Giant list of science fair project ideas

[Physicsfool]

Thanks so much!

 

[oookhc]

This site is with some science fair project ideas:

http://www.ScienceOxygen.com/idea.html

 

[pack_rat2]

Here's my idea for a science-fair project, which should be a lot of fun: dertermine and compare the aerodynamic efficiency of modern cars with cars from the 30s, 40s, and 50s. This could be done by getting models of representative cars from a hobby shop (all of the same scale), putting each in a wind tunnel, and measuring the drag force on it. And here's an important bit of info...at subsonic velocities, a "tear-drop" shape (a 3:1 length to width ratio is considered optimum) is the most efficient shape. Furthermore, the shape up front is relatively unimportant compared to that of the rear: a tapered "tail" is best, and a flat vertical surface is terrible.

 

[delton]

The science fair I want to enter: the Intel ISEF requires original research in a specific field. Any ideas?

 

[gschjetne]

Recently I did a project on the flame-retardant properties of citric acid and acetic acid solutions! Now that's some fresh new science, and it actually worked quite well!
If anybody's interested, drop me a mail!

 

[plusaf]

hydraulics with a spin...

my college roommate once experimented with liquid flow: if you have, for example, a 2-liter size plastic bottle and it's filled with water, how long does it take for the bottle to empty if you just flip it upside down? if you tip it at some angle, does it empty faster or slower? are there any other things you could do (without changing the physical characteristics of the bottle... no squeezing, puncturing, etc.) to get it to empty faster?

hint: try getting the water to spin around inside so it comes out like a little upside-down tornado... is this faster or slower, and why?

 

[Mk]

Of course you would need it automated, so it would turn at a set speed, and not move after it reached the angle to be.

 

[plusaf]

with a spin...

Of course you would need it automated, so it would turn at a set speed, and not move after it reached the angle to be.

ah, maybe not exactly what i was trying to say... for home experimentation, fill a plastic bottle with water, then invert it over the sink.

watch the water bubble/gurgle out in spurts.

then refill the bottle, flip it over again, but quickly rotate its AXIS a few times, similar to the motion of the precession of the axis of a spinning gyroscope. don't spin the bottle on ITs axis; spin the AXIS, holding the open mouth of the bottle at the bottom, as a pivot point.

this will make the water in the bottle spin within the bottle, and, in my late roommate's opinion/experiments, empty the bottle faster than just letting it gurgle out.

my added theory is that, after you get the water in the bottle spinning, there might be an optimum angle from the vertical for the axis of the bottle, for which the liquid empties fastest.

in a local science store some years ago, i saw an item for sale that coupled two two-liter bottles together, mouth-to-mouth. fill one with water with the other empty, then couple them together, and you can do this experiment over and over without losing the water!

i hope that's a little clearer... and I'm looking forward to hearing some results!

happy new year!

 

[plusaf]

dusty fan blade design...

Try depositation of dust residue on differing airfoils, like fans. Relate the shape of the residue to a modification for improved airfoil efficiency. To speed up the process, you might charge the blades slightly. Do well!

i really like this one! taking a look at the fan above my desk, i note that the dust has collected only from the middle of the front side of the blade (the side facing me) to the trailing edge. from the leading edge to the middle of the chord, there's virtually no dust stuck to the plastic blade!

--- write me at plusaf at plusaf dot com, and i'll send you a photo of one of the fan blades, if you'd like.. ---

howcome?!

is this "dust collector effect" desirable? undesirable? inevitable and inescapable, or can it be modified by changing the blade's shape, airfoil, etc?

or maybe fans should just be designed with removable covers so you can scrub the dust off every so often!

 

[Loren Booda]

plusaf,

How about determining the optimum ratio of air to water to salt for dissolving most efficiently in a shaken cylindrical container? E. g., given ten shakes of the container, what is the residual amount of NaCl left versus the original salt/water and water/air proportions?

Thanks for the photo offer, but I have one very dusty fan of my own to observe!

 

[Zaimeen]

Think about finding a new place to live in space other than the Earth!

 

[siliconhype]

Bio projects/info

Here is a great resource for biology projects and information...

http://www.dnahack.com/

Shows u how to extract DNA too! Easy stuff.

 

[Quantum_Prodegy]

create a hexalifter and then explain what is happening...check it out:

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/lifters/hexalifter/index.htm

 

[plusaf]

alternatives to the hexalifter

create a hexalifter and then explain what is happening...check it out:

http://jlnlabs.imars.com/lifters/hexalifter/index.htm

determine if there is any reason why six sides are better or even different from a construction with 3, 4, or 5 sides.

research whether there's any similarity here to how fanless air purifiers work, such as the ones from Sharper Image http://www.sharperimage.com/us/en/catalog/productview/sku=SI737SNX/hppos=1 , for example

 

[plusaf]

sterling engines and others...

I just got an idea for my upcoming science fair project. I'm going to build a sterling engine out of spare parts. If you don't know what sterling engines are and how they work, check out this link: http://www.stirlingengine.com/faq/one?scope=public&faq_id=1#1
btw I am a 7th grader

first, how did the engine and your project work out? please share with us.

second, for others interested in engines and things like that, you might find it interesting to make a model of the hybrid system used in the Toyota Prius. it's not a simple, straightforward, "easy" system to understand, but it works very well. it took me hours and hours to finally "get" how it REALLY works, though you'll probably catch on sooner...

it combines an internal combustion engine which does NOT work via the common "Otto Cycle", two motor/generators, one set of planetary gears, and a chain drive to the front differential! quite a combination, eh?

it also provides means of regeneration, both for just plain putting some charge back into the main battery, as well as for the equivalent of "engine braking", or the slowing effect you get in a "normal" car when you take your foot off the gas and shift to a lower gear.

see how long it takes you to grok it all...
ps.
there is no "reverse gear", either. how the heck do they get the car to back up?!

