The Physics of Follow-Through
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This project can apply to soccer, hockey, baseball and many other sports. What is the effect of stopping the kick/shot/swing at the moment of impact vs. following through? Think of a way to...
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What's the Fastest Way to Cool a Soda?
So you've just finished mowing the lawn on a hot summer day, and you'd like a cold, refreshing drink as a reward. You look in the fridge, and oops! it's empty. The sodas are still sitting in the cupboard, at room temperature. What's the fastest way to get that soda down to a cold, drinkable temperature with materials readily at hand?
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How Far Can You Kick (or Throw, or Hit) a Ball?
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What launch angle gives the longest horizontal distance? Make a giant protractor with cardboard to measure angles, or use a video camera to record your throws and analyze the launch angle. Try...
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Solid Motor Rocket Propulsion
What does it take to launch a satellite to explore Mars, or a mission to the moon? This project has several possible variations for exploring the physics of rockets. This
is rocket science!
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Bouncing Balls: Measure the Rebound Rating
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The rebound rating is the ratio of bounce height to drop height. Do background research on the physics of "elastic" and "inelastic" collisions. Lots of possible variations: explore how the...
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Forensics: How Does It Matter? Measure the Spatter!
Every criminal leaves behind evidence at the crime scene. The trick to catching the criminal is collecting all of the evidence and making sense of it. This is what the forensic expert does. In this science project you will be correlating the size of blood stains to the distance from which a body fell, but don't get too grossed out. You'll be doing it with water-filled balloons. If you like figuring out mysteries, this is the science project for you!
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How Long Will My Sleepy Yo-yo Sleep?
Sometimes, simple toys can be quite complicated. Take the yo-yo. It's a fun toy and there is nothing simpler than a string wrapped between two connected disks. But there's a lot of physics that makes a yo-yo work. In this science fair project, learn more about how and why a yo-yo works. You will investigate the effect of string length on the yo-yo's "sleep" trick time. If people ask why you've got a yo-yo with you all the time, tell them that while it looks like you're just having fun, you're really a physicist!
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An Uplifting Project—The Buoyancy of Balloons
Balloons are a festive addition to many celebrations. You've probably noticed, though, that over a short period of time, helium-filled latex balloons start to lose their buoyancy. So when you're planning your next party, how soon can you buy the balloons in advance before they start deflating? In this science fair project, you will use a simple scale to measure the
lift supplied by a set of balloons, and determine the rate of
lift decay.
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Stealthy Shapes: How to Make an Aircraft Invisible to Radar
Have you ever dreamed about becoming invisible? Or about making something else invisible, like the mess all over your room? Invisibility may sound like the stuff of science fiction (remember Star Trek's "Cloaking Device"?), but in reality, military vehicles, like planes and ships,
can be made less observable, or even invisible, to different detection methods—like radar, sonar, or infrared sensors—by using
stealth technology. In this engineering science fair project, you'll find out how to take invisibility from science fiction to science fact.
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Does the Base Stealer Take the Base from the Catcher Or the Pitcher?
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Use a stopwatch to time the pitcher's motion from the start of the windup to the release of the ball. Do this for as many pitchers as you can. Be sure to take several measurements for each...
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Index of Physics Project Ideas |
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