born, then
age ,then die; never the
other way around.We
remember the past, but not
the future.Also, entropy tends to increase because
using mathematics we can tell there are more ways to
be high entropy than low entropy(probability).
E !29 why ?

"
27.why do our ears pop in plane ?
"
There is air in our ears,the pressure of this air is
equal to the outside pressure to hear.When we are on
plane the pressure is less than the pressure on the
surface.This difference in air pressure can be felt by the
ears,where the ears have a small tube to equalize the
pressure between inside and outside that is opened
when you swallow.When the pressure is equalized you
feel a pop.
"
28.Why is the electric field inside a conductor zero ?
"
In conductors electrons can move freely from one
atom to another.When there is excess of charge,the
charges move in a way the conductor is in electrostatic
equilibrium.To attain this
equilibrium the excess of
charges and the free electrons
are distributed in a way to reduce
the total amount of repulsive
force,till there is no further
motion of charges.To sum up,
when conductors are in
electrostatic equilibrium the
E !30 why ?

"
electric field inside the conductor becomes zero . Why?
We will explain this by contradiction.Let’s suppose we
put an electric field inside the conductor (negative
charge) so electrons which are free in conductors would
move.But, charges are stationary in electrostatic
equilibrium (2nd condition for electrostatic
equilibrium).So,our supposition was wrong there is no
electric field inside .
"
F !31 why ?

"
29.Why doesn’t centrifugal force
really exist (fictitious)?"
"
Before answering the
question I should mention
what is centrifugal force by
giving some examples you
experience everyday in your
life .For example,when you
are sitting in a car and it
accelerates forward you feel a
force or a push dragging you in the opposite direction of
motion!.Another example from your childhood when
you were playing on merry-go-round you almost felt a
force dragging you out of it.Even when you have an
open bottle of water when you are rotating it at high
speed water doesn't fall down!.But why does this
happen?. This is due to a force we call centrifugal
force(an outward force)that is opposite to centripetal
force which is a real force pushing
things to the center.
Now,why is this force
unreal?.When the car is
accelerating you are in a non-
inertial frame,and the illusive
F !32 why ?

force you feel is merely the tendency of your body to

resist the acceleration and to remain in its state of
rest(inertia).The car is accelerating out from under
your body, leaving you with the false feeling of being
pushed backwards.
Moreover,if an observer is in an inertial frame
observing you in the car or in a rotating platform,he/
she will notice that this force is pseudo-force.
"
"
30.Why does the flame of a fire go upward against
gravity?
"
The flame goes upward even when there is strong
gravitational pull like on Earth.The fuel reacts with
oxygen to release heat and other gases.The released
gases are hotter than the surrounding air.This means
that the obtained gases are denser than air,so an
upward buoyant force pushes the gases.Applying
Archimedes principle : A force equal to the weight of the
air displaced lifts up an object surrounded by air.When
we are talking about weight we conclude that gravity is
the reason for the flame shape and without it hotter
gases won’t move upward.
"
"
F !33 why ?

"
"
31.Why do flames have different colors ?
"
There is a relation between the fuel burned and the
color.Explanation of it is that electrons in the atoms of
the fuel used are excited due to heating (energy).They
move from ground state to higher energy level and
when they return back they emit photons of different
wavelengths.Each wavelength corresponds to a certain
color.
Sodium emits orange light
when burned. If you see blue in
wood flames,it is from(not
"from" use, "because of") the
burning of carbon and
hydrogen.Red comes from
lithium ,and copper will make
green or blue flames when
burned.
"
F !34 why ?

"
32.Why does an iron/steel nail sink but an iron/
steel ship float ?
"
The condition of floating as first discovered by
Archimedes.The discover is when the weight of the
floating object is equal or less than the weight of the
displaced liquid.Where there is a force called buoyant
force that pushes on an object when it displace water.In
other words,objects float when their density is equal or
less than the density of liquid.

The steel/iron nail sinks because its density is more

higher than the density of water.Which means that the
downward force (weight of nail)is much more than
upward force(buoyant force).But the steel/iron ship is
not completely steel/iron ,it is full of air!.So,average
density of the ship as a whole, is less than density of
water.It is easy to shape a boat in such a way that
F !35 why ?

weight of the boat is equal or less than the weight of

displaced water .
An analogue:if you have a deflated balloon it would not
rise up in air because of its density but if you fill balloon
with helium,it will rise up.
"
33.Why do things float more in dead sea?
"
The dead sea has more salt than other seas or fresh
water has .It is six to eight times saltier than the
ocean.Dissolved salts make water more
dense.Increased density results in greater buoyancy for
any object placed in the water.

G !36 why ?

"
"
"
"
34.Why does gravity exist ?
"
Gravity is a force responsible for everything to fall
down.Gravity is what prevent us from falling out in
space.First,sir Isaac Newton discovered gravity.He put
the gravitational law
where every two objects
with mass at a certain
distance from each other
exerts a gravitational
force(F=m1m2/d2).Then
Albert Einstein explained
gravity as it is more
than a force,the
curvature in the space-time continuum .This is often
portrayed as heavy ball on a rubber sheet and other
smaller balls fall in toward the heavier object because
the rubber sheet is wrapped from the heavy object
(figure).Some scientists had proposed particles called
gravitons cause objects to be attracted to one
another.But gravitons have never actually been
observed.
G !37 why ?

