High School, Physics Science Experiments (Page 9)

Simple Harmonic Motion in a Spring-Mass System

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Many things in nature are periodic: the seasons of the year, the phases of the moon, the vibration of a violin string, and the beating of the human heart. In each of these cases, the events occur in repeated cycles, or periods. In this project, you will investigate the periodic motion of a spring, using a mini Slinky®. You can also measure the motion of your spring using a smartphone equipped with a sensor app. Basic physics will then allow you to determine the Hooke's Law spring constant.… Read more

Watching Nuclear Particles: See Background Radiation Zoom Through A Cloud Chamber

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Do you realize that you are constantly bombarded by particles? You do not feel them, you cannot see, hear, or smell them, but they are always there! These particles — collectively called background radiation — might even travel through you without ever interacting with the molecules in your body. In this science project, you will build your own cloud chamber to prove the existence of background radiation. You will then use your cloud chamber to determine if the background… Read more

Waves in Slow Motion

STEM Activity

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Have you ever noticed seagulls bobbing up and down on the ocean while surfers paddle forward to catch a wave? Maybe you remember floating on a lake, going up and down as a wave passed by, or the feeling of being swept ashore by a breaking wave. Water waves are fascinating. They come in all sizes, from a tiny ripple to monster waves that are ten meters high. You have seen them, but do you know what drives them, how they move across oceans and seas? In this activity, you will bring the… Read more

A Simulator for Suborbital Spacecraft

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wished you could fly to space? Space flight is getting more accessible thanks to reusable rockets that make getting to space much cheaper. Civilian astronauts can even buy tickets for a few minutes in space! But exactly how high is "space"? How do engineers predict how high a rocket will go and figure out how to make it land safely? Find out in this project as you explore the physics of suborbital space flight. Read more

Build a Bottle Centrifuge

STEM Activity

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Have you ever ridden a merry-go-round at a playground? Did you notice how you felt like you were being flung toward the outside, so you needed to hold on to stay in place? Scientists make use of this effect in a centrifuge, which is a machine that separates substances based on their density. They can, for example, use it to separate different substances within a blood sample. In this fun activity, you will build your own simple bottle centrifuge and test how it works. Are you ready for a spin? Read more

Can You Hear Sounds in Outer Space?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered what sounds you can hear in space? The answer is simple: none! In outer space there is utter silence. There are no sounds of traffic jams or thunderstorms or crashing waves. No buzzing bees or babies crying. Just silence. In this experiment, you will discover why empty space is void of sound and prove it with the help of the microphone in your phone and a sensor app. Read more

Centripetal Force

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What keeps you in your seat of a giant loop-de-loop roller coaster? Surprisingly, it is not the seatbelt but the seat! It works because of something called centripetal force and it does much more than make a great roller coaster. It keeps a satellite in orbit and you in your bicycle seat during a turn. How does it work? Read more

Circus-Trick Science: How to Balance Anything

STEM Activity

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Have you ever wondered why it is harder to keep your balance with a heavy backpack on? Or why it is difficult to make a toddler's sippy cup tip over? Maybe you are the kind of person who wonders about circus balancing acts and would like to learn how to ride a bike on a rope. Or perhaps you want to know how to make your toy car less prone to toppling over when racing through a sharp curve. In this science activity, you will get to investigate balance using marshmallows, skewers, and… Read more

Conduct Galileo's Famous Falling Objects Experiment

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Standing on a balcony near the top of the Tower of Pisa in Italy, a young scientist dropped two balls into the crowd below. The scientist, young Galileo, was not trying to knock his fellow professors on the head, but was trying to prove his theory that all objects fall to earth at the same rate, regardless of their mass. Was Galileo's theory correct? In this science project, you will get to test it out for yourself! Look out below! Read more

Distance and Constant Acceleration

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever dropped something and wondered how fast it was moving while falling? If it was something fragile, like a cell phone, you might not have been thinking about this at the time — you may have been too busy trying to grab the phone! But you probably wanted to find out just how hard it hit the ground afterwards. We know that gravity forces an object to fall, but how does this affect how quickly something falls and how hard it hits the ground? For example, did the phone move faster… Read more

High School, Physics Science Experiments (223 results)

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