Playing with Fire

One of the most interesting characteristics of fire is that it flickers. However, this motion serves a greater purpose than simply being aesthetically pleasing. While the heated air above the flame rises, cooler air moves toward the heart of the fire, containing more oxygen to fuel the growing flame. It is this occurrence which allows forest fires to create winds of hurricane proportions.

Slice of Physics

Orange Tea Cake I baked- It was really good...

You probably haven't thought about this, but physics plays a large role in baking. Although there are several physics concepts involved in the process of baking a cake, we are only going to look at one specific example. Before you can even put the goey cake batter into the oven, you must preheat the oven. It takes some time for the oven to reach the necessary temperature (usually around 350 degrees Fahrenheit). During this period, the air within the oven begins to get hotter through the process of conduction, in which heat moves from an area of a high temperature to one of a lower temperature. Since hot and cold air have different densities, they cause each other to circulate. This is called convection. These processes repreat until the oven has reached the set temperature, after which time you can start baking your cake. :)