Science ABC
How Do Airplanes Get the Oxygen We Breathe?
As a plane flies, fast-moving air enters both the jet turbine engines. This fast-moving air is compressed as it passes through layers of fan blades inside the turbine. It’s at the compressor stage that a portion of the hot air is...
Science ABC
Can You Survive Jumping Out Of A Plane without A Parachute?
Jumping out of an airplane without a parachute is a last resort and should only be considered when there’s no other viable option of escape from an airplane that is “going downâ€. If you have to jump, it’s often recommended to look...
Science ABC
Can Turbulence Cause A Plane To Crash?
Although in its worst form, turbulence may scare passengers to the point where they start praying, it’s very, very rare for turbulence to be powerful enough to actually bring a plane down. Based on severity, airplane turbulence is often...
Science ABC
Breaking The Sound Barrier: Can Pilots Hear Sonic Booms?
When a plane, or in fact anything, travels faster than the speed of sound (i.e., breaks the sound barrier), a loud boom is heard, commonly known as a sonic boom. You may have heard that particularly loud, sometimes even painful boom when...
Science ABC
Bird Strike: What Happens When A Bird Strikes An Aircraft?
Bird strike on airplanes is one of the most biggest causes of concern for the airline industry and military. When a bird or a flock of birds hits an airplane, the plane may sustain some serious damage which can have disastrous...
Science ABC
Why Don't They Have Parachutes For Passengers In Commercial Planes?
Commercial airplanes don't give parachutes to passengers. While airplanes have plenty of safety features that help in landing them safely during emergencies, having parachutes onboard for every passenger doesn't seem like a bad idea,...
Science ABC
Why Does It Take Longer to Fly West?
The reason airplane flights take longer when traveling west is because of the different speeds of rotation on Earth. The rotational velocity of Earth decreases as one goes from the Equator to the poles. This means that a place on the...
Science ABC
Why Can't You See Stars from an Airplane at Night?
While flying over a metropolitan or densely populated area at night, its likely that you wont see stars from the airplane window. This is because the excessive artificial lighting (i.e., light pollution) of the city can light up the sky...
Science ABC
Why Bombs Make a Whistling Sound When They Fall Through the Air
You may have noticed in movies and tv shows that when a bomb falls through the sky, it makes a whistling sound. This has to do with the fighter planes and bomber planes of world war 2. During the second world war, German air force...
Science ABC
Why Do Airplanes Need To Fly So High?
Commercial airplanes typically fly between 32,000 feet and 38,000 feet, with the sweet spot being approximately 35,000 feet. One of the main reasons commercial airplanes fly so high is air resistance. You see, the higher you go above the...
Step Back History
9/11: A Modern History
Enough years have passed now that there are plenty of people watching this video who have no first-person memories of what happened on 9/11. That being said, It often fails to make it into most history books, and in your average American...
Curated Video
Elliptical orbit
An orbit in space which follows an oval-shaped path. Any small object orbiting a larger one in space will follow an elliptical orbit. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and...
Curated Video
Sonic Boom - Sound Barrier Burst
The loud bang caused by a plane or other object flying faster than the speed of sound. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig Science...
Curated Video
Lattice
A regular pattern of points repeating in an identical way, and often referring to the arrangement of ions or molecules in a crystalline solid. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning...
Curated Video
Modelling the Spitfire
Though the world's first model aircraft, a Spitfire, was built in a scale of 1:75, the resulting model would fit into the full-size equivalent more than 370,000 times over. Discover how scale is calculated in three dimensions. Maths -...
Curated Video
Danger: Volcanic Ash
When a volcano in Iceland erupted in 2010, hundreds of planes were grounded by volcanic ash. Why? Past experience had shown just how dangerous flying in an ash cloud can be. Earth Science - Geology - Learning Points. In March 2010, the...
Curated Video
State of the Greenland Ice Sheet
Laser technology aboard aircraft has allowed scientists to measure the Greenland Ice Sheet, one of the largest bodies of ice in the world. Is it growing or shrinking? Earth Science - Human Impacts - Learning Points. NASA scientists...
Curated Video
Terminal Velocity
If a skydiver jumps out of a plane, when will they stop accelerating? Competing physical forces hold the answer. Physics - Forces - Learning Points. Terminal velocity is the maximum constant velocity. Terminal velocity increases with...
Curated Video
Tessellated Designs
What is tessellation, where is it found, how does it work, and how did artist MC Escher translate it into geometric art? Maths - Shape A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films...
Curated Video
Shockwaves: The Damage Caused by Supersonic Speeds
Discover the damage caused by shockwaves and how they are created by supersonic speeds. Physics - Waves - Learning Points. Waves of high pressure are produced when something moves through a medium at supersonic speed. At supersonic...
Curated Video
Calculus: Newton
Newton's development of calculus, and how this changed the way we describe the world. Maths - History Of Maths A Twig Math Film. Reinforce and extend the learning required by the curriculum. Twig’s context films show abstract concepts in...
Curated Video
How Do Planes Fly?
Aeroplanes use the same forces and physical principles as birds to fly. Discover how man has copied nature to achieve flight. Physics - Forces - Learning Points. Flight occurs when the upward force (lift) is greater than the downward....
Curated Video
Focus
In optics, the point at which rays of light converge after refraction or reflection, and so the point at which a sharp image will be produced. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning...
Curated Video
Propulsion
The process of pushing or moving an object forwards. A Twig Science Glossary Film. Key scientific terms defined in just 60 seconds using stunning images and concise textual definitions. Twig Science Glossary Films reinforce abstract...