Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Me and my friend want to create some sort of military shield for our science fair. We have thought of many things and we want to create one from lightweight metal that will deflect radiation and will be helpfull in war against some obsticles or projectiles. We also thought it would be cool if this kept your body temperature hidden for those heat sensors to. The shield has to be light weight and easy to use. Can anyone help me think of blue print or maybe any metal that i can use?

This will be an interesting project that covers a broad range of scientific and engineering disciplines. It offers you the opportunity to learn a lot about physics and the properties of materials.

I suggest you begin by first refining your objective. You mentioned you want the shield to "deflect radiation". You need to figure out what type of radiation. Sunlight is radiation. Laser light is another kind. Then there's radio raves and radioactive radiation. Think about it and narrow down your objective. Then you'll need to do some research on how to deflect and-or absorb that kind of radiation.

Then you can do some research on materials. There is much information on the internet regarding properties of metals. You can get you answers to a particular metal's physical properties, such as weight. You should also investigate various composite materials, such as carbon fiber technology, or even the more simple fiberglass composite materials. Understanding material properties will help you evaluate whether or not a material can provide the radiation deflection capabilities you are looking for.

You also mentions the shield will be used to deflect projectiles. Here again you need to determine what kinds of projectiles. You need to consider what size they would be, how heavy, what kinds of materials they would be made of, whether or not they are incendiary in nature or not. Once you do that, you can check the properties of various materials and see if they can offer the protection you are looking for.

You will also need to do some research on just how heat sensing technology works so you can select a material and design that will provide the shielding you desire to keep the individual's body temperature hidden.

It seems you have a lot of work ahead of you, but all the resources you need should be readily available on the internet. Be inventive and do some specific searches and you should be able to find what you need.

Good luck and have fun!

Ed provided terrific advice. Here's something you might not run into searching metals, etc -- the "space blanket". Look it up and happy hunting.