Mechanical Engineering Science Projects (44 results)
If you're interested in object motion and enjoy building things or taking mechanical things apart to see how they work, then it sounds like you'd be interested in mechanical engineering.
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Have you ever set up a line of dominoes and watched them fall? If you wanted to make your line of dominoes fall faster, do you think you should set the dominoes up with more or less space between them? Set your dominoes up in a straight line, using a ruler to keep the spacing between them constant. Try different spacings at 0.5cm increments. Conduct multiple trials at each spacing, and time how long it takes for a fixed total length of dominoes to fall (e.g., a 1.5 or 3.0 meter length of…
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An overnight trip to the beach or a quick two-day vacation can be lots of fun. What do you do to prepare? Pack your clothes, get sunscreen lotion, and borrow a book from the library. But wait! Who is going to feed your dog or cat? It would be irresponsible to let them go hungry. And you can't just leave food out, because it can get stale and start to grow bacteria, which can cause your pet to get sick. Also, it is not a good idea to leave bowls of food out because a pet might overeat, which is…
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How does ski wax affect the sliding friction of skis? You can model this with an ice cube sliding down a plank: how high do you need to lift the end of the plank before the ice cube starts to slide? Try this with one side plain wood and the flip side waxed wood (use paraffin wax, candle wax or ski wax). Make sure both sides are equally smooth to start with. Do at least three trials. More advanced: using what you know about the forces acting on the ice cube, derive equations to calculate the…
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Think it's a good idea to stream music, watch videos, or check social media while doing homework?
Are you a thrill-seeker? Well, this is the science fair project for you! What makes a ride so thrilling that people want to ride it over and over again even though it scares them? Is it the speed, the twists and turns, the vertical drops? In this science fair project, you will build and use an accelerometer to figure out what makes a roller-coaster ride worth standing in line for. Oh, and if Mom…
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How many times have you heard from your parents: "Clean up your room!" or "Don't forget to unload the dishwasher!" By applying principles of industrial engineering and time management, you can speed through your chores and have more time to kick back and relax.
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How much force can a rubber band withstand before breaking? Do rubber bands that stretch longer take more or less force to break? How does the elasticity of a rubber band change with temperature? Use a spring scale to measure the applied force, and a meter stick or ruler to measure the change in length. Recording with a video camera (or possibly two) can help you to capture the values at the moment before the rubber band breaks. You can change the temperature of the rubber bands using…
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Noise is everywhere. From the clanking of a cowbell to the din of the lunchroom, we are surrounded by noise. Sometimes there's no way to get away from it, but there is a way to deal with it—constrained-layer damping. By simply creating a layered sandwich of somewhat flexible materials, what was once a noisy cowbell can become a "noise blanket." This science fair project shows you how to transform a noisy piece of metal into a sound-muffling constrained-layer damper. You'll record the…
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Strike a key on the piano, and you hear the string vibrating. Just about any object vibrates when it's knocked, but how much and how fast? What properties of the material affect the way it vibrates? This project helps you find out. You'll build a simple light-sensing circuit for measuring the frequency of vibrating springs.
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Big, puffy, cotton-like clouds, and the bubbles in a pot of boiling water may not seem like they have much in common, but they do—both are formed by a heat-transfer process called convection. Warmed gases and liquids rise, while cooler ones fall, creating currents and mixing things up. Whether making processed foods in a factory or making plastic or metal parts, knowing how to mix up a big tank of hot and cold liquids or gases quickly is important. Engineers must rely on experimentation…
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"What?! Many of my toys are also machines?" That's right—simple machines! Simple machines are everywhere! Under your feet when you climb stairs, in your hand when you use a utensil to eat your dinner, even in your arm when you throw a ball. Come visit this science fair project and explore the six types of simple machines. Find out how many are hiding under the hinged lid (yes, another simple machine) of your toy box!
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