 The Physics of Musical Instruments
 The Physics of Automobile Collisions and Automobile Safety
 The Physics of Planetary Motion
 The Physics of Sports
 The Physics of Amusement Parks and Roller Coasters
 Sight and Sound in Nature
 ET: Extraterrestrial Life
 Special Relativity
 The Physics of Sailing
Your project involves the analysis and comparison of the physics of a few selected human movements. Technical information on the sports will be collected by means of background readings and actual measurements will be made using video analysis or some comparably useful experimental method.
 discuss with both words and diagrams the physics which underlies a few selected sports or a few selected human movements using concepts such as velocity, force, acceleration, impulse, momentum, energy, circular motion, coefficients of restitution, torque, rotation, etc.
 discuss the methods used by biomechanists and kinesiologists to gather data in order to analyze human movements is sports.
 compare and contrast selected movements which are common to all sports (collisions,
 accelerations, projectiles, rotation and spin, etc.) and explain the differences of these movements among sports in terms of the equipment, the goals of the sports, etc. you could use a video camera and the principles of video analysis in order to experimentally analyze selected movements in sports including collisions (people/people; bat/ball; racket/ball; people/ground; ball/ground; etc.), accelerations (shooting; jumping; throwing; hitting; starting from rest; etc.), projectiles or nearly-projectiles (balls; gymnasts; ski jumpers; high divers; cliff divers; etc.), rotation and spin, etc.
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Biomechanics
Coefficient of restitution
Physics - sports
Human Locomotion
Kinesiology
Strobe light photography
Human Performance Laboratory
Sports - physics
The name of any selected sport
Allen

The Physics of Musical Instruments project involves the analysis of the tonal quality (or frequency composition) for the notes played by a musical instrument and a comparison of the tonal quality of several musical instruments. Possibly, a simple musical instrument could be constructed from available household items and its tonal quality (or frequency composition) could be analyzed and perfected.
 develop a detailed procedure which utilizes the Macintosh, microphone/amplifiers,
Universal Lab Interface (ULI) equipment, and Sound 3.01 software in order to make measurements of the tonal quality (or frequency composition) of several musical instruments.
 explain with both words and diagrams the concepts of resonance, standing wave patterns for an instrument, and timbre or tonal quality (or frequency composition); explain variables which effect the actual frequency produced for a few selected instruments; and be able to relate the concept of tonal quality (or frequency composition) to the customary psychological response of a human to a musical sound.
 describe the sounds produced by a variety of musical instruments used throughout the world.
 use available household items to make a simple instrument and to analyze and perfect its tonal quality (or frequency composition).
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Acoustics
Vibrational systems
Mel scale
Timbre
Tone color
Complex tones
Harmonics
Natural resonance frequencies
Chladni's law
Holographic interferometry
Pitch perception
Psychophysics of music
Lutherie
Sound box
Musical acoustics
Vibrational modes
Musical pitch scale
Tone quality
Spectral composition
Overtones
Harmonic series
Fundamental frequency
Chladni plates
Fourier analysis
Gestalt theory of pitch perception
Perception of musical tones
Luthier
Harmonic analyzer
Allen

Your project involves the analysis of automobile safety and automobile collisions. The efforts of accident reconstructionists, safety administrators, and automobile designers to reduce collision frequency and insure vehicle safety will be examined.
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 describe the physics of automobile collisions and auto safety features in terms of physics concepts such as momentum, energy, force, impulse, vectors, velocity, acceleration, displacement, torque, rotation and principles such as Newton's laws, conservation laws, momentum-impulse equation, and the work-energy theorum. analyze a video segment of a collision and utilize your understanding of physics to describe the physical features which were present or absent and the impact of these features upon the safety of the passengers and upon the damage to the vehicles. describe the process by which accident reconstructionists determine the causes of accidents; describe the issues which safety administrators must confront in order to insure highway safety; and describe the physics of various safety features which automobile designers have implemented in order to increase automobile safety.
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Hydraulic bumper systems
Seat Belts (shoulder and lap belts)
Anti-lock braking systems (ABS)
Tires and Traction
Crumple zones
Automobiles - safety devices
Automobiles - air bags
Automobiles - crash testing
Rotational motion
Energy conservation
Momentum-impulse equation
Work of deformation
Energy transformation
Pneumatic bumper systems
Air bags
Traction Control
Active suspension
Crash Testing
Automobiles - safety features
Accident reconstructionists
Automobile driving
Rotational energy
Work-energy theorum
Conservation of momentum
Energy absorption
Brakes
Allen

