Pure Mathematics Science Projects (Page 2)

M&M Geometry

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have your parents ever found you munching on candy and asked you, "How much candy did you eat?" Instead of saying, "I do not know?" and getting in trouble, maybe you would rather say, "I ate precisely 10.7 cubic centimeters of candy, Mom." Make your parents proud of their candy-eating genius child (you) with this simple science project. Read more

Tiling with Spidrons

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This is a great science fair project for someone who is interested in both mathematics and art. Spidrons are geometric forms made from alternating sequences of equilateral and isosceles (30°, 30°, 120°) triangles. Spidrons were discovered and named by Daniel Erdély in the early 1970's, and have since been studied by mathematicians and artists alike. This project is a great way to learn about the mathematics and art of tiling patterns. Read more

Pick a Card, Any Card

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

No matter what your favorite card game is, we all wish we could use psychic powers to draw the card we want on our turn. You may not have psychic powers, but you might have the power of probability on your side. In this science project, you will discover how math can help you avoid the words, "Go fish!" Read more

Around the World: The Geometry of Shooting Baskets

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Take shots at a set distance from the basket, but systematically vary the angle to the backboard. For a basic project: How do you think your success rate will vary with angle? Draw a conclusion from your experimental results. A bar graph showing success rate at different angles can help to illustrate your conclusion. For a more advanced project: Use your knowledge of geometry and basketball to come up with a mathematical expression to predict your success rate as a function of angle… Read more

How Do Baseball Stadium Dimensions Affect Batting Statistics?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Have you ever wondered how playing in a certain stadium affects how well the athletes perform? Major League Baseball (MLB) is played in ballparks that have their own individual quirks when it comes to the exact layout of the field. How an individual ballpark affects player performance, which is known as ballpark effects, is heavily investigated in the field of baseball. To name just a few parks and their different traits, Fenway Park (the long-time home ballpark for the Boston Red Sox in… Read more

Chain Reaction: Inversion and the Pappus Chain Theorem

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Here is a challenging problem for anyone with an interest in geometry. This project requires background research to solve it, but it is an excellent illustration of visual thinking in mathematics. Figure 1 below shows a series of circles (iC₁, iC₂, iC₃, ..., iC₃₀), inscribed inside an arbelos. What is an arbelos? The arbelos is the white region in the figure, bounded by three semicircles. The diameters of the three semicircles are all on the same line segment, AC,… Read more

Making Patterns with Rubik's Cube

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

This project challenges you to figure out how to make geometric patterns with Rubik's Cube. Leaving your cube in one of these positions makes it much more tempting to pick it up and 'fix' it. Can you figure out how to make a checkerboard, or a cube-within-a-cube? Can you make only the center piece a different color from the rest? Can you figure out how to solve the cube from these positions? Read more

Playing Music

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

Music has many mathematical elements in it: rhythm, pitch, scale, frequency, interval, and ratio. There are many ways to turn these elements into a science fair project. You can investigate how the scale is based upon a special type of number sequence called a Harmonic Series. Another scale used by Bach, called the "Well-Tempered-Scale" or the "Equal-Tempered-Scale", is based upon a series. How are these mathematical series and ratios related to notes, chords, intervals, and octaves? You can… Read more

Bet You Can't Hit Me! The Science of Catapult Statistics

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

If you have ever tried to hit a target (such as a trash can) with a wad of paper, you know that aim is everything. But it is not always easy to get it right every time! Missing is not that big a deal with a wad of paper, but what if you were in an invading army in the Middle Ages, using a catapult to hurl huge stones and knock down castle walls? For a successful invasion, it would be important to know exactly how far, and how reliably, a catapult could launch a projectile. In this project you… Read more

What Makes a Team's Winning Percentage Deviate from the Pythagorean Relationship?

Science Fair Project Idea

Scientific Method

What makes a winning team? Getting all the best players? Good coaches? Good chemistry? This project will show you how you can use math to help you test your hypothesis about what makes a winning team. The Pythagorean relationship is a fundamental one in sports: it correctly predicts the records of 98% of all teams. But in 2% of cases, it fails. Why does it fail? Find teams that deviated substantially from their expected Pythagorean record (this information is available for baseball teams… Read more

Pure Mathematics Science Projects (43 results)

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