Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I am doing this project and I really need help in this: What other shape or reflector design, besides the parabola obviously, can I use ?
I want to answer this question:
What is so special about a parabola? Can you use a reflector with a different shape instead? Try comparing two different reflector designs with each other.

Thank you in advance, you're awesome!

Hello alexsorto1,

I’m assuming that you are working on the project described here:

https://www.sciencebuddies.org/science- ... p010.shtml

One alternate design that comes to mind is a flat piece of cardboard covered with foil. This could be the same size as the cardboard piece used to make the parabolic reflector. And you’d need to tape on another piece of cardboard with a hole in it to attach to the router antenna.

Of course you could try many other shapes and sizes of reflectors – anything you can imagine and fit around the router antenna is fair game. Based on what you know so far, what shape or design would make a really poor reflector? What shape would make a really great reflector?

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman

Hi Norman
Yes this is the project and thanks for the idea. I think doing a flat design would be a good bet to compare it with the parabola. I was also thinking of maybe using a hiperbola or an ellipse which are similar to a parabola to show which one is better. But definetely a flat design to compare the worst with the best and why this change occurs. Please let me know if I should do the flat design of course and one of the shapes I mentioned.Thanks for responding by the way.

Alex

Hi alexsorto1,

The flat design might be a pretty good example of a less effective reflector of your wifi signal. If so, a test of a flat design could help you answer the questions from your original post. In this test your hypothesis might be something like: if the reflector panel is flat then the reflector will not be as effective because the reflected wifi signal won’t be focused on the router antenna. So, if we suppose that your results confirm that a flat design is less effective then we might conclude that curvature is one of the features of a parabolic reflector that makes it effective.

Now, what’s another feature of a parabolic reflector that you could test? Could you test that feature with one of the other reflector shapes that you mentioned? Think through some possibilities and try to make a hypothesis that relates a reflector design change to effectiveness.

I hope this helps. Please post again if you have more questions.

A. Norman