Your project involves conducting library research and simulation studies in order to determine the variables which affect the motion of planets about the sun and the motion of other celestial bodies. Laws of planetary motion will be described with words, diagrams, equations, and animations.
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 use Newton's law of universal gravitation and Kepler's laws to explain with words, equations, diagrams and animation the principles and laws which govern the motion of planets about the sun and the motion of other celestial bodies. collect and discuss a well-organized array of relevant computer images, computergenerated graphs, Quick-Time movies, and computer simulations. describe and explain the motion of celestial bodies such as comets and asteroids and explain the behavior of a variety of cosmic phenomena such as black holes, supernovas, etc.
Copernicus
Kepler
Einstein
Universal gravitation
Celestial motion
Satellites
Black holes
Heliocentricism
Brahe
Newton
Gravitation
Universal gravitation constant
Planetary motion
Natural satellites
Supernovas
Curvature of space
Allen

Your project involves the analysis of the physics of a variety of amusement park rides, particularly roller coaster rides. You will identify and explore a number of variables which would affect the motion of passengers on such rides.
 describe the motion of a roller coaster car and its occupants in terms of concepts such as speed, acceleration (linear or centripetal), net forces, normal forces, friction forces, momentum, and energy (KE, PE, TME); this description should be both mathematical
 and conceptual. utilize computer programs in order to analyze the idealized motion of a variety of
 amusement park rides. utilize available materials (e.g., wires and washers, hot wheels equipment, metal track and accompanying ball, etc.) to construct a model of an amusement park ride (coaster ride, pendulum ride, flume ride, spin ride, tilting ride, etc.) and use it to make measurements and to experiment with a number of variables which effect the motion of passengers on amusement park rides.
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Amusement parks
Rides
Great America
Roller coasters
Coaster
Klothoid loop
Harry Traver
Ray Ueberroth
LaMarcus Thompson
Ray Toomer
Motion sickness
Amusement park rides
Walt Disney
Six flags
Ferris wheels
Flume rides
Clothoid loop
Arrow Dynamics, Inc.
American Coaster Enthusiasts
Coney Island
Curtis Summers g's of acceleration
Allen

Your project involves a study of the physics involved in the production of sound and the detection of light and sound by animal species. Technical information about the ability of animals to produce sound and their ability to perceive the world through sight and hearing could be collected by means of background readings. The behavior of light and sound waves could be experimentally analyzed and the results could be extended to the sensory ability of various animal species.
 discuss with both words and diagrams the nature (description, category, physical means of creation and propagation, etc.) and characteristics (frequency, wavelength, speed, amplitude, intensity, etc.) of sound and light waves.
 discuss with both words and diagrams the behavior (reflection, refraction, absorption,
 diffraction, interference, doppler shift, etc.) of sound and light waves. use words, pictures, and diagrams to discuss and explain the ability of specific animal species (whales, dolphins, bats, insects, frogs, etc.) to generate sound and the ecological/physical reasons for the characteristics embedded (frequency, intensity, etc.) in such sounds.
 use words, pictures, and diagrams to discuss and explain the ability of and mechanicms
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 by which specific animal species detect sound, including the interesting peculiarities which are characteristic of certain species. use words, pictures, and diagrams to discuss and explain the ability of and mechanisms by which specific animal species detect light, including the interesting peculiarities which are characteristic of certain species. discuss a variety of animal phenomenon and peculiarities associated with sight and hearing which illustrate the physical nature of sound and light waves and the operation of auditory and optical mechanisms.
Acoustics
Audiospectrograms
Marine Acoustics
Sonar
Acoustic Propagation
Animal Vocalizations
Behavioral Ecology
Wave Refraction
Wave Reflection
Optics
Vision
Bioacoustics
Spectrograms
Acoustical Oceanography
Echolation
Acoustic Tracking
Niche Hypothesis
Sensory Perception
Wave Diffraction
Wave Interference
Sight
Perception
Allen

