What’s a Polar Bear Plunge?

Polar bear diving events involve people jumping into ice-cold water for fun, charity, or health benefits. Clubs and organizations use the novelty to raise money for various causes. Ice swimming is generally safe for healthy people, but precautions should be taken. The Coney Island Polar Bear Club was founded in 1903 and meets regularly every […]

What’s a polar night?

Polar night is a period of continuous darkness lasting six months in the polar regions due to the Earth’s tilted axis. The lowest temperatures on Earth have been recorded during this time, and some settlements experience long periods of darkness, which can lead to depression. The inverse is polar day, where there is an extended […]

What’s a Polar Solvent?

Polar solvents have molecules with a slight electrical charge due to their shape, allowing them to dissolve polar materials like salt and sugar. Non-polar materials do not dissolve in polar solvents, but surfactants can be used to create stable emulsions of polar and non-polar materials. Dielectric constant and polarity index are used to classify polar […]

What’s a polar orbit?

Satellites can follow a polar orbit, passing through both poles of a planet or star. This is useful for mapping and reconnaissance, but not ideal for weather satellites. Sun synchronous orbit allows observation at constant solar time and is often combined with a polar orbit. A satellite follows a polar orbit when it travels around […]

What’re polar coords?

Polar coordinates use an angle and distance to locate a point, while rectangular coordinates use distances. They can be converted using trigonometric formulas. Polar coordinates are useful for circular geometry and modeling real-world phenomena with rounded shapes. They can also be used in three dimensions, creating a spherical coordinate system. Spherical coordinates are used in […]

What’s a polar bond?

A polar bond is a covalent bond where the molecule’s electromagnetic charge is divided between both ends, creating a positive and negative charge. The likelihood of forming a polar bond depends on valence electrons, and electronegativity. The simplest example is water, where hydrogen has a lower electronegativity, creating a dipole. A polar bond is a […]

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