Satisfied about I have just explained!. I just explain

what is gravity as we
know it till now but I didn’t answer why it exists ?.Or
why things with mass and energy attract each other
gravitationally?. Frankly speaking physicists don’t
know the answer since that’s how our universe works .
"
35.Why is there less gravity on moon than on Earth?
"
In newtonian (Newtonian) physics, gravity is a force
between two objects with mass. F=m1m2/r2 , if m1 is
your mass,m2 is the mass of earth or moon and r is the
radius of the earth or moon or other planet.When the
ratio m2/r2 increases the force of gravity
increases.Now, if we take mass of Earth
m2E=5.97*1024 kg and its radius is rE=6378 km….
after calculation FE=9.8m2 N .For moon,
m2M=7.34*1022 kg and rM=1737.4 km and after
calculation F=1.62m2 N .The pull of gravity on you on
earth is greater than on moon.In a nutshell less gravity
is due to less mass.
According to Einstein gravity is the curvature of space-
time created by massive objects.Greater the mass is
greater the curvature more the pull.
"
"
H !38 why ?

"
36.Why does hot water freeze faster than cold
water?
"
This is a very old question.It was first observed
by Aristotle, then later by Francis Bacon and
René Descartes.Today we call the phenomena
Mpemba effect
after a Tanzanian guy named
Arasto Mpemba observed the
effect on ice-cream.
Scientists all over the world
have made a lot of theories but
none has completely explained the phenomena .The
Royal Society of Chemistry offered a £1,000 prize to
anyone who could explain how the Mpemba effect
worked.A scientist named Nikola Bregovic at university
of Zagreb won the prize.His theory was that water
develops convection current as it cools and those
convection currents allow warm water to overtake the
cooler water in freezing.In 2013 scientists in
Technological University in Singapore claim they found
the explanation.Where the reason goes to the bonding
between water atoms more precisely the hydrogen bond
.As water molecules are close to each other their
natural repulsion causes water covalent bond to stretch
H !39 why ?

and store energy and as water warms the molecules are

farther and hydrogen bond stretch allowing the
covalent bond to compress and release energy and that
is cooling .This means hot water are able to release
energy faster.
Actually no one knows“why”.Scientists are trying to
explain how!!!
"
Something to know : Water molecule is built up of one
oxygen atom that has a slightly negative charge and
two hydrogen atoms that have slightly positive charge
joined by covalent bonds.When we have many
molecules,take for example two molecules of
water,oxygen in the first molecule will attract the
hydrogen in the second molecule forming a bond called
hydrogen bond.
"
"
37.Why does Helium balloon rise up in air?
"
The reason of why things
float in water;(can be applied to
air...) applies to air as well.
Helium and the balloon
displace an amount of air,and
as long as Helium is less dense
H !40 why ?

than air.Air contains oxygen and Nitrogen that are much

heavier and have larger molecules than that of
Helium.Then,the weight of the displaced air is more than
the weight of helium and the balloon introduced.Hence,the
balloon will float in the air(this is the law of buoyancy).
"
38.Why does Helium make your voice squeaky?
"
When we exhale the lungs push air up to the
larynx,the vocal cords in the larynx(V shaped) open to
let the air exit to mouth without producing any
voice.But when we are ready to talk the muscles of the
larynx pull the cords making them vibrate,the
vibration of the cords excite air molecules(nitrogen
and oxygen) that surrounds them which intern makes
a sound wave.The speed of sound in air is about 350 m/
s. If helium is introduced which density is much less
than air’s density,the speed of sound is about 1000 m/
s.As we know that v=λ*f (v:velocity , λ:wavelength and
f :frequency),and experiment shows f stays constant.
That means as v increases,when inhaling
helium,wavelength λ increases to keep f constant.This
change in the wavelength alters the resonant
characteristics of the airway.In other words,helium
changes the Timbre of your voice by increasing velocity
and wavelength that in turn changes the resonant
characteristics of the airway.
H !41 why ?

"
Something to know : There is a
misconception.Helium doesn't change the pitch of your
voice,your vocal cords don't vibrate faster but the
resonant frequency of your throat and mouth increase
then timbre(quality of the sound) changes.
"
"
"
I !42 why ?

"
"
39.Why is ice slippery ?
"
What makes ice slippery is the water layer on its
surface.The cause of this water layer is the pressure
applied by the skate,the pressure increases the melting
point of ice causing the outermost layer to melt.And
after the skate would slide across,a sheet of water
would refreeze again as soon as the skate
passed.Another scientists claim that the reason is
friction between the skate and the ice.The friction
generates heat that melts outer layer of ice.


I !43 why ?

"
40.Why is salt sprinkled on ice roads in the
winter?
"
If you live in a place where ice covers it,you probably
noticed that salt is sprinkled on roads.
When we add salt to ice,the salt dissolves with the thin
layer of water on the surface of ice.When it is dissolved
the freezing point of water becomes lower(since the
combined salt and water molecules need to lose more
heat to slow them down),then the water molecules from
the solid layer of ice move from the solid to the
liquid.Thus ice begins to melt and lowers the freezing
point preventing the formation of ice at
0oC.Moreover,the addition of ice will help in decreasing
the amount of slippery. The ice molecules form a crystal
lattice structure so it form slippery crystal surface
where salt breaks this structure.
"
41.Why does an ice skater spin faster with her arms
in?
This is a result of the conservation of angular
momentum.In physics,angular momentum is a measure
of the amount of rotation an object has, taking into
account its mass, shape and speed.To keep the angular
momentum conserved rotation speed must increase
when someone pulls his/her arms and leg in.
I !44 why ?

To explain it more,using mathematics: angular

momentum L=Iω (I is the moment of inertia and ω is
the rotational speed ).However,the moment of inertia
I=MR2 (where M is the mass and R is equal to average
distance of the mass from the axis).So if the ballerina
pulls in her arms, he/she becomes closer to the axis,
and R decreases.
Her/His mass M doesn't change but the moment of
inertia I decreases, too.Because L=Iω has to be
conserved and I decreased, ω must increases.That is
why the skater draws her/his arms and a leg in and
speeds up tremendously.
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
K !45 why ?