Hearing
Whales , Insects, or Bats
Auditory Response
Birds
Your project involves conducting research on the variables involved in the recent discovery of extrasolar planets. You will determine variables upon which the extrsolar planet mass and position depend, propose and conduct a systematic study, generate well substantiated conclusions, and apply your research to the question of whether or not life on other planets could exist.
 apply the scientific method to a problem and draw logical conclusions from systematically collected and analyzed data.
 use appropreate terminology describe and explain the operation and purpose of experiments that have discovered extrasolar planets.
 use basic physics equations of Center of Mass, the Doppler Shift, Universal Gravitation, Kepler's
Laws, Orbital Velocity and Conservation of Momentum to describe the position and mass of orbiting planets and how the position and mass of these extrasolar planets vary with the variation of gathered data on a given sun's period of rotation and k generated from the given sun's velocity vs. time graph.
 use basic physics equations of Center of Mass, the Doppler Shift, Universal Gravitation, Kepler's
Laws, Orbital Velocity and Conservation of Momentum to determine the position and mass of an actual orbiting extrasolar planet given data on a sun's period of rotation and k generated from the given sun's velocity vs. time graph.
 apply basic physics equations of Center of Mass, the Doppler Shift, Universal Gravitation,
Kepler's Laws, Orbital Velocity and Conservation of Momentum to a self generated study of how the position and mass of these extrasolar planets vary with the variation of gathered data on a given sun's period of rotation and k generated from the given sun's velocity vs. time graph.
"Extrasolar Planets"
Physics AND Data AND "Extrasolar Planets"
Education AND "Extrasolar Planets"
"Doppler Shift" AND "Center of Mass"
Allen

Your project involves conducting research on the special theory of relativity. You will determine variables that depend upon velocity and how these variables are noticeably affected by speeds near that of light.
 apply the scientific method to a problem and draw logical conclusions from systematically
 collected and analyzed data. use the Special Theory of Relativity to explain with words, equations, and diagrams which variables are dependent upon speeds that approach the speed of light and qualitatively and quantitatively describe how dependent variables are varied at various speeds.
 using appropriate terminology describe and explain the operation and purpose of experiments that utilize the special theory of relativity.
 explain with both words and experimentally derived equations the motion of particles that approach the speed of light and be able to apply these principles to the energy and momentum of those particles.
 use data provided from Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory to study several dependent variables and how they are dependent upon velocity (distances traveled by muons with
 different velocities and no velocities...what's the graph?, etc). You will also need to sort through provided data to determine if it is capable of systematic analysis. describe the fundamental particles and forces and be able to explain the quark or lepton structure and characteristics of the particles described in your chosen data.
Relativity Einstein
Physics AND "The Special Theory of Relativity" The Standard Model
Education AND ... Time Dilation
Relativistic Mass Length Contraction
Invariaint or Invariance Top Quark
High Energy Physics CPEP
Allen

Your project involves conducting laboratory and library research on the physics of buoyancy and sail boating. You will determine variables that affect buoyant forces along with factors involved in controlling the speed and direction of sailboats.
 apply the scientific method to a problem and draw logical conclusions from systematically collected and analyzed data.
 use Archimedes' Principle to explain with words, equations, and diagrams why a boat floats and be able to accurately explain the boat bottom shape that offers the most buoyant force along with the most stability.
 using appropriate terminology describe and explain the operation and purpose of major
 components and equipment on a typical sailboat. explain with both words and experimentally derived equations the motion of sailboats in
 terms of their position, velocity, acceleration, forces (buoyant, weight, wind, drag, rudder, etc.), momentum and energy. use easily attainable items to construct a sailboat model that allows you to study several dependent variables while varying several independent variables.
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Buoyancy Nautical
Yachting
"Wind Power" Knots
Port AND Stern AND Bow
Wind Resistance
"Archimedes' Principle" AND Physics
Sailing AND Physics Drag
Water Drag
Sailboating Components
Allen