Ideas Definition and 912 Threads

I am a physics undergrad (senior) with an interest in optics participating with three other undergrads (ME, EE, and CS) in a solar spectrograph build. It is a pilot program sponsored by NASA that will hopefully turn into a national competition. In addition to observing as many absorption lines...

Hi, I have a device in my chest that is similar in design to a pacemaker; except that I have a coil that goes from my chest to my brain. It is called a Vegas Nerve Stimulator. I want to work with grade N-52 magnets, but I am not even allowed to have a MRI because the magnetic energy would kill...

Hi, I am having a hard time figuring out an idea I can use as my senior project in High School. I am currently in an Honors level physics class and the school year has just begun so we haven't learned much yet but. I am very interested in physics. So if anyone could help me with some ideas it...

I've finished my cedar deck and now wish to cover it with a pergola. Trouble is, my requirements are, at first glance, mutually incompatible. I want it to be rain-proof but I don't want it to be so solid that it looks and sounds like a solid roof. I've been looking at these corrugated...

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=rummaging-for-a-final-theory I cannot see anything new at all there. I hope other people here can help me see something relevant here. I found this while checking Garrett's twitter.

okay, so I am making an astrophysics/physics shirt and I want it to be really funny. anyone have any ideas?

not sure if this is in the right section, but anyways, here it goes. I am going to apply for the Siemens Competition scholarship, and I need a research topic to use. I am a junior in high school, I prefer physics and chemistry. here are the allowed topics. Astrophysics Biochemistry...

There exist such interesting issue as intercalation, which seems to allow, for example, to store 4.4 intercalated Li ions per one (!) Silicon atom.The latest is a host material.I think if there will be found a material which would allow to store the same ratio of intercalated hydrogen ions...

if you have an idea on how to exceed the light barrier please post.

Hi, I am in grade 12 and this will be my last piece (and most important) of chemistry assessment. For this assigment we need to choose a quantitative experiment (ie. determining fluroide content in toothpaste, or a wine analysis etc) and then do introductory research on the background...

I've been working through the book The Story of i(sqrt of -1). It's kinda like a story with a lot of Math. The first 2 chapters deal with cubics and geometry for solving cubics functions. I understand the algebra behind it but I'm getting lost with the big picture. I need a supplemental book or...

Hi guys, I'm getting the ball-n-chain a laptop. She's starting law school soon and I think it will help a lot with being able to easily take data from school to home, vice versa, along with just giving her some more flexibility. I was hoping to get some input as to some brands/models that I...

I wanted some ideas on how to heat mud to very high temperatures to kill off some unwanted organisms living in it. A roofing torch used for 2.5 seconds on a 2ftx2ft area worked really well, but now I want to heat up mud to high temperatures on a much larger scale. One idea: an asphalt heater...

Alright, so I'm kinda new to posting here, sorry if I don't understand things fully at this time. As for questions, I have a few of them. Firstly, what is the force of gravity at the event horizon of a black hole. Since photons have no mass, what would be the force required to trap it...

So I (like probably everyone else in the world) am pretty lost on the idea of gravity. I've ready plenty stating it doesn't exist, blah blah blah. Maybe I'm holding onto what i see with my eyes too firmly, but I'm under the impression it IS real. I, however, would like a few things. I'd like a...

im a student of aeronautical engineering..im really interested to do some projects regarding aerospace topics...i dun get a good guidance here...i really wish if somebody can help wid some ideas or support...

Hello! Is there a good math or physics topic for me to study and learn this summer? I have already taken freshman physics 1 and 2 (basic mechanics and electromagnetism) Calc 1&2, and Diff Eq. In the fall, Ill be taking Calc 3, Intermediate Physics, and Advanced Mechanics, so is there something...

Hi All, For one of my courses this year (a mathematical modeling course) we have been given a very open ended assignment to go and find some PDE describing ANYTHING in the literature that has an analytical solution and basically go through the solution step by step and present it/explain it...

Link posted to CHEMED-L, I think it may be interesting: http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/06/21/deep-in-the-heart-of-texas/ Before it was NCLB policy and teaching to the test, whoever survived and actually learned something will be now treated by student evaluated education.

I'm skipping most the details so no need to inquire -- I have finished my first year of grad school in physics and am not going to join a group until the first quarter of next year. Until then I will be taking classes and teaching; in the summer I only do the latter. I don't have qualifiers to...

Hey I'm fairly new to PhysicsForums so apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I'm about to enter my third and final year of an undergraduate physics degree, during which time we have to complete an independent project. There are a set number of projects offered, however it is also...

History repeats itself examples; any ideas? (please!) Can please give me any ideas about examples ‘history repeating itself’ in Indian history? It’s for my history project on “History Repeats Itself”. Our teacher told us to collect the information from the internet but in spite of googling I...

Homework Statement I get to do a project and paper on anything I want that has to do with chemistry in any way. Homework Equations any The Attempt at a Solution I've thought about doing it on electromagnetism, but I'm not sure where I want to go with it. I thought about doing the...

Folks, I do Logic design and verification of Multi-core chips for a living (4th year in Semiconductor/Computer HW industry). I don't have much of a background in Physics outside my high school and some Applied Physics courses that I took in BS-EE and MS-EE. I don't covet a PhD in Physics, all I...

Ok , so I'm already thinking of my gr 12 physics project for next year. We have to build a device anyhting that shows amazing physics principles, does anyone have ideas on what i should build and the physics behind it. Here is the project handout and outline: Overview The main objective of...