"
"
42.Why do kites fly?
"
Just like an airplane there are four forces acting on
the kite:upward force
(lift),downward force
(weight) , backward force
(drag) and forward force
(thrust).The left is an
upward force that pushes
the kite up since kites are
shaped so that the air
moving over the top moves
faster than the air moving
over the bottom to make the pressure below the kite
more than the pressure above it.The weight is the
downward force due to gravitational attraction.The
thrust is due to wind while the drag is due to friction.To
launch a kite into the air the force of lift must be more
than the weight.To keep a kite flying steady the four
forces must be in balance.

L !46 why ?

"
43.Why does lightning occur ?
"
Clouds become electrically charged,the upper portion
is positively charged and the lower portion is negatively
charged.There are many explanation for how the cloud
acquire charge,the best explanation is that electric
charge is due to the collision between ice,water and
water vapor.
When the electric field in the
cloud increases and
increases,electrons in the
cloud start to repel electrons in
the ground surface
causing it to become positively
charged.Now,we
have negative charge - air-positive
charge (see figure),but air is an
insulator and the lightning needs a path,here comes air
ionization process where air become ionized .Then
what’s called a stepped leader which is an invisible
discharged path that moves downward from cloud to
ground.And another leader is then created upward
from Earth to cloud.When both make contact visible
lightning occurs.

L !47 why ?

"
"
44.Why does light slow down in a medium ?
"
This is one of the difficult questions to answer,let us
think of light as photons associated with oscillating
electric and magnetic field.When these photons pass
through the solid the electrons of the medium start to
oscillate and those electrons intern radiate photons.
Now, there are the original wave and all the other
electromagnetic waves(due to the electrons that have
been oscillating).So the waves interact with each other
this interaction slows the propagation of the photon
down.
Something to know:* Light is an electromagnetic wave
and photons.Photons are particles with no mass and no
charge .
* On the internet there are a lot of answers , telling that
the photon is absorbed but that seems not to be true
since mediums as glass or air are transparent .
"
45.Why can’t objects travel at the speed of light ?
"
When the speed of objects increases their mass also
increase(according to special theory of
relativity ).More mass increase more energy it needs to
L !48 why ?

accelerate.And at the speed of light mass becomes

infinity so we need infinite energy to do so!.And that is
impossible in our time.The only particles that travel
and always travel at the speed of light are particles
with no mass like photons.
"
46.Why does light refract ?
"
Refraction happens when
light passes from one medium
to another,where it changes its
direction.Think of light as a
wavefront(see image).When
light hits the surface of
separation with an angle what
happens is that the first part of
the wavefront starts to slow
down while the other part
after it are coming with the
same speed.Hence,one part of wavefront is moving at a
slower speed than the other.So,light bends applying the
principle of least time(Fermat's principle).
"
"
"
"
"
L !49 why ?

"
47.Why is light affected by gravitational field ?
"
Light can only be affected by very strong gravitational
field,like that of the massive stars (according to general
theory of relativity).You are now wondering since light
has no mass,but the reason goes that the massive star
makes a distortion in the space-time so that photons of
light are affected by this curvature of space-time.
"
something to know:The bending of light due to strong
gravitational field was first predicted by Einstein in his
general theory of relativity in 1916 , then in 1919
Eddington made experiment that was an observational
test of General Relativity.
"
48.Why is lightbulb hot to touch ?
"
Light bulb is made up of many part,one of these parts
is called the filament.When the electric
current(electrons)passes through the filament it heats
up.Since electrons increase the kinetic energy of the
filament’s atoms which intern increases the
temperature.
The electrons of the filament atom become excited and
move to a higher energy level.When they return back to
their initial level they emit photons(Light).
L !50 why ?

something to know : Light bulbs are manufactured

with tungsten filaments.Because tungsten has very
high melting temperature.
"
49.Why do we have a leap year?
"
A year is the time it takes Earth to orbit the sun.The
calendar is divided into 365 days .It takes for the Earth
to orbit the sun not exactly 365 days but about 365.25
days.So,every four years we throw in an extra day.
"
50.Why are not 1700 , 1800 and 1900 leap years but
is 2000 ?
"
Like we said in the previous question that every year
is divisible by 4 is a leap year.But 1700 , 1800 and 1900
are divisible by 4 and not leap years. because of the
earth needs exactly 365.242199 days not 365.25 to
orbit the sun.So,a year is a leap year if it is not only
divisible by 4 but also by 400.
"
M !51 why ?

51. Why does the moon shine?

The ancients thought that the moon produced its own

light.Now we know that the light coming from the moon
is the sunlight reflected by its surface that acts
somehow like a mirror but a bad one.Since it reflects
only 12% of sunlight .
"
M !52 why ?

"
52.Why do we see only one face of the moon?
"
Here on Earth we see exactly the same features of the
moon’s surface because the moon spins once around its
axis.It spins in the same amount of time it needs to
orbit the Earth,which is about 27.32 days.
"
53.Why does the moon change its shape every night?
"
The shape of the moon
depends on the part that is
lighted from the sun.Since
Earth,sound and the moon
are connected.It takes 265.25
days for earth to rotate the
sun and 27.32 days for moon
to orbit earth.But we only see
half of the moon(one
face)which is always
illuminated by the sun.The proportion of the
illuminated part visible to us varies from 0% (new
moon) to 100% (full moon).
"
54.Why does the moon look bigger at the horizon ?
"
Since ancient times people have wondered about this
M !53 why ?

strange effect.Aristotle,ptolemy,Da Vinci and Decartes

have all thought about this question and till now we
don’t have satisfactory explanation .This is called moon
illusion, physics has nothing to do but psychology .
First explanation is due to Ebbinghaus illusion.When
moon sets on the horizon it looks bigger,the theory
suggests that near the horizon are tiny trees and
houses compared to the moon so brain gives the illusion
that the moon is bigger.While,when the moon is higher
up it is surrounded by vast dark sky so it looks smaller
in comparison.The second explanation is Ponzo
illusion,the closer something is to horizon the smaller
you have to draw it .

