SPH3U PROJECT TOPICS

1. The Physics of a Pendulum: Exploring Period and Length Relationship:

§ Investigate how the length of a pendulum affects its swinging period (time for one swing).
§ Use simple materials like string and weights to build different pendulums.
§ Important areas: Simple harmonic motion, period and frequency, relationship between length
and period.

2. The Power of Levers: Building Simple Machines for Lifting Objects:

§ Analyze how the position of the fulcrum affects the mechanical advantage of the lever.
§ Important areas: Simple machines, mechanical advantage, applications in everyday tools.

3. Exploring the Buoyancy of Objects: Testing Different Densities in Water:

§ Investigate how the density of an object affects its buoyancy in water (sinking or floating).
§ Use objects with different densities (like wood, metal, plastic) to test their behavior in water.
§ Important areas: Archimedes' principle, density, buoyancy and its applications.

4. The Physics of a Hot Air Balloon: Investigating Thermal Expansion and Lift:
§ Build a simple model hot air balloon using a plastic bag and heat source (hair dryer) to
demonstrate the concept of thermal expansion and lift.
§ Important areas: Thermal expansion, density changes, lift in hot air balloons.

5. The Physics of Music: Investigating the Relationship Between String Length and Pitch:
§ Use different length guitar strings (or similar) to demonstrate the relationship between string
length and musical pitch (higher or lower sound).
§ Important areas: Sound waves, frequency and pitch, applications in musical instruments.

6. Investigating the Efficiency of Solar Panels:

§ Experiment with different factors affecting solar panel efficiency, such as sunlight intensity,
angle of incidence, and temperature.
§ Important areas: Semiconductor physics, photovoltaic effect, solar cell efficiency factors, data
analysis and presentation.

7. The Physics of Climate Change: Investigating the Greenhouse Effect:

§ Research the physics behind the greenhouse effect and its role in climate change.
§ Important areas: Radiative transfer, atmospheric physics, greenhouse gases, climate change
science.

8. The Physics of Bungee Jumping: Investigating Elastic Potential Energy and Freefall
§ Research the physics principles behind bungee jumping, including elastic potential energy
stored in the cord and freefall acceleration.
§ Important areas: Kinematics - freefall motion, displacement and time during freefall. Dynamics
- elastic potential energy, forces acting on the jumper (gravity, elastic cord force).

7. The Physics of a Car on an Incline: Investigating Gravitational Force and Acceleration

§ Analyze the motion of a toy car rolling down an inclined plane.
§ Analyze the gravitational force acting on the car and its acceleration down the incline.
§ Important areas: Kinematics - motion on an inclined plane, components of gravitational force
along the incline. Dynamics - forces acting on the car (gravity, normal force, friction).