- #1
Opus_723
- 178
- 3
So I'm in the first year of my Physics major, having just finished my first class. I'm looking for projects to do at home. I'm not too picky about whether it's an genuine experiment or just a fun project. I just want to do something with my hands that relates to what we're doing in class. I got a book from the library on undergraduate physics experiments, but they were mostly geared toward juniors and seniors, and required equipment I don't have access to. So I'm looking for something interesting, albeit using only the very basics.
My first class covered the very basics: projectile motion, Newton's Laws, gravitation, conservation of energy and momentum. My next class will introduce rotational motion, harmonic motion, and some basic fluid dynamics and thermodynamics. I'd like to do something that relates to either the class I just finished or the one I'm about to take.
Broad ideas I had:
Experiments which either confirm something I learned in class or would allow me to "discover" a new aspect of those concepts. For example, building a pendulum and then measuring its properties to determine what affects its motion and deriving an equation experimentally.
Projects which demonstrate what I've learned in class, like those carts that shoot a ball as they move, and the ball falls back in. Or the devices that knock a ball sideways and drop one at the same time.
Or just cool things that use concepts we've gone over. Bonus points if they require some calculation to use or build. Basic example, a trebuchet, which could be aimed using kinematic equations and vector decomposition.
Also, general bonus points all around if the concept is something that isn't normally covered in freshman physics classes, but closely related. I have a little money to spend, but not a lot. Sorry if this seems like a tall order, but I literally have no idea where to start, so I'm just hoping for a broad brainstorm here. Thanks for any input!
My first class covered the very basics: projectile motion, Newton's Laws, gravitation, conservation of energy and momentum. My next class will introduce rotational motion, harmonic motion, and some basic fluid dynamics and thermodynamics. I'd like to do something that relates to either the class I just finished or the one I'm about to take.
Broad ideas I had:
Experiments which either confirm something I learned in class or would allow me to "discover" a new aspect of those concepts. For example, building a pendulum and then measuring its properties to determine what affects its motion and deriving an equation experimentally.
Projects which demonstrate what I've learned in class, like those carts that shoot a ball as they move, and the ball falls back in. Or the devices that knock a ball sideways and drop one at the same time.
Or just cool things that use concepts we've gone over. Bonus points if they require some calculation to use or build. Basic example, a trebuchet, which could be aimed using kinematic equations and vector decomposition.
Also, general bonus points all around if the concept is something that isn't normally covered in freshman physics classes, but closely related. I have a little money to spend, but not a lot. Sorry if this seems like a tall order, but I literally have no idea where to start, so I'm just hoping for a broad brainstorm here. Thanks for any input!