If you don’t believe the idea try to take photo of the

moon near horizon and the moon high in the sky you’ll
find out that they are of same size. It seems we solve the
mystery by those two
explanation ,but,unfortunately,moon also appears
M !54 why ?

larger at horizon even for pilots traveling high above

the clouds where no small objects appear near the
horizon .
"
55.Why is the moon drifting away from Earth ?
"
Before in letter E we answered a question “why is
Earth slowing down in its rotation ?”.So we already
know earth is slowing down that means it is losing
energy (due to tides).This energy is transferred to the
moon and the moon is speeding up.The moon will have
faster orbital speed and the faster something orbits the
further it goes.
"
"
56.Why doesn’t the moon fall on Earth’s surface ?
"
Actually the moon does fall on earth all the time!.The
moon is in free fall but never falls down.Though there is
a large force pushing the moon toward us
(F = G Mearth Mmoon/d2earth to moon ) .But the moon is
faraway and moving with a very high orbital speed that
prevent it from falling .So it falls on the Earth with a
continuos circular path.
"
"
"
M !55 why ?

"
"
"
57.Why is mars red ?
"
Mars is called the red planet.The reddish color is due
to the rust on its surface this rust is
iron oxide. Iron oxide (rust) is
formed due to the reaction between
iron and water.But there is no water
in mars!.So scientists proposed that
there was water billions of years ago
that combined with martian rocks
rich in iron to form iron oxide.
"
"
58.Why don’t we feel the motion of Earth?
"
The earth is rotating at a very high speed around
itself(1000 miles per hour)and around the sun(67000
miles per hour).But,we don’t feel the motion when
things move at constant velocity.For example,if you are
in a car and it is moving with constant speed and you
close your eyes not to see things outside moving you
feel that you are stationary (That is what we call
relative motion) and so is Earth.Though there is an
outward force pushing us away from earth due to its
M !56 why ?

rotation,gravity over comes this force.We can only feel

its rotation if Earth changes its speed increasing or
decreasing.
"
59.Why do objects of different masses reach ground
at same time?
"
Before Galileo it was thought that heavy object
weighs more.So it must fall down,since it has more
weight (greater downward force applied to
it).But that was proved wrong when
Galileo threw two balls of different
masses from Pisa tower.Where the
heavier object get more mass that
means it gets more inertia (more
resistive to move).Hence,it needs
more gravitational force (weight) to
accelerate it at the same rate as
the light one.
"
"
60.Why do objects have mass ?
"
Objects are made of millions and millions of atoms
which in turn are made of particles that are made of
subatomic particles.These subatomic particles have
M !57 why ?

mass.Why do subatomic particles have mass?.The

answer of this question was proved right in 2012 , when
experiments at Large Hadron Collider proved the
existence of Higgs boson.To explain, the Higgs boson is
associated with Higgs field .So the particles that
interact with this field have mass and the particles that
don’t interact with the field don’t have mass (like
photons ).
"
"
61.Why does the (relativistic )mass increase when
speed increases ?

When we want to speed up an

object we give it energy.As
special relativity tells us energy
and mass are
equivalent(E=mc2).Then some of
this energy is transferred into mass, increasing the rest
mass.
"
"
"
"
"
M !58 why ?

"
62.Why does magnet attract some metals?

Metals are conductors of electricity,and as known

conductors have free electrons.Each electron acts as a
bar magnet and it has a north and a south pole.When
we put the metal next to magnet,the tiny magnets(free
electrons)all line up in a certain way that they are
attracted to the
magnet.For example,if I
approach the south pole of
a magnet to a piece of
iron,the tiny magnets(free
electrons) in the iron piece
will line up where all the
north poles face the south
pole of my magnet.And unlike polarities attract.
"
Something to know:If you want to know why electrons
behave like tiny magnets you might ask why they are
charged in the first place .Actually no one knows!.
"
M !59 why ?

63.Why are not other elements attracted by

magnets?
"
Other elements just have electrons that also act like
tiny magnets.But,these electrons come in pairs in
opposite directions and so they cancel each
other.Also,the unpaired electrons in non-metals are
shared for bonding.
However, sometimes (in iron, nickel, and cobalt for
example)there are one or more un-paired electrons.The
magnetic fields of these electrons aren’t cancelled out
by another.
"
64.Why do mountains form ?
"
There are several different ways that mountains can
form:
"
First way is by folding, when
the Earth’s tectonic plates
collide they cause high
pressure.Under high pressure
layers are compressed and rose
up in air.
M !60 why ?

These layers are called folded mountains.The

Himalayas formed by the same way
when the plate carrying India collided
with the Asian plate.
"
The second way is from volcanic
activities.Where magma rise up and
push the crust to form a dome shape
then it cools down(not necessarily erupted).
"
The third way is faulting,the earth crust is filled with
cracks where some cracks are called faults.What
happens is that one side of a fault tries to move in one
direction and the
other side moves
in the opposite
direction, due to
stress one part
(block) move
vertically upward
forming what we
call Fault block
mountains.
"
M !61 why ?

"
65.Why are mountains top full of ice while desserts
hot (though mountains are closer to sun)?

"
We get sun heat via radiation,so most people wonder
why mountains are colder than valley,while mountains
are closer to the sun.They are indeed correct since
radioactive energy decreases with distance from the
source.But the sun is over 150 million Km away and
the difference between the highest mountain
(Everest)and the lowest desert is 8000 m which is
negligible compared to 150 million km.Therefore, it is
not the distance!.
"
M !62 why ?

