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Science Fair Projects

MattMatt
edited February 2011 in Science
I'm working on a project where I need to come up with a bunch of geeky science fair project ideas beyond your basic "make a volcano", "make a potato gun", etc.

Anyone have any fun ideas they want to throw into the mix?

Comments

  • ChurbaChurba
    edited February 2011
    Coil Cannon.

    On a serious note, Trebuchet. An excellent and elegant demonstration of physics in action.
    Post edited by Churba on
  • AprecheApreche
    The best ones are the ones where you do a study that hasn't been done yet. So think of some of the questions we have in forum arguments that there are no statistics for.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    D-Cell battery cannon. Same basic plans as a potato cannon, but with a smaller barrel, a bigger combustion chamber, and the power to punch a hole through a stop sign.
    The best ones are the ones where you do a study that hasn't been done yet. So think of some of the questions we have in forum arguments that there are no statistics for.
    That's good too, I guess...
  • SailSail
    Make something explode.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Make something explode in a controlled manner.
  • SailSail
    Make something explode in a controlled manner.
    You're not going to win a science fair that way.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    Make something explodein a controlled manner.
    You're not going to win a science fair that way.
    Fireworks, rockets, guns, engines, and jetpacks are controlled explosions.
  • WalkerWalker
    Make something explodein a controlled manner.
    You're not going to win a science fair that way.
    Fireworks, rockets, guns, engines, and jetpacks are controlled explosions.
    I was thinking that he should just drop a brick of magnesium into a bucket of water.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    edited February 2011
    From my personal project backlog:

    Two-stage solid state Tesla Coil
    Two-stage High Powered Rocket; bottom stage KNO3+Sucrose/magnalium composite, upper stage parafin/nitrous hybrid. Ejecting top capsule that deploys drogue chutes and takes pictures.
    Yeast breeding for brewing
    I was thinking that he should just drop a brick of magnesium into a bucket of water.
    Too little surface area. Make sodium spoons and buy a brick of sodium.
    Post edited by WindUpBird on
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    I just got an idea for a great magic trick. Make a spoon out of sodium, tell everyone that I've invented magic prank spoons, and drop the spoon into water. Sell everyone regular spoons.

    Oh, wait, that's a scam.


    Nah, I'm still cool with it.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    A sodium spoon is not actually a spoon made from sodium.
  • Victor FrostVictor Frost
    I know. That's why I said "Make a spoon out of sodium".
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    edited February 2011
    Wouldn't a sodium teaspoon rapidly rust in air and burn you if you touched it?

    Do a statistical experiment that makes people uncomfortable.
    Post edited by Omnutia on
  • imptacimptac
    Wouldn't a sodium teaspoon rapidly rust in air and burn you if you touched it?
    It does oxidize when exposed to air, but a solid chunk would not have enough surface area to spontaneously combust, you would need powdered sodium for that. The burn you get from sodium isn't from heat, it's from the sodium reacting with water to form sodium hydroxide (lye, extremely basic and nasty). That's why you see blocks of sodium stored in mineral oil, it keeps water and air out.
  • OmnutiaOmnutia
    Oh, I meant chemical burn. I remember seeing people always using gloves when they work with the stuff.
  • imptacimptac
    edited February 2011
    Yup. Any moisture in your skin would be converted into NaOH very rapidly, which then in turn would begin to eat your skin. As an added bonus, as this is happening, lots of heat energy is being released, and the leftover hydrogens that sodium tore off water are being released as H2 gas, so your hand is being burned chemically, maybe physically, and it is making a sizzling sound and bubbling as it releases explosive gas. Alkali metals are awesome.
    Post edited by imptac on
  • KapitänTimKapitänTim
    Get a baby. Put it in a box. Remember to feed it. Deny it all stimulli. Give it 4-6 years. Release small child from box.
  • AprecheApreche
  • Luke BurrageLuke Burrage
    I'm sorry, I refuse to believe that quantum locking is a real thing. It looks too much like a special effect.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    The Earth has a magnetic field; I wonder if you could create "flying" cars that are really just quantum locked at certain positions in the grid using large superconducting plates.

    Probably not, but it's a neat idea.
  • AprecheApreche
    The Earth has a magnetic field; I wonder if you could create "flying" cars that are really just quantum locked at certain positions in the grid using large superconducting plates.
    The problem is the cooling. You would have to have liquid nitrogen pouring out all over the place.
  • AndrewAndrew
    I'm sorry, I refuse to believe that quantum locking is a real thing. It looks too much like a special effect.
    It's called Flux Pinning. They just threw in a bunch of marketing speak.
  • WindUpBirdWindUpBird
    The Earth has a magnetic field; I wonder if you could create "flying" cars that are really just quantum locked at certain positions in the grid using large superconducting plates.
    The problem is the cooling. You would have to have liquid nitrogen pouring out all over the place.
    Use a dilution refrigerator. MRI superconductors need to be kept at similar temperatures, and that's how we keep them there without spewing gas all over the place.

    The problem is more of how big you need the superconducting plates to be, and whether or not you could create something with a reasonable form factor that could hold a CryoVac, a drive system, and cargo. My bets are that we don't have nearly enough superconducting material for that to be remotely feasible, unless someone figures out how to make carbon superconductors both huge and cheap.
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