This article gives many high school physics science fair project ideas and topics that students can take up and familiarize themselves with, before they step into the world of graduation. So read on. They are exciting. Honestly!
Personally being a physics graduate, I have not only understood the depth of this subject but have genuinely enjoyed it from the very beginning of my academic career. Physics is considered as the most fundamental subject of all sciences. It has all those concepts and laws that governs our environment and universe. Now if you are a high-schooler and also a loyal pursuer of physics, who loves to understand the subject rather to simply hit the books, how about doing a project in your science fair? These days the Internet and libraries are the greatest resources that can assist you in constructing a science project. Agreed! And that’s why we are here with science fair project ideas to help you start off with your adventure! Read them all and we are sure some of them would definitely come handy in your science fair.
Physics Science Fair Projects for High School
# Level – Easy
► Swing a Pendulum!
Sounds pretty simple? Attaching one string to a rigid surface with some weight at its end and set it for an oscillation!! But believe me, even with this simplicity all the basic definitions and equations related to simple harmonic motions and oscillations remains with you forever.
Take a string, attach it to a rigid surface, add some initial weight at its bottom and set it into oscillations. This experiment helps you determine how the strings’ varying lengths affects the period of oscillation. Slowly add more weight to the ends of the string and check the period of oscillation.
► Bending Light
For some high school physics science fair projects this is another most common but equally vital experiment which is based on wave and particle movement. We interact with white light in our daily lives but have we ever tried to learn it’s differing behavioral conditions? A very rare subject to be discussed! Light is made up of both particles and waves. The particles are photons and waves are electromagnetic waves. It’s through them we are able to recognize materials and things in our environment. If you wish to see how light interacts in nature.. try this experiment out.
Take a piece of paper, a clear glass, a pencil and some water. On the piece of paper, draw a long vertical line about 4-5 inches. Use a ruler if needed. Now place the clear glass on the line such that it separates in two equal parts when observed from the top. Continue looking at the set up in the same manner, meanwhile pour the empty glass with water and observe what happens to the drawn line. Do you see a bend in light rays? You can use a torch or lasers to see it on clear basis.
► Buoyancy With Eggs
This is a mysterious experiment which keeps you scratching your head forever, until you have a reason to discover why? Are you clear with the concepts of volume and density of a liquid? If yes, try this one.
Put an egg into a bowl of plain water, wherein, but naturally, the egg will sink to the bottom of the water. This is because the density of egg is higher than that of water (which is 1 g/cc). Now add some salt into water and see what happens to the egg. It begins to float. Why? Find out how much salt it takes for egg to float on top of the water? You are free to use different compounds like sugar et al., to calculate the density of the substance and measure the volume of the liquid.
# Level – Challenge
► Measuring the Characteristics of Planets
Here is one of the most eminent high school science fair projects best suited to perform at a graduation level. With advanced technologies and equipment like telescopes, it’s easy to observe objects in space and deeper into the universe.
Planets and satellites can be spotted through telescopes, but if you ever want to measure the size of these objects, what will you do? The only way you can measure it is by seeing how they interact with each other in terms of distance and period. Use Kepler’s laws of physics to do so.
► Anti-Gravity Machine
When Sir Isaac Newton formulated his gravitation theory by watching an apple fall from a tree, things have been revolutionized since then. We blindly believe that nothing can work against the force of gravity. But to our surprise there are certain high school science experiments that diverge the concept of gravity to an extent. One of them is the Anti-Gravity Machine.
For this experiment you will need a cardboard, two plastic funnels and adhesive cement. Stick the two plastic funnels with adhesive cement to form a machine in the shape of a double cone. Cut the cardboard in the shape of a sloping track because the gradient in the experiment will all depend on the size of the funnels. Next, the cardboard track is projected in a sloping form where it appears to extend uphill acting against the force of gravity. The funnels are set at the bottom of this track. The reason they are set at the bottom is because the moment the funnels move in an upward direction, the actual center of gravity gets low with increasing width of the track.
► Bernoulli’s Principle
With increasing classes and levels in the field of physics, you are bound to get introduced to Pascal’s, Bernoulli’s and Archimedes’ principles to comprehend the advanced fundamental laws of nature and pressures. Bernoulli’s principle is one of the kinds stating that when any liquid or gas is in movement, there is reduction in pressure.
This experiment requires simple materials like a cotton reel, a drawing pin and a piece of cardboard. To start off with, at the center of the cardboard insert the drawing pin and fix a cotton reel over the same pin. In one hand hold the cardboard and with your other hand hold the cotton reel for initial support. Now blow a good amount of air through the reel and immediately release the card. You will notice the cardboard doesn’t fall, but instead remains attached to the cotton reel. This continues as long as you blow the air. This proves Bernoulli’s principle.
Transform all these above reads into your personal physics experiments and bag the deserving grades in your high school fair soon. Well if you haven’t had enough of them yet, listed below are a few more physics project ideas you can undertake. So take a look.
Interesting Physics Science Fair Project Ideas
Interesting Physics Science Fair Project Ideas
Determine the strength of the surface tension among different liquids. |
See how different surfaces affect the level of friction. |
Run a test to determine the strength of different fabrics. |
Determine whether the surrounding temperature affects the speed at which a candle burns. |
Test and run Newton’s three laws of motion. |
Check for the most sound absorbing materials. |
Check for materials that works best in making parachutes. |
Does an automobile maintain its fuel efficiency if the windows are up while driving? |
Does the microwave affect objects placed near it but not inside it? |
What are the types of materials that helps to keep liquids hot for a good amount of time? |
Count the types of wood that burn the fastest. |
After blowing variable amounts of air into a balloon, find out the amount of pressure it takes to burst it. |
High school physics projects are most of the time, difficult to surmount as they require a piece of art, an original thought and sound knowledge ‘n’ interest in the subject. Participating in such types of fair projects are the times when a student’s basic foundations regarding physics fetches grounds. This is about time when he/she also feels confident to take up every next project, perform it well and in the future represent it in high-level competitions.