It has to do with the pressure.The pressure is low in

the mountains(thin air/less molecules) and higher at
the valleys(thick air/more molecules).Where denser
thick air can store more heat. As we go up a mountain,
the air becomes less dense and less heat can be
absorbed.
"
But something else is going on.As we know the warmer
air rises up(since it is less dense)while the colder air
stays down,so in the process where the hot air rises its
temperature drops down since it lose pressure(gas
law).By the time the air reaches the high mountain it
has lost a lot of pressure and so it freezes.
"
"
N !63 why ?

"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
"
66.Why does a nucleus need neutron(s)?

Since neutron has no charge many people ask why

does an atom need a neutron.Actually,nucleus won’t be
stable without neutrons.To explain,the nucleus consists
of protons where protons have positive charge,those
charges repel each other(electrostatic force ).Here
comes the role of the neutrons,where there is a force
between the protons and neutrons called strong nuclear
force.So the balance between the electrostatic force and
strong nuclear force causes stability.For a given
number of protons, there is an "ideal" number of
neutrons required for a stable nucleus. Too many or too
few neutrons lead to a radioactive, unstable atom.
"
N !64 why ?

"
67.Why does nuclear fission release enormous
energy?
"
Nuclear fission occurs when a nucleus splits into
smaller parts.This process release very large amount of
energy.The mass of the product after the fission is less
than the original mass of the fissionable atom.The
difference in mass is called mass defect this mass is
converted to enormous energy (as gamma rays and
kinetic energy) according to mass-energy equivalence
E=mc2.
"
68.Why does nuclear fission needs very high
temperatures?
"
Nuclear fusion is the reaction in which two or more
nuclei combine together(usually hydrogen) to form a
new heavier element releasing high energy.To combine
two nuclei together we should overcome the repulsive
electrostatic force between them.At very high
temperatures like in the sun the elements become
plasma where electrons are stripped from atomic
nuclei.Under such condition the repulsive force can be
overcome.The sun achieves these temperatures by its
large mass and the force of gravity compressing this
mass to the core.

O !65 why ?

"
69.Why do stationary objects appear to move when
we are in a moving car?

The motion of any object depends on the motion of the

observer since motion is relative.If we have many
observers,each one measures certain velocity relative
to (compared to) the frame of reference that objects are
standing in.When you are in the car it is at rest relative
to you and if the car is moving with a ‘constant speed’
your brain can hardly tell that the car is even moving
on the road.So relative to me the road,trees and the
power lines will be moving with a speed equal to the
speed of the car and the car is at rest.

p !66 why ?

70.Why does the prism shows the color of the

rainbow ?
"
Visible light consists of different colors, specially the
colors of the rainbow, and these colors together
constitute white. Each color has certain
wavelength and
frequency.Starting
with violet that has
the lowest
wavelength(higher
frequency ) to red
with highest
wavelength(lowest
frequency).When
light enters a
medium it bends (refracts)-in letter L we explained
why light refracts-so when light enters a glass, each
wavelength of light refracts with certain angle.Because
different wavelengths of light travel through a medium
at different speeds. In which short wavelength light
travels more slowly and bends with greater angle
compared to long wavelengths.
"
p !67 why ?

71.Why do planets orbit the sun ?

"
The same reason as “why does
moon orbit the earth?” or “why
does satellite orbit the
earth?”.There are three ways to
answer this question:
Using Newtonian physics,we know
that there is a gravitational force
between the sun and each
planet.Where the gravitational
force of the sun on planets is an
attractive force towards it.But the
planets also has a side way velocity preventing from
falling to the sun.The inward force and the planets’
velocity keep them in orbit around the sun.
"
Using general
relativity,the effects of
gravitation are ascribed
to space-time curvature
instead of a
force.Heavier the object
is more the curvature of
space-time is.Lighter objects like
planets will orbit the heavier(sun) following the
p !68 why ?

curvature in the fabric of space.To visualize it think of a

rubber sheet with heavy ball in the center.
"
Third way by looking back 4.6 billion years ago.A
cloud of gas called Nebula-which was filled with
particles of ice,dust and other particles-collapsed.The
cloud started to spin faster as it start contracting(like
when an ice skater spins faster when closing her
arms),then the contracting nebula begins to flatten as a
disk.Most of the collapsing mass collected in the centre
forming the sun.Around the sun a thin rotating disk
gives birth to planets.And they keep rotating till now
due to the conservation of angular momentum.
"
72.Why do planets orbit in the same plane?
"
It goes to the
formation of the solar
system(as we explained
in the previous
question).The solar
system formed out of a
clump of gas and
dust.Then gravity
collapsed this clump of
p !69 why ?

gas and dust in the direction of its axis(that takes less

energy).Thus the cloud become a spinning disk,then
planets formed out and kept located in the same plane
till today.And due to the conservation of angular
momentum they keep orbiting in the same plane.
"
73.Why is not Pluto a planet anymore ?

"
Pluto was thought to be a planet when it was first
discovered.Thus,after technology and telescope
improved and according to the definition of the planet
that was put by astronomers in 2006 Pluto was proved
not to be a planet anymore.first reason is that the orbit
of Pluto is inclined by 17o compared to other
planets.Not only this but also Pluto’s orbit intersect
with Neptune’s orbit.Moreover, Pluto is smaller than
p !70 why ?

Earth.Also, scientist find many other objects similar to

Pluto,even they found object name Eris bigger than
Pluto in the same region with Pluto.Hence,scientists
decided to call all these objects dwarf planets.

Q !71 why ?

