[Amber]

I need ideas for a physics project. The teacher said that we could do anything, so long as we can get hold of the equipment for it. I basically need to answer a question or have some kind of title which I could investigate, for example, drag forces on different shape objects, variation of surface tension with temperature. But I want to do something interesting so that I don't get bored of it half way. It's a project that will take about 3 months to complete, inclulding the experiments and write-up.

Thanks,
Amber.

[Tormod]

What grade, Amber?

[Amber]

I'm not sure what the equivalent is, but I'm in year 13 in England.

[Pyrotex]

Amber said:

I'm not sure what the equivalent is, but I'm in year 13 in England.

There is a physics experiment I have always wanted to do but never got around to. To do it you may need a good camera or even a video camera capable of taking slow-motion shots. You will probably need an extra lens so that you can record images that are only an inch or two across, with magnification.

Give a name to and explain the cause of the following phenomenon:
Get a bottle of thick, translucent hair shampoo. Ordinary stuff. In the USA, we have PRELL, the cheapest around, the "green stuff". Shampoo.

Put a shallow white bowl on the table and mount the bottle above so you have fine control of how fast the shampoo streams out. Get the minimum stream you can without it breaking up into droplets. Let the stream impact upon the gathering pool of shampoo below. Look carefully at the point of impact.

You will see the stream hit and form a mound. Then you will see large (0.5 to 2.0 inch) LOOPS of shampoo suddenly shoot out to the side. It happens very quickly. And I typically see about 20 loops a minute. Try varying the rate of flow of shampoo to see if this affects the number and/or size of the loops.

How are the loops formed? Why are they shot out to the side? What the heck is going on here?

[InfiniteNow]

Don't know if you have this available to you, Amber, but back in 8th grade a good friend of mine gave me this book:

Amazon.com: Great Experiments in Physics: Firsthand Accounts from Galileo to Einstein: Morris H. Shamos: Books http://www.amazon.co...glance&n=283155


It's pretty cool, and would certainly get your creative juices flowing.


Best of luck with the project!


edit: The book is "Great Experiments in Physics," and it is, by no means, meant to be read at an 8th grade level. Cheers.

[InfiniteNow]

Pyrotex said:

You will see the stream hit and form a mound. Then you will see large (0.5 to 2.0 inch) LOOPS of shampoo suddenly shoot out to the side. It happens very quickly. And I typically see about 20 loops a minute. Try varying the rate of flow of shampoo to see if this affects the number and/or size of the loops.

How are the loops formed? Why are they shot out to the side? What the heck is going on here?

Sounds to me a bit like Brownian motion...but, I'm no physicist.

[CraigD]

Pyrotex said:

Put a shallow white bowl on the table and mount the bottle above so you have fine control of how fast the shampoo streams out. Get the minimum stream you can without it breaking up into droplets. Let the stream impact upon the gathering pool of shampoo below. Look carefully at the point of impact.

You will see the stream hit and form a mound. Then you will see large (0.5 to 2.0 inch) LOOPS of shampoo suddenly shoot out to the side. It happens very quickly. And I typically see about 20 loops a minute. Try varying the rate of flow of shampoo to see if this affects the number and/or size of the loops.

How are the loops formed? Why are they shot out to the side? What the heck is going on here?

It’s a phenomenon associated with non-Newtonian liquids. What is happening is that the viscosity of the shampoo increases when it's compressed on impact, causing it to form a column that then coils, loops, etc. Once the compression is released, it turns back into ordinary liquid, and flows away.

Thicker liquids, such as pancake syrup, do it slower, and are easier to observe.

There’s a fun stunt along these lines, popular with phys-sci teachers: fill a large tub with a mixture of water and corn starch. You can gently splash the solution out of the tub. Take a paddle and slap it hard and fast. It doesn’t splatter at all. Have faith in Science. Be sure to use enough corn starch.

[Jay-qu]

Rockets are always good!

[Amber]

Thank you for all your ideas. However, I'm not sure I understand all the concepts. Do you have any easier to understand ideas? Basically, I need to get a good set of results that I can analyse and draw up a conclusion.

Thanks,
Amber

[InfiniteNow]

Amber said:

Thank you for all your ideas. However, I'm not sure I understand all the concepts. Do you have any easier to understand ideas? Basically, I need to get a good set of results that I can analyse and draw up a conclusion.

Thanks,
Amber

In my high school physics class, we had to build an item using nothing but popsicle sticks and glue that would protect an unboiled egg being dropped from a high spot (like the roof of a building or at the top of the bleachers at our stadium) from breaking.

We'd design it, build it, talk about our design, and why/how it distrubuted the impact enough to protect the egg without using something soft like a pillow.

How about something like that?

Even if the egg breaks, you can speak of why... It's a win/win.

[Jay-qu]

Amber said:

Thank you for all your ideas. However, I'm not sure I understand all the concepts. Do you have any easier to understand ideas? Basically, I need to get a good set of results that I can analyse and draw up a conclusion.

Thanks,
Amber

ok well a very easy thing you can get recorded results of would be measuring the density of a piece of wire. You could also measure the speed of sound - all you need is a car with working headlights and horn, stopwatch and a big open space preferably without wind.

[GAHD]

allrighty Amber, sinc you're having troble understand the examples provided, and I am confused by the context of your request, I'm gonna ask you to describe some experiments that you have done before.

After I see those I'll be able to give you some ideas

[Amber]

GAHD said:

allrighty Amber, sinc you're having troble understand the examples provided, and I am confused by the context of your request, I'm gonna ask you to describe some experiments that you have done before.

After I see those I'll be able to give you some ideas

Last year the two investigations I did was:
Investigation to Determine the Internal Resistance of a Solar Cell;
Investigating How the Speed of a Wave Varies as the Depth of Water Changes

[GAHD]

here's a few wingnut ideas:
*how well do different plants grow under different frequencies of light?

*What structures can better withstand earthquakes? Arches? Pillars? Cubes? is a flexible material better than a rigid one?

*what is the best thermal insulator? Best way to keep something warm in cold water?

*Ballistics research for the gun nut: The effects different laminate designs have on prevention of bullet penetration.

Hope that helps.

[Amber]

Thank you GAHD.

I need to form a rationale for my project and how it would be of interest to the general public, i.e. how it can be related to every day life.

I was searching the internet for quite a while and I found this (possible titles for experimental projects):
http://www.spidercox...dpracticals.htm

I have posted the ones of interest below. Please could you look at them and see which one I could get a good set of results for analysis and drawing up a conclusion. Also I'm not exactly sure how to go about all of them. Any advice as to what to do (which project to choose), would be much appreciated.

Small drops of water dance about on very hot metal surfaces, without evaporating (the Leidenfrost phenomenon). How hot must the metal be, and how small the drop?

Modelling a rainbow i.e. light through water droplet, hence predicting angles at which rainbow formed etc.

The performance of a firework rocket - could be dangerous?

Where does dust collect? Why?

The colours of thin films of oil on water

Compare glass and polythene as greenhouse materials


http://www.ifrn.bbsr...ts/EDPBeer.html - This sounds interesting, but I don't know how to go about this.


Your ideas:
*how well do different plants grow under different frequencies of light? Sounds interesting - a potential project idea

*What structures can better withstand earthquakes? Arches? Pillars? Cubes? is a flexible material better than a rigid one? Someone is already doing this

*what is the best thermal insulator? Best way to keep something warm in cold water? Too simple perhaps?

*Ballistics research for the gun nut: The effects different laminate designs have on prevention of bullet penetration. Don't understand this


Forever grateful,
Amber