Physics Investigatory Project for grade 12?

[Maui_4412]

Hello, I've submitted 8 topics already but sadly it was all rejected, I could really use some help to look for investigatory projects about physics

 

[jedishrfu]

List the projects and why they were rejected by your teacher.

 

[Dale]

And also the instructions for selecting a project

 

[Maui_4412]

Here are some of my topics. The topics could be from Kinematics, force, power, energy, light, sound, but the only condition was that "it should be tweaked a little from the original" like for example the original study of the MPEMBA effect was just hot water and cold water; the tweaked version would be MPEMBA effect with different containers. something like that.How friction on different surfaces affect the speed of a R.C car : rejected because it was too simply and obvious

Materials: 1 R.C car, 1 stopwatch, 1 meter stick

Data Procedure:

A) The R.C car would be controlled to go across cement that is 5 meters and then measured by how much time in seconds it took to reach it.

B) The R.C car would be controlled to go across sand/gravel that is 5 meters and then measured by how much time in seconds in took to reach it.

C) The R.C car would be controlled to go across Dirt/Grass that is 5 meters and then measured by how much time in seconds it took to reach it.

D) The R.C car would be controlled to go across Cobblestoned road that is 5 meters from it then measured by how much time in seconds it took to reach it.

Determining the viscosity of certain liquids by getting its velocity : rejected because some liquids have given viscosity

Materials: 1 rock, 40ml hand sanitizer, 40ml honey, 40ml oil, 40ml paint and 40ml water, 1 graduated cylinder

Data Procedure:

A) Fill the graduated cylinder each with the 40ml substance.

B) Set the timer to zero then drop the rock and measure in second how long it took for it to sink.

C) Do this 5 times and get the average time

D) Compute for the velocity then quantify the results

APPLICATION: This would be very helpful in knowing how the fluid will flow through a pipe or an orifice that is used in pumps, hydraulic systems or determining which oil to use in designing a new engine.

A study on which Fruit and Vegetable has the most stored electricity : rejected because it was too used.

Materials: 1 Zinc nail, 1 copper nail, 1 brass nail, 1 multimeter, 1 coin, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 apple, 1 potato, 1 pomelo, 1 grape fruit and 1 pear

Data Procedure:

A) Stick the coin and copper or brass in the Fruit or Vegetable then connect it to the multimeter, after doing this measure how many watts it producesDoes sound travel faster as the salinity increases? : rejected because it was given that sound travels faster in denser places.

Materials: Tuning Fork, Graduated Cylinder, 40ml of water, SPECTRUMVIEW APP and 1 ruler

Data Procedure:

A) On top of the graduated cylinder with 40ml of water strike the Tuning fork and quickly measure its frequency using the SPECTRUMVIEW app.

B) Measure the height of the tuning fork from the tip of the graduated cylinder

C) Measure the diameter of the graduated cylinder

D) Use the formula v = 4f (H + 0.4D) where F is the frequency measured using the app, H is the height and D is the diameter.

E) Repeat these steps as the salinity is increased.

 

[jedishrfu]

What about measuring hair with the diffraction method?
- use multiple types of lasers
- use multiple hairs from different classmates, teacher, a baby vs a child vs an adult vs a senior citizen
- use wet hair soaked in water for some time vs dry hair
- use multiple minimums to compute the width

What about measuring paper plane performance?
- use a leaf blower to launch the planes
- vary the wind speed
- use different types of paper with the same plane design
- use same paper with different designs
- use different wing configurations with the same design ie add foils to the wings

Alternatively you could measure frisbee and its variants performance, I not sure if the leaf blower could help here but maybe blowing at the frisbee and measuring the deflect force as you change the attack angle.

It seems like the teacher wants you to explore a variations on a theme where you keep all variables the same and vary one to see the effect.

 

[Maui_4412]

Thank you so much for your ideas, but I'm so sorry, my teacher wants topics with real life applications or like that could help in real life somehow :(. I am very sorry again to disturb you all I just really need some help and I'm doing my best too

 

[jedishrfu]

Thank you so much for your ideas, but I'm so sorry, my teacher wants topics with real life applications or like that could help in real life somehow :(. I am very sorry again to disturb you all I just really need some help and I'm doing my best too

What are all the requirements? You've told us about classical physics topics and now it has to be related to real life applications. Its sounding more like an engineering challenge than a Physics challenge.

How about different bridge designs tested using the leaf blower to simulate Tacoma Narrows Bridge collapse? Be aware that the bridge collapse wasn't due to resonant frequency as is often taught in some courses. Perhaps you could re-enact the bridge collapse and then show how to prevent it.

https://www.wsdot.wa.gov/TNBhistory/Machine/machine3.htm

https://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201611/physicshistory.cfm

https://www.forbes.com/sites/starts...ever-about-why-bridges-collapse/#44e8d5801f4c

 

[Dale]

A study on which Fruit and Vegetable has the most stored electricity : rejected because it was too used.

Materials: 1 Zinc nail, 1 copper nail, 1 brass nail, 1 multimeter, 1 coin, 1 orange, 1 lemon, 1 apple, 1 potato, 1 pomelo, 1 grape fruit and 1 pear

Why don't you also measure conductivity and acidity and include household fluids like soda, Gatorade, drain cleaner, bleach, lemon juice, etc. Is pH the important thing or just the conductivity? Is the voltage affected or the current?

 

[jedishrfu]

Just be careful using bleach.

 

[Maui_4412]

Thank you so much for your suggestions :). I am very interested in constructing a model bridge as you suggested:). but I respectfully ask isn't that concept already proven like as to which bridge designs are the best?

 

[NFuller]

I'm a bit confused as to what your teacher expects from you. It's not like a grade 12 project is going to produce new research or answers to unsolved problems in physics. Can you tell us of any past projects or friend's projects that the teacher accepted?

 

[Maui_4412]

I'm a bit confused as to what your teacher expects from you. It's not like a grade 12 project is going to produce new research or answers to unsolved problems in physics. Can you tell us of any past projects or friend's projects that the teacher accepted?

One of the projects that were approved was, Demonstrating MPEMBA effect with the liquid in two bottles, one is sealed and the other is not :).

 

[NFuller]

One of the projects that were approved was, Demonstrating MPEMBA effect with the liquid in two bottles, one is sealed and the other is not :).

Maybe you can try probing some of the proposed causes of the effect listed on the wiki page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpemba_effect.

In particular:

-Try and see if agitating the liquid during cooling influences the results. This would test the idea of convective currents in the warm liquid leading to faster cooling. Maybe you can borrow two magnetic stirrers from your chem department.
-It has also been suggested that dissolved gasses play a role. Maybe try to replicate the effect using carbonated water.
-There is also a theory that hydrogen bonding may be important. You could try freezing a liquid which has weaker hydrogen bonding then water, such as alcohol or glycerin. These have a lower freezing point than water though so you will need dry ice or liquid nitrogen (this actually isn't too hard to get).

 

[Maui_4412]

OHH THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU