Tools, instruments, and measurement

Tools and equipment

• Autoclaves: How can you kill germs with high-pressure steam?
• Binoculars: How do they work? What's the best kind to buy?
• Chainsaws: How much faster can you cut down a tree if you have a gasoline engine to help you?
• Fire fighting: What's inside a fire engine? What do fire hydrants do?
• Fire extinguishers: How does a fire extinguisher work?
• Fire sprinklers: How does a fire sprinkler know when a fire's broken out?
• Jackhammers/pneumatic drills: How can high-pressure air smash holes in the pavement?
• Pressure washers: What's so good about a squirt of hot water?
• Pulleys: How can ropes and wheels help you lift four, five, or ten times as much?
• Robots: Will robots ever take over from people?
• Tools and machines: What exactly is a machine and why is it so useful?
• Welding and soldering: What's the difference between them?

Instruments and measuring devices

• Accelerometers: Measure force or acceleration in everything from crash-test dummies to cellphones.
• Altimeters: Measure altitude in a plane to ensure you'll flying safely.
• Anemometers: Measure wind speed (and stop wind turbines spinning out of control).
• Barometers: Measure pressure and help us forecast the weather.
• Carbon monoxide detectors: Spot leaks of toxic gas from fuel-burning appliances.
• Chromatography: Use color-changes to analyze chemicals in a sample.
• Compasses: Show you the way home by aligning with Earth's magnetic field.
• Dynamometers: Measure the driving power of an engine or machine.
• Geiger counters: Detect radiation with a burst of clicks.
• Hall-effect sensors: Measure a magnetic field with a tiny electronic chip.
• Hydraulics: How to use liquids to lift and move heavy loads.
• Hygrometers: Measure humidity in the air.
• Interferometers: Measure tiny distances by aligning laser beams.
• Iris scanners: Check your identity by looking into your eye.
• Mass spectrometers: Bend the particles in a sample into a kind of atomic rainbow.
• Metal detectors: Find buried treasure or check suspicious people for weapons.
• Pedometers: Count the steps you walk with a swinging pendulum.
• Pendulum clocks: Use a pendulum to tell time.
• pH meters: Measure the acidity of a liquid.
• Pneumatics: A way to apply force and move energy with compressed air.
• Pyranometers: Measure the amount of sunlight that's hitting Earth.
• Pyrometers: Measure temperature from the radiation given off by hot things.
• Quartz clocks and watches: Use a vibrating crystal to count time.
• Radio-controlled clocks (RCCs): Keep time using a radio link to an atomic clock.
• Sound level (decibel) meters: Measure how loud something sounds.
• Speedometers: Track how fast you're going.
• Strain gauges: Measure the force on a building or a static structure.
• Thermometers: Measure temperature, often using expanding liquids or solids.
• Thermostats: Keep a room at a constant temperature.
• Thermocouples: Measure the temperature of really hot things (such as volcanos).
• Weights and balances: Measure weight (the force of gravity) on objects around us.
• X rays: See inside your body with ghostly radio waves!

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