Physics Projects
As I discussed in class, I am going to allow you to submit
a physics project to replace your lowest test grade. I
don't want to be too specific on what the project should be
about, so that you can be creative as possible and find a
project that fits your strengths. Below are some sample
ideas:
Video Analysis: Take some video, from youtube or
something and analyze it. There exists free video analysis
software (Tracker -
http://www.cabrillo.edu/~dbrown/tracker/). The
basic idea behind video analysis is that you can get
position-time data from each frame of a video and use
this to find things like acceleration, velocity etc...
You could also look at a movie clip and find the
acceleration or maximum force exerted on an impact
during collision. Actually, you could probably also
analyze the physics of a video game this way. I think
there is someplace on campus that you can check out a
video camera also - this way you could make your own
videos.
Numerical Calculations: I showed you how to model
motion with Excel in class - this can also be found on my
PLAB 193 website. For this project you
could attempt to model something more complicated -
such as projectile motion with air resistance or the
motion a satellite with air resistance. If possible,
you could compare you calculations to real data.
Tutorial: If you are educationally minded, you could
create a set of activities to help other students
understand a particular physics topic. This could include
the use of applets found online, or simple demos that could
be completed at home. This could also include making more
complicated demonstration for use in a classroom or in a
demo-show.
Movie, book, or comic book analysis: Take some movie
and analyze the physics involved. This could be something
like assessing the feasibility of being superman, or the
level of realism in bugs bunny cartoons.
Something Creative: You could do something else that
is creative, like write a story or poem. The only real
requirement is that it must contain some physics content as
well.
Project Requirements
Project Evaluation