"
74.Why do Quantum mechanics and general
relativity conflict each other ?
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General relativity deals with gravity and governs large
scale dynamics,while,quantum mechanics deals with
subatomic particles.The incompatibility lays when
describing gravity.To GR space is not empty, anything
heavy can create gravitational field that space can be
bent and twisted like a fabric .To QM vacuum of space is
filled with virtual particles that comes in and out of
existence (according to uncertainty principle).Also
with Black holes,to GR in black hole gravity is
infinite,time stops,information destroyed and nothing
can escape a black hole even light.To QM ,black holes
cannot destroy information and that certain quantum
Q !72 why ?

particles should be able to escape a BlackHole,but they

would be too small for anyone to detect, this process
called Hawking radiation(As Stephen Hawking
famously showed, quantum theory predicts that
material falling into a black hole will remerge as
formless radiation).

R !73 why ?

75.why do we see rainbows ?

"
Before reading this answer, go back to letter P and read
“why does prism disperse light?”.Actually, each
raindrop acts like a tiny prism where the white light
enters a droplet and each color exists the droplet with
different angle(see image) according to its
wavelength.For example, red-
light will exist the drop at 420
from the angle at which
sunlight
entered.Moreover,rainbows
only happen when sunlight is
coming from behind you and is
low in the sky.As the sunlight
enters certain rain
droplets,only one color from
each droplet will enter your
eyes at the exact angle
needed to reach it exactly.So in one part of the sky only
red color will bounce to your eyes and other colors will
scatter from other parts of the sky creating the illusion
of the rainbow.

R !74 why ?
"
76.Why are not rainbows arced circular ?
"
We see a rainbow when the sunlight hit the right
droplets that are just in the right place to hit our
eyes.While,other droplets send their sunlight
somewhere else.But we actually don't see a full circle
because the earth gets in the way.Moreover,the closer
the sun is to the horizon more the arc we see.
"
"
77.Why do some metals go rusty ?
Iron and steel rust when they come in contact with
water and oxygen.When water hits iron for example it
reacts with carbon dioxide(CO2) in air to form carbonic
acid,then iron is dissolved.Some of water will break into
its component oxygen and hydrogen.This oxygen reacts
with dissolved iron to from iron oxide .Iron oxide is
rust.
"
"
78.Why do things go rusty faster at sea level ?
"
As mentioned before,rusting of the iron is due to the
electrochemical reaction.It requires the presence of
both air(the oxygen) and water.If salt (Sodium
R !75 why ?

chloride) is present in air as a salt-water vapor this

greatly increases conductivity (electron flow) of the
solution due to a higher concentration of ions.Then iron
tends to rust more quickly as a result of
electrochemical reaction.
"
79.Why does it rain ?
"
It begins with the vaporization of water near the
Earth’s surface, in the form of rivers, lakes, oceans or
ground water.Then water vapor rise and condensate
with dust and pollen particles.Therefore,when the
amount of water vapor reach the maximum number a
certain temperature can hold, clouds are formed-Where
clouds are visible tiny droplets and ice particles-then
water droplets fuse to form larger water droplets (due
to air turbulence) and when that drops become heavy
enough to overcome air resistance they fall as rain.
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80.why do we see different colors?

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Light is a wave,the
frequencies of light that we can
see are called colors.Lowest
frequency color we can see is
red and highest frequency is
purple .In between all the other
frequencies called the visible
spectrum.for example,when
sunlight (white color) hits the
apple,it absorbs all colors except red that is reflected to
your eyes and your brain perceives it as red according
to frequency of the electromagnetic wave.
"
81.Why do we get static shock ?
"
You almost feel it in winter days,that is when you rub
your feet with the carpet you cause the electrons to flow
to your body.When you touch a conductor (knock of a
door) or another person you cause the electrons to flow
from your body to the body you touched,makes electric
shock.Dry air encourage the accumulation of charges
and increase the chance of getting shock since water
S !77 why ?

molecules in air allow excess of electrons to dissipate

into the atmosphere.
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82.Why do stars twinkle ?
The scientific name for the
twinkling of stars is stellar
scintillation.The light of the star
is bent(refracted)many times
and in random directions from
moment to moment because
light passes down through many
layers of air and each layer has
different temperatures,pressures, densities and other
factors.Each layer will bend and affect light in a certain
way.So from our perspective the light will appear in a
location then after millisecond it will appear in other
location and this seems like twinkling.
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83.Why doesn’t the sun twinkle like other stars ?
"
The stars are much further away than the sun from
us. They appear like a single points to us where light
comes from one direction and it can be highly affected
by atmospheric turbulence.While the sun is much
closer and it is like a big disk where the effects of
scintillation are negligible.
S !78 why ?

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84.Why do stars die?
"
Stars are fueled by nuclear fusion of Hydrogen atoms
to form Helium.Deep in the core of the star the fusion
produces radiant energy that provides the star with the
necessary pressure to prevent it from collapsing under
its own gravity.When the core runs out of Hydrogen,the
fusion cease and the core begins to collapse into itself
and becomes very hot.But hydrogen is still available in
the outer layers.Very hot core pushes the outer layer to
expand and then cools to become what we call red
giant.Finally after all nuclear reactions stop red giant
starts to shrink.Small stars become white dwarfs.While
large stars becomes either neutron star or Black holes.
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85.Why is the sky blue ?