Homework Statement At the moment, I am planning my I.B extended essay (last 2 years at school), and have chosen to do my EE on physics. I've done loads of background research about Reynolds Number and how it affects the type of flow present. There is an experiment I can recreate (Reynolds...

Hi, I'm a high school junior and was recently accepted into the Simons Summer Research Program at Stony Brook University. I have seven weeks during the summer to select a project and carry out experiments, possibly entering my research in the Intel Science Talent Search. I will be working in...

hi-- i'm taking calc-based physics I (undergrad). I'm supposed to give a short presentation and write a paper on a physics topic for my class. something that relates to physics I - particle and rigid body kinematics and dynamics, work and energy, momentum, static equilibrium, and gravity. i...

Homework Statement I need to do a final project for my Intro to MATLAB class and I have no idea what to do it on. Does anyone have any ideas for a program I could create? Other students are doing card tricks or games like MASH.

I am working on a hobby project. I need 2 perfectly spherical, perfectly balanced, pure metal (ie. pure titanium, aluminum, etc.) balls made, and then I need one (the larger one) to be precisely drilled through the center. It is essential that everything is done in an extremely accurate manner...

Share your idea about futuristic mass transport,please.. Thank you..

For my lab class we have to make some sort of physics demonstration in our machine shop with a budget of ~$600-$1000. I was wondering if anyone on here had some suggestions as to some cool/fun things to make? Things along the lines of Van De Graaf generators, inverted pendulums, etc. can be...

Ok so here's the deal. Wind powered machine project.. -Large Industrial Fan blowing -4 meters away from the fan is a wooden block on the ground with a hook in it (to attach rope, etc) -must pull the wooden block 4 meters TOWARDS the fan in the fastest amount of time possible -machine must...

I'm looking for ideas for an experiment that we get to choose ourselves. It should be at the level of a first year physics student and use equipment that is either found at home or that any physics department should have. Does anyone have some cool ideas? I'm finding it hard to think of...

Egg Mover - Design ideas!? We've been assigned a design project and I'm just looking for some thoughts, comments, opinions and ideas. I'd like to get few different perspectives on the design problem. I've attached a picture that depicts what the system looks like. Homework Statement...

Problem: I have to do a required senior project for high school. My topic is the general physics behind deep space travel. (like humans traveling to other solar systems in reasonable time). I need to do a project on it but do not know what exactly to do. Please Give Me Ideas! Basically, I...

An article on news.discovery.com titled, "The Universe is Precisely 13.75 Billion Years Old" on Feb. 4 says: "The amount of CMB radiation spotted near clusters of galaxies is greater than expected. According to [cosmological] theory, CMB photons should interact with these clusters, getting...

Math cake! Ideas Answer before 11 pm on 3-10-2010.. Can u help me? I need a great idea for a math cake. Please help me, i have been racking my brains! If u answer, write in detail please...

Hello, I haven’t frequented this board in long while but right now I need some advice. I’m currently a third year electrical engineering student (on an irregular course sequence) and quite frankly, I’m becoming disillusioned about the field I’ve chosen. It’s not that electronics or power...

Hi, all. Would anyone suggest your own idea about what actually spin it is? I can not form an image in my head about spin... Spin is vector, can be 1/2 can be 1, and if say it is 1/2, then Spin's Z component can be -1/2 or +1/2 ...??! and the magnitude of spin vector is: |S| = sqrt(S(S+1))...

i have to take a photo demonstrating a Kinematics Phenomena. I do one every unit but this unit is really sutmping me. For the optics unit i took a picture of a laser bending through glass, for waves i took a picture of light interfering through a diffraction grating, for electricity i took a...

What do thoughts do you have on M-theory? It's credibility? Also, is there evidence that these supposed membranes exist?

Hey all, I think what I'm looking for is pretty self explanatory. If this isn't the right forum to post this question in, feel free to yell at me and i'll post it elsewhere. As some background, I am a senior electrical engineering major at a major university. I am in a senior design...

Hey guys I wasn't too sure where to put this but here goes. I need to write a script for a short skit/play (less than 6 pages) about my topic for an English course, which was importance of nuclear disarmament to world safety. I just need help with the situation..I was thinking - Scene 1 - two...

Im in a competition and we need to build a robot that shoots 3 ping pong balls through 3 holes and then rounds the bases as if on a baseball field- there is a peg at each base it must knock down. Heres a link that shows the track on page 3...

I am a senior level physicist at the University of Alabama: Huntsville and I am going to do my physics research starting next semester. I need some serious, interesting, and fun ideas on what to focus on. Thus far I have had upper level mechanics, intermediate relativity, all calculus and...

The last step before getting my degree in Mathematics is a senior thesis that I need to write. Ideally I could combine my interest in astronomy/astrophysics with a math focus and have a thesis I'd actually be interested in writing. I'm just coming up short as far as ideas go. Does anyone have...

I am in sort of a critical bind: I've been working for several months on an ISEF entry as part of a class (actually, working on the project IS the class), and in the past week it has completely fallen apart -- I won't go into details, but there is absolutely nowhere I can take the project...

Homework Statement I have written a working program that can obtain a numerical solution to the nonlinear Schrodinger equation, given at initial pulse, using the split-step Fourier method. I have performed the first task of writing a working programme and have shown that if the initial...

In my university there is a senior project class in which the whole semester you try to engineer something to show off all of the knowledge you've gained thus far. In the past projects have been things such as online social networks, video games, underwater robotics, business software, etc...