Physics · Modern Physics
Measure Planck's constant with LEDs
Find the turn-on voltage of LEDs of different colours and get Planck's constant from the slope.
- Advanced
- 2–7 days
- 250–500
606 projects · 13 streams · every class
Physics projects 12
Physics projects you can measure: motion, light, sound, heat, electricity and magnetism. Each project gives the materials, the steps and the calculation behind the result.
12 Physics projects
Physics · Current Electricity
Verify Ohm's law and find where it fails
Plot current against voltage for a resistor and a bulb and explain the difference.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Physics · Oscillations
Find g with a simple pendulum and a phone
Time pendulums of different lengths and get the acceleration due to gravity from a straight-line graph.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Physics · Optics
Build a spectroscope from a CD and analyse light sources
Split light with a CD and compare the spectra of the Sun, LEDs, CFLs and flames.
- Easy
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics · Magnetism
Map the magnetic field of bar magnets with a phone
Use the phone's magnetometer to measure how field strength falls with distance from a magnet.
- Easy
- 1–3 hours
- Under 250
Physics + Music, Theatre and Writing
Study the physics of a musical instrument
Measure how the length of a string or the water level in a bottle changes the pitch.
- Easy
- 2–7 days
- Under 250
Physics · Dynamics
Test which shapes fall slowest: a parachute study
Make parachutes of different sizes and shapes and time their fall with the same load.
- Beginner
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics + Astronomy and Space
Estimate the Sun's power with a can of water
Measure how fast sunlight heats blackened water and estimate the solar constant.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics · Mechanics
Investigate how temperature affects the bounce of a ball
Chill and warm identical balls and measure how bounce height changes with temperature.
- Easy
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics · Waves
Investigate standing waves on a string
Drive a stretched string with a small speaker and find how frequency depends on tension.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- 250–500
Physics · Fluid Mechanics
Measure surface tension by counting drops
Use the drop-weight method to compare the surface tension of water, soapy water and oil.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Under 250
Physics · Oscillations
Study damping with a pendulum in air and water
Film a pendulum losing amplitude in air and in water and test whether the decay is exponential.
- Intermediate
- 1 day
- Under 250
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