Radio Waves from a Cell Phone

[shivampatel1998]

Hey! I am doing a science fair project on radio waves being emitted from a cell phone. I will have two cell phones, and one of them will be wrapped in different common household substances like aluminum foil, plastic stretch, and wax paper, and then I will time how long it takes for the calls to get through. I needed to write a 4-6 page ROL, but was confused on what to research because everything I research is off topic. Please help!

[k4gfwgerry]

Hello shivampatel1998-

The speed of radio waves is not effected by the substances you are working with. However, these substances may effect the strength of the radio signal emitted from the phone. My suggestion is to borrow or rent a radio receiver tuned to the frequency of the signal and measure the signal strength at a constant distance away from the phone and record the differences in signal strength resulting from wrapping the radio in each of the substances.

Regards,
Gerry

[LeungWilley]

Hi shivampatel1998,
Is it the goal of your project to find out which material will block the cell signal the most? If so, you may want to try placing the phone inside the particular material and read how many bars, i.e. signal strength, you have on the phone. As part of the experiment, you may also want to determine if different thickness of the material have any impact on the signal strength. (For example, you can compare the signal strength at 5 wraps of aluminum foil vs. 10 wraps, etc...) You may need to get creative and use something to take a picture of the screen when you have the phone completely inside the "material" that you want to test though. (May be a time-delayed camera inside the box where the phone is going to be)?

Good Luck and please let us know how your experiment is working out.
Willey