The discussion revolves around generating ideas for a high school AP Physics lab project, with a focus on experiments that do not involve electrical components. Participants explore various topics within physics, including kinematics and thermodynamics, while seeking practical and quantitative lab ideas.
The conversation is active, with participants sharing ideas and expressing interest in different experimental setups. There is no explicit consensus, but several suggestions have been made, indicating a productive exploration of potential lab projects.
Participants are constrained by the requirement to create a quantitative lab design and are considering the practicality of their proposed experiments within a school setting.
Valhalla said:home-made calorimeter... you can measure the final temp and check it with a theoretical calculation based on Q=mc\Delta T
If you feel like it you could do Newton's law of cooling as well. It is the same experiment, but you have different measurements and calculations.
seems like a fantastic idea! but now i have to concern about building a wind tunnel... i'll definitely give it some thought... right now I'm also thinking about young's modulus... hmm... ok thanks for your contribution!berkeman said:My friend just did a wind tunnel with his son for a Science Fair project. The son is in grammar school, so it was a pretty simple setup and experiment. But at the AP high school level, you could have some serious fun. Maybe google wind tunnel stuff to see if that might be practical. Smoke trails, wing geometries, laminar flow versus separation versus lift...cools stuff!