Research Project
Introduction to Physics (PHSX 1010)
Adam Johnston

The research project requirement of this course will allow you to actually conduct your own physics research.  You will choose a topic for your research, decide how to go about your research and then actually do the research and analyze your data.  Don’t worry — this is not as torturous at it might sound!  This project is worth 15% of your final grade, or as much as a single exam.

It is important to note that this research will be your own.  That means that you will:

1. Propose a question that asks “How?” or “Why?”

2. Collect your own data (e.g., times, lengths, masses, colors, etc.) pertaining to the natural phenomenon you’re considering.

3. Explain what you did and what it all means.

 This project is not any of the following:

1.  A report on research that has already been done, although you are free to refer to such if you desire.

2. An essay describing some physics, although this might also be incorporated into your research.

3. A description of a demonstration/application and how it works.

This project has two parts:

Proposal (10%): Before you begin your research, you should propose what you are going to study and how you intend to study it.  This can probably be written within one paragraph, preferably typed.  Your proposal should be specific.  For example, instead of stating that you want to study “how rocks fall,” you should propose what you will actually do with the rocks (drop them off the roof of your house), what you will measure (time how long it takes each rock to fall) and what factors you will vary (dimensions of each rock).  These proposals will be handed back to you with either a stamp of approval or with suggestions regarding how you might go about improving your study.  If you decide to turn your proposal in early, you will have it returned early as well.

Research Report (90%): This report should contain the following pieces:

C     Introduction.  You should describe your project briefly, explaining what you set out to study, and how you intended to actually do it.  This will be about a page or less in length and will probably resemble your original proposal.

C     Procedure & Results.  This will contain the bulk of your report.  Here you should describe exactly what you did, and what results you came up with.  This might include not only a written description of your experiments and observations, but also a table of data that you observed and/or a graph or chart that reflects your data.  (How you present your results is left entirely up to you, although you should make sure that you are clear and complete.  Note that your data is most reliable when it can be repeated consistently – you might want to show this.)  Depending on your particular project, this portion of the report could be several pages.

C     Conclusion.  You should summarize what you did, and what you figured out.  (Often, you have to conclude that you can’t conclude anything from your study!)  In other words, from your data, can you come up with any general rule? (e.g.: “The larger a rock, the more slowly it falls, unless it is made out of quartz.” (No, this isn’t really true.)) Also, you should add any concluding thoughts that you have about your study, any explanations for things that might have gone wrong, and any suggestions for future study.

An example of a written proposal and report is viewable from the course web page (http://physics.weber.edu/johnston/introphsx).  This might give you a good idea of what a report and its corresponding research can look like.  Remember, though, that this is just one example.

A short list of possible ideas for projects:

Some of the best project ideas have come from students themselves.  (In fact, many of the ideas below were stolen from students who claim not to be scientists.)  The following list is not meant to be one that you should choose from, but it might give you some ideas.  Some of these have already been pursued in class, so you might have to extend such projects well beyond what has already been done.  All of the following suggestions are only the beginnings of potential projects.  You are encouraged to come up with your own research study, even if it is not listed below:

!    How correct was Galileo in suggesting that all objects fall at the same rate? You might investigate the rates of descent for a wide variety of bodies. For example, you might time how long it takes several different sizes and masses of objects to fall to the ground from a given height. Can you make any conclusions based on this data? You could support your evidence with graphs.

!    How does a pendulum work?  You can build a simple pendulum with a piece of string and a mass, such as a washer.  How does varying the length of the pendulum or the mass of the pendulum affect the period of the pendulum’s swing? (Note: This is the study that is used for the sample report.  If you do this, please make sure you are doing something slightly different or with some added twist.)

!    What determines the speed at which someone (or something) slides down a playground slide?  What determines the rate of someone’s swing on a swingset?  Other playground possibilities?

!    What affects how well a pickle will glow?  (You would need to build your own pickle-glow apparatus – see the instructor for details.)  What determines if and how other vegetables will glow?

!    Soap bubbles can be much more complicated than we give them credit for. What kinds of formations can soap bubbles form?  Under what conditions are bubbles most readily created?  How do soap bubbles or soap films vary their colors?