"
This is due to what we
call Rayleigh
scattering,in-which
light is scattered when
the molecules of the
transparent medium(air
or water) are much
smaller than the wavelength of light.As mentioned
S !79 why ?

many times in the answers above that light from the

sun is white and white light consist of all the colors we
see.Each color has certain wavelength.It starts with
violet then blue with the shortest wavelength to red
with longest wavelength.Toward violet end of the
spectrum wavelength are shorter and more energetic,
scatter better than those toward longer, less energetic,
red end.As light passes through the atmosphere it is
scattered and how much each color is scattered
depends on the wavelength.The shortest the
wavelength more it is scattered (according to Rayleigh
formula :the intensity of scattered light varies inversely
with the fourth power of its wavelength).That is why
blue is scattered more efficiently than other colors.
"
86.Why doesn't the sky appear violet instead of
blue?
"
In the question above we said that the shorter
wavelength seems to interact more than other
colors.But violet color wavelength is shorter than blue
so the sky should be violet!!!.However, sunlight sends
more blue than violet as shown in solar radiation
spectrum.Also our eyes is more sensitive to blue
wavelength range (due to the cones in our eyes) than
violet or indigo.
"
S !80 why ?

"
87.Why is the sky red at the sunset ?

At the sunset,the sky is

more lower in the sky and
light must travel farther
through the atmosphere
before it gets into
your eyes, it need more
time for the blue color to
be scattered in all
direction, leaving the red
light(longest wavelength )hits our eyes.In
conclusion,the more atmosphere you pass the sun
through, the more blue light gets scattered away, and so
the redder it appears.
"
88.Why is the sky dark at night ?
"
Space is full with billions of shining stars billions of
galaxies in all direction.The sky should be bright !! but
why is it still dark at night?.Many have been thinking
about this puzzling question from a long time.From
1550 by Thomas Digges to Kepler in 1610 to Edward
Halley in the 1800s till Heinrich Olbers in the 1900s
where it becomes known as Olbers' paradox.In Olbers
S !81 why ?

age he was told that the universe is static and

infinite(never created and always existed).According to
the calculation he proved that all space not even the
sky should be bright!.Then there was two possibilities
either the universe in not static or finite or even
both.But in 20th century we has known that the
universe is not static it is expanding and it has a
beginning started from the BigBang.Again the universe
is expanding and the stars and galaxies and everything
in the universe are getting away from us.Thus,the stars
are red shifted (doppler effect) and the further away
the star is from us the fastest it is traveling away
(Hubble’s law).So the wavelength of light coming is
stretched enough to become infrared (not in the visible
spectrum)and our naked eyes can’t see infrared.In
other words, the space is bright but we can’t see it with
our naked eyes only using Hubble telescopes.Where,
only in the early universe the sky is bright with visible
light.
"
89.Why is the sun yellow ?
This is a misconception.The Sun isn’t yellow or orange
but it’s actually white(mixture all the wavelength of
light).The reason why sun is yellow related to why sky
is blue.When sunlight enters the atmosphere blue and
S !82 why ?

violet are scattered (as we mention in the two answers

before) where the result of the remaining colors all
mixed together appear yellowy orange to our eyes.
"
90.Why is seawater salty ?
All water even rain water contains dissolved
chemicals that scientists call salt(sodium chloride
NaCl),but not all water tastes salty.The ocean contain
50 billion million tons of salts. Rain contains some
dissolved carbon dioxide from the surrounding air.The
carbon dioxide dissolved in water forms weak carbonic
acid which dissolves minerals.So when the rain falls on
land the acids chemically break down the rocks and
carries minerals(especially sodium, chlorine, sulfur,
calcium, magnesium, and potassium),along in a
dissolved state as ions.The ions in the rainfall are
carried to the streams and rivers(which are slightly
salty) and then to the seas.But sea is more salty than
river,because the sea collects all of the salt and
minerals from all of the rivers that flow into it.In
addition, sea water is evaporated from the surface but
the salt is too heavy to be evaporated and remains in
the sea(where
the extra heat in the tropics makes water there saltier
than toward the poles).Thus,the salinity of the sea
S !83 why ?

increases.Moreover, there is another reason for the

increase in salinity of the sea what we call
Hydrothermal vents which is an opening in the sea floor
out of which heated mineral-rich water flows.In
addition to volcanic eruptions underwater.
"
Something to know : You might think that the salinity
of the sea is increasing over time but actually the
salinity of oceans have reached equilibrium.
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91.Why does time slowdown the faster you go?
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Einstein postulated that all observers will measure the
same speed of light regardless of the state of motion.But
speed is the measure of the distance in a certain
amount of time,so to agree on the same speed of light
the observers must disagree on distance and
time.Noticeable slowdown in time can occur when an
observer approaches the speed of light.
That experiment is a famous thought experiment to
explain the relativity of time.If there are two mirrors
facing each other and a beam of light bouncing between
them.As a stationary observer,you'll see the laser beam
moving vertically up and down.While if I attach it with
a clock and let the mirrors move.You’ll see the laser
beam traveling in a longer diagonal path and the clock
starts to tick slower.The reason of the slowdown of time
is that the speed of light is constant(186000 miles per
second) and light is traveling a longer distance.
In short, we conclude that time slows down for objects
traveling near the speed of light, because it explains
how light continues to travel at its constant speed
c,despite the speed of the observer .
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T !85 why ?

92.Why do scientists care a lot about having a theory

of everything ?
"
There are four forces in nature:
Gravity,electromagnetic force,weak and strong nuclear
force.We have general relativity that focuses on gravity
for understanding big things like stars , galaxies..
etc.On the other hand we have Quantum mechanics that
focuses on the other three forces for understanding
very very small things like molecules,atoms and
subatomic particles.These two separate theories are
incompatible!{to know why go back to letter Q}.But we
have one universe,we should have one theory that
works for everything.And if we want to understand the
BigBang and how the universe begun we can't divide it
up into big and small .So scientists care about this
theory to understand how the universe begins.

93.Why does the sap of the tree move up (against

gravity)?

