Physics is the study of matter — what is it made of? How does it behave? What laws or equations describe it? From subatomic particles, to the Big Bang, modern physicists study matter at a tremendous range of scales. There's a whole lot of interesting physics at the human scale, too. If physics interests you our wide collection of physics projects is sure to have an experiment that excites you.
What do sand, Skittles, and cereal have in common? They are all granular materials, which means they are made up of solid particles, but they can actually flow like liquid! Imagine pouring the sand out of a bucket or pouring the cereal out of a box— a lot like pouring water, right? In this physics science project, you will investigate how the size of granular materials affect how they flow.
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Phys_p091
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Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
Adult assistance is needed with cutting cardboard. If you use material that you plan on eating later, like cereal or candy, be sure to wash your funnel with soap and water before you start the experiment.
Jumping discs can be a fun toy to play with, and with their sudden POP!, they can even be a good way to startle people who have never heard them before. Jumping discs use a neat trick to jump. They are made of two different types of metal, and these metals expand when they heat up (or shrink when they cool down), but not by exactly the same amount. In this science project you will explore how temperature affects the reactions of your jumping discs— and how to get the timing right if you…
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Phys_p094
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
This project requires buying bimetallic jumping discs. See the Materials and Equipment list for details.
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
Adult supervision is required during use of a hair dryer as a heat source. Hair dryers can cause burns or fires if used improperly and should not be operated by small children alone.
Do not use the jumping discs on surfaces that are fragile or can be easily scratched.
Can you imagine designing and building a space telescope the size of a tennis court? Believe it or not, that is someone's job! Engineers are hard at work on the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST. This telescope has the potential to enable astronomers to see light from when the Universe was first formed. No one knows what amazing discoveries this might lead to. However, to make the telescope work properly, engineers have to overcome a lot of challenges. In this science project, you can…
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Phys_p082
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Time Required
Long (2-4 weeks)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Most of the materials are available in hardware or craft stores.
Cost
Average ($50 - $100)
Safety
Adult supervision is required. Use caution when using the box cutter, heat lamp, and laser pointer.
What can you do with magnets and ball bearings that makes a lot of noise? Why, build a magnetic linear accelerator, called a Gauss rifle, of course! Now, this magnetic accelerator is not a weapon, but a way for you to learn a lot more about physics concepts, like momentum. In this physics science project, you will investigate how far a ball bearing launched by a Gauss rifle will fly, depending on how many magnetic acceleration stages are in the setup and the ball bearing's initial velocity.…
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Phys_p081
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
For your convenience a kit is available for this project from our partner
.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
A Gauss rifle (also called a magnetic linear accelerator) is not a weapon. It can however, launch metal balls at high speeds. Do not aim the device at anyone or anything. Do not put your hand in front of the projectiles. Read and follow closely the important safety notes at the beginning of the Experimental Procedure before you begin.
Have you ever wondered why a water strider can walk on water? Or how detergent can clean your dishes? If you observe carefully, you can find dozens of similarly interesting phenomena that are all linked to the surface tension of water. In this science project, you will investigate the properties of water surface tension.
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Can you hear me now . . . ? Just how loud does a sound have to be for us to hear it? And how loud is too loud for our ears? Learn to measure levels of sound in this project, and discover the amazing auditory range your ears can detect in the noisy world around you. If you have a smartphone handy, you can even do this project without purchasing any additional materials, by using Google's app.
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Phys_p034
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Time Required
Average (6-10 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Readily available
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
Do not try to measure very loud noises (lawnmowers, chainsaws, concerts, etc.) for this project unless you wear ear protection.
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 they fell, but do not get too grossed out. You will be doing it with fake blood. If you like figuring out mysteries, this is the science project for you!
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Phys_p066
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Time Required
Very Short (≤ 1 day)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Readily available.
Cost
Low ($20 - $50)
Safety
This topic can be a little scary. If you are squeamish, you may want to choose another topic. Adult supervision is required when doing background research, especially online, on this topic.
Do you like winter sports like sledding or skiing? Check out this winter-themed engineering project to build your own miniature "ski lift." Use it to transport small objects from one place to another, just like a real ski lift transports skiers from the bottom of a mountain to the top.
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Imagine that you are a detective investigating a murder. You have a body that was found in a swimming pool, and someone reported hearing an argument near the pool at 10:00 PM the night before. Your first question might be "Was this person killed around 10:00 PM last night, or at some other time?" One way to answer this question is to measure the internal temperature of the body. The longer ago the killing occurred, the colder the body. But can you assign a specific time of death to a specific…
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What do sand and cereal have in common? They are both granular materials, which means they are made up of solid particles, but they can actually flow like liquid. When two granular materials with very different-sized particles are mixed, you can actually separate each type by putting them in a rotating device called a tumbler. In this science project, you will examine how common household granular materials behave when mixed together in a moving container
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Phys_p092
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- Less Details
Time Required
Short (2-5 days)
Prerequisites
None
Material Availability
Readily available
Cost
Very Low (under $20)
Safety
Adult supervision is recommended when using a knife to cut a hole in the cardboard box