!    What is the wattage of the sun?  By measuring how quickly a pan of water changes its temperature in the noon-day sun, you might be able to measure the energy output of our star.  (This is slightly more math intensive than most projects.)

!    Develop an experiment(s) to effectively measure the speed of sound.  One suggestion would be to try to flash your car lights and honk the car horn at the same time, and time the difference in the arrival of the two signals at some distant point.  Are there better methods?

!    Determine the maximum energy output of a human being. This energy could be expelled in a variety of ways, such as heat, climbing stairs, etc.

!    Study the properties of smoke rings and how to create them, and study how they interact with one another or with other objects.

!    Conduct a study on the musical properties of objects that are typically non-musical. (e.g.: crystal glasses, PVC pipe, saw blades, cups of stirred hot chocolate, etc.) Try to determine what causes these musical properties.

!    Examine the electrostatic properties of common household materials such as scotch tape, styrofoam, wheat puffs, glass, rubber, etc. Can you show that certain materials tend to have certain charges?

!    What percentage of energy is lost by a rubber ball as it bounces? Does it always lose the same amount of energy, regardless of the type of bounce? How does it compare with other balls?

!    Examine heat flow from one object to another. You could investigate the changes in temperature over time, or other physical phenomena, such as convective “roll” patterns. With special tracing fluids or an inventive mixture of spices in broth or oil, you can map out convection patterns with a pan and a stove top burner.

!    How does one build the most efficient top? What properties does it depend on?

!    Do all golf balls bounce the same? Do they all roll the same? Investigate these or other properties.

!    What affects standing wave patterns on metal plates, films, or drum heads? Conduct a study that investigates how different patterns are created.

!    Do all cans of soup/vegetables/beans/juice roll the same? Compare and explain the different rolling motions.

!    Can you show the conservation of energy of a bicycle rolling down a hill? . . . for a sledder?

!    Analyze and characterize the properties of weird consumer items, such as Orbitz soft drink. You might see if all flavors behave the same under extreme conditions.

!    What is the resonant frequency of the water in your bathtub?  Does it depend on depth of the water?  Is there more than just one resonant frequency?

!    How does your apparent weight change under different circumstances?  You might take a scale with you inside of an elevator, and determine what affects the scale’s readings.  You could also build your own accelerometer to measure the forces that push you forward or backward as well.

!    How does a candle’s burn time (or other characteristics) vary with its dimensions?

!    What are the effects of climbing devices (carabineers, belay devices, etc.) on the tension in one’s rope?  How else will the tension vary?

!    How does one launch a water powered rocket most effectively?  What is the dependence of the maximum height on water, pressure and size?

!    How does a room affect acoustical properties?  What objects most effectively reflect sound?  How does one measure acoustical properties?

!    How much does the volume of carbon dioxide change as it sublimates from a solid (“dry ice”) to a gas?  What other properties can be studied for dry ice?

!    Calculator Based Laboratory (CBL) equipment is available for your use. This lab equipment allows you to measure and record data concerning motion, acceleration, temperature, voltages, light emission and other observables. Some have suggested taking the CBL accelerometers to characterize roller coasters or other amusement rides. You might also compare the effects of light exposure to voltage levels on a solar cell. There are many possibilities with these devices. See the instructor for more details.

One other note: You may work together in pairs or small groups on projects, so long as a two person project is two times as extensive as a single person project (three people would need to do something three times as extensive, etc.), and each member of the group must be willing to contribute and share a common grade.  No group should be larger than four people.

Grading rubric for projects

The following table represents how your project will be scored when it is finally graded.  You might want to look this over so that you know what the project’s expectations are, and so that you know what your score means when you get the graded report handed back to you.

Some final words regarding the grading of projects:

C     Remember, even though you are not being graded specifically on spelling, neatness, presentation, etc., these things can definitely make your report more credible and easy to understand. 

C     This report should be understandable to the average reader.  Any reader should be able to picture exactly what you did in your study, why you did it, and what you figured out.

C     Considering the previous two points, re-read your report and ask yourself the questions: “Does this make sense?  Will someone who picks up my report off the sidewalk be able to picture what it was that I did, what results I came up with, and what it all means?”  This standard may be the single most important one when it comes to grading your report.