There are two mechanisms that allow the passage of

the sap from the roots to the leaves : Root pressure and
transpiration.In first mechanism, roots absorb water
and minerals from the soil creating pressure inside the
T !86 why ?

root. Hence,water with dissolved minerals(ions)

squeeze up to lower pressure area.But,this pressure is
week especially when talking about long trees.The
second mechanism is probably more important.Inside
each xylem-like the vessels in human body-there is a
chain of water molecules due to the hydrogen
bonds.However,here there is additional hydrogen bonds
between water molecules and the nitrogen atoms (that
are found of the walls of the xylem),which prevent
gravity to pull the chain down.Forming water molecules
chain from roots to leaves.Here comes the role of the
sun which evaporates water in the leaves,every time
water molecule is removed(due to evaporation) the
chain gets up.That is the main reason why sap(water
+dissolved ions) gets up .
"
94.why is the temperature higher at the equator than
at poles?
There is a misconception that the equator is warmer
than the poles because the it is closer to the sun than
poles.But that is not true, sunlight hits the equator
directly(vertical)such that the sun's rays are
concentrated most days of the year.Unlike the north
and south pole where the sunlight falls indirect making
those places the coldest due to the spherical shape of
T !87 why ?

Earth.Also, ice and snow at the poles reflect back to

space some of the sun's energy that reaches the earth
while sunshine is absorbed to heat the earth at the
equator. In addition,sunlight that is warming the
equator has to travel through the least amount of
atmosphere to reach it and thus is much effective.
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95.why is the universe expanding ?

"
The distant galaxies are moving away from us and
most distant galaxies are moving faster(Hubble’s
law).All galaxies are moving away from us and away
from each other,that space itself is getting
bigger.Scientists thought that the universe is expanding
but slowing down in its expansion due to the
gravitational field between massive objects!But the
result was shocking !!!. The surprise is that they are
not just expanding but also speeding up.The reason of
the expansion and acceleration is due to what scientists
call dark energy “the energy of empty space/nothing”
as a repulsive force against gravity and this energy
pushes space itself.Einstein formed his general
u !89 why ?

theory of relativity he decided to test it on the static

universe(as was thought),but he couldn’t balance his
equation to equal a static universe.Hence,the universe
should be either expanding or contracting then he
proposed a cosmological constant ,a constant energy
that would hold the universe
imbalance.But,now,theoretical cosmologist aren’t sure
if the universe is expanding due to existence of dark
matter which is this cosmological constant that
Einstein proposed or it is another thing we still don't
know or even reason of the expansion is due to a
modification of Einstein’s general relativity, our theory
of gravity.
"
96.Why is uranium-235 the commonly used element
in nuclear fission?
"
U-235 is commonly used in nuclear fission since it is
what scientists call “Fissile”;which means it is capable
of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction.To explain
U-235 has a very high probability to undergo fission by
a low-energy thermal neutron,that is because the
resulting binding energy from the absorption of
neutron is greater than the critical energy required for
fission. Uranium-235 has isotopes as Uranium-238 and
u !90 why ?

Uranium-233.Uranium-238 is fissionable but not fissile,

what is meant that it can undergo fission reaction by
high-energy thermal neutron with a low
probability.Moreover,it cannot sustain a neutron chain
reaction.While Uranium-233 is not found naturally but
it can be made by neutron irradiation of Thorium-232.
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v !91 why ?

97.Why does our voice

sound different in
recording?

When you hear your

voice via
recording,happening
event is that air
molecules that
surrounds the recording are excited and starts to
vibrate.The vibrations reach your ear drum where in
your ear the vibrations are transferred into
electromagnetic wave(nerve message) that reach your
brain and you perceive your voice.While when you
speak the voice are coming from two ways,the first way
is from your mouth vibrating air to your ear .The
second way, when your vocal cords vibrate they cause
the skull to vibrate.Thus,the combination of the sound
wave traveled by the bones with the sound wave
traveled in air makes your voice such that its frequency
decreases(lower pitch).Actually, what you hear in the
recording is your real voice!.
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98.Why does water expand when it freezes ?
"

Water ,unlike most liquids , its volume expands when

passing from liquid state to solid state.Due to hydrogen
bond that makes water so special.Water has enough
energy for molecules to move, but when it reaches 40C
the atoms slowdown to form this hexagonal form (see
image).Where it forms solid crystal structure that takes
up more room(space) than water.
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99.Why do we see like water ponds on roads at

summer time ?
It is kind of optical illusion commonly occurs in hot
days.When the air directly above the asphalt road is
heated in such a way there become two mediums hot air
and cold air that is more dense.Therefore,cold air has
greater refractive index allowing light to refract(bend)
upon passing from cold to hot. The result is an image of
the sky above appears on the ground. To our eyes the
distorted rays looks like they are coming from the
ground.Thus,brain interprets it as there is water
responsible for the reflection,which seems more
reasonable to the viewer.
"
100.Why do we move our hands while walking ?
It is curious that human swing their arms as they
walk.That is, your right arm swings forward when your
left leg steps forward and vice versa.The first reason is
that we swing our hands naturally because it takes less
exertion than when holding the arms
down.Also,swinging arms in an opposing direction
reduces the angular momentum of the body, balancing
the rotational motion produced during walking.To
explain ,during a step your legs try to make your body
spin about a vertical axis but swinging your arms
cancels this out.

W !94 why ?

"
Unanswered Big questions in physics :
1.What will be the fate of the universe ?
2.Why is the universe so exquisitely balanced such
that life exists?
3.What causes symmetries to be broken?
4.Where does neutrino mass come from?
5.Where do cosmic rays come from?
6.Is there only one Higgs boson?
7.Is the mass of the Higgs an accident or necessary?
8.What is dark matter?
9.What is dark energy?
10.Why do we have muons?
11.What is the nature of vacuum?
12.Why is there more matter than antimatter ?
13.Are there parallel universes?
14.Is string theory correct ?
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Source: http://www.symmetrymagazine.org