+af

 

[grays0n]

what are some idea for projects that are really cool, like the lifters that someone previously likned to. What are some other ideas or links for projects with really cool, almost unnatural results. Idk, just something really amazing when you see it. Not your everyday run of the mill physics or astronomy/cosmolgy project.

 

[The Green Giant]

Magnetic Field

Hi, I'm doing this project for my science fair...

http://www.amasci.com/electrom/statbotl.html

It's soooo easy!

There are other good science experiments there too but I settled for this one. Would have built a Mono-Rail, but there was no places, the fair was just for marks hehe. (and mono rails arent cheap )

 

[Rplanas]

One science project you can do is to design an engine that runs on water.

 

[misskitty]

That would be very cool...especially if you brough some aerodynamics into the design.

Just for fun, how about designing a hybrid race car or something that runs on water while throwing in some aerodynamic elements. That would be cool.

 

[Loren Booda]

How about hydrodynamics?

 

[misskitty]

How about something to do with string theory?

 

[misskitty]

For kicks and giggels...why not look into how insturments are made with certain materials over others and why changing the material would alter the sound quality and tone of the insturment.

 

[Francis M]

Perhaps as a next step up you could modify the magnetic field experiment to show elecromagnetic fields, or save it as a separate experiment for another fair? You know, show how electromagnetic fields develope in conducting wires, etc... ? Maybe even a branch off from that would be to show how electronic devices can possibly interfere with each other and how/what shielding an electronic device is? That may be getting a little complicated though.

 

[misskitty]

What a cool idea! It seems a little complicated, but it's still an excellent suggestion. I'll have to keep that in mind for my AP physics project.

 

[npgreat]

In the experiment to determine % of oxygen in air use 2 or more candles instead of of 1 and see the effect

 

[Am kuls]

Cool physics project site

check out this site found a lot of contents on physics projects, and all animation very less texts, kinda good for concepts

http://www.goalfinder.com
go to the sitemap to get full list, njoy

 

[minase]

Make a engine that runs on gravity

can u esplain that a litttle bit.

 

[minase]

I would say build a Robot. Last time I tried to do a project on growing plants and animals with cloning. And the project involves cloning plants. By cutting it from it's bruches and planting it . Not very interesing idea but I got fair prize for it.

 

[bigbasherboy]

if u want a sure fire way to win and become rich just invent a 2. perpetual motion machine. :)

 

[slackr007]

I did a project in 8th grade that I wasn't quite prepared for. It's a good project idea, all the judges loved it, but I started a bit late and didn't have quite enough data because I had to build all my test equipment and it would break and I'd have to start over and stuff. Anyway, I did "Does solar activity affect radio propagation?". You just go to the same spot w/ the same weather at different times of day(for different solar activity) and measure signal on a radio. I used a $10-15 DIY radio kit from radio shack and an osciliscope or multimeter or something to measure signal on it. Ask an electrical engineer. Anyway, it had great potential, it just wasn't done by someone who is good w/ projects. I did get to regionals with it though.

 

[RDev]

Hey, I just recently had a school physics bowl competition. One of the categories was demonstration (basically a science fair project). A great idea is the michelson/focault speed of light experiment. We worked on this for a while, but it wasn't hard to acquire the materials and was very well received. The only thing that is really important to know about it, is that the rotating mirror needs to be enclosed because it is spinning fast enough to cause serious damage if it came off. I think we spent around $20 on lasers, wood, and motors. Very worthwhile.

 

[bijanv]

does anyone know any cool small explosion or projectile (missile) type experiemnts?

 

[plusaf]

small, cheap, effective explosions...

does anyone know any cool small explosion or projectile (missile) type experiemnts?

"Watch Mr. Wizard," with Don Herbert, a tv program from probably 50 years ago, did a neat one... as with any and all explosive items, extreme care must be taken or you'll damage your body. i will accept no responsibility for any damage done to anybody by citing the following experiment...

take a dry, empty one-gallon paint can.
drill a hole, about 3/4" in the bottom, off-center, about 1/3 of the way across the diameter.
drop a small funnel, about 3" diameter into the hole.
attach a small rubber/plastic hose to the bottom of the funnel. you'll need to support the can so that the funnel can seat fully against the hole in the bottom and the bottom of the funnel and the hose are not in contact with anything under them.
put a few teaspoons of regular cooking flour into the top of the funnel.
cut a candle to about 2" long, straight across the bottom.
light the candle and put it into the can.
tap the top onto the paint can. firmly, but try to not hit the can in such a way to knock over the candle.
without inhaling first... blow into the tube attached to the funnel.

this will blow a cloud of flour into the can above the candle flame, the flame will ignite the combustible mixture, and the resulting heat and expansion will blow the top of the can at least 10-20 feet into the air.

it will probably not go straight up, so use a 10-20' long length of rubber/plastic tubing so that you're not too close to the can when it goes off, and you can duck and cover if it comes down towards you.

safety glasses and a bicycle helmet are probably some good things to use, here!

enjoy!

 

[Loren Booda]

Is this endorsed by the Hemlock Society?

 

[plusaf]

Lol!

Is this endorsed by the Hemlock Society?

no, nor the Kevorkian family or the Darwin Awards committee.

what i described is exactly what i remembered Don Herbert ("Mr. Wizard", sponsored by GE) do on live television with his student/sidekick "Timmy."

no huhu! they did it! the lid went Bang! up and off camera before bouncing back around the set...