Phys 211 Project Profiles

The following project profiles are designed to provide material or inspiration for your Physics 211 research project. You are not limited to the research questions that are suggested in each of the profiles or necessarily to any of the projects profiled. Projects may be done independently or with up to 2 other students.

By the end of the 8^th week, your group should have presented to the instructor an outline of the question(s) to be addressed and the method of approach for your group's research project. You should have ascertained enough of the details of the project to begin work immediately.

Each project is organized into two sections, 1) Questions and 2) Discussion. The Questions section proposes simple questions that are to be answered by the research project. You may choose to focus on one or more of the questions. The Discussion section provides some ideas on how to approach the project and what resources may be available.

Airline Takeoff

• What is the acceleration profile of a typical airline flight over the takeoff distance?
• What are the horizontal forces that act on the aircraft during takeoff.

Discussion

  There are several roadside locations from which an aircraft can be clearly be observed for the entire length of its takeoff from the STT airport. One such location is less than one mile west of the campus along Veteran's Drive/West End Road. Takeoffs can be videotaped and analyzed. A MiniDV format digital camera can be checked out from UVI's Media Center. The video tape can be viewed frame by frame on equipment at the media center. Or the mini DV cassette can be copied to a standard VHS format and analyzed using an ordinary VCR that has frame advance capabilities.

Analysis of horizontal forces require information about the weight and engine thrust for the particular flight that is video-taped. This information is available from the Gate Agent for that particular flight. It is recommended that a flight be chosen and the Gate Agent be notified well in advance of the flight. The instructor will assist you in making contact with the airline company.

Traffic Light Survey and Stopping Distance

• Is the duration of the yellow traffic light at an intersection consistent with the posted speed limit?
• What timing of intersection lights would be most efficient at moving traffic through the intersection?

Discussion

  The duration of the yellow light should be sufficient to allow a car traveling at the speed limit to safely stop or pass through the intersection. There are several traffic lights about the island. Choose one and record the duration of the yellow light. The stopping distance required is a function of the speed of the car and coefficient of friction between the road and the tires of the car. You may wish to do a literature/net search to find such data or perform a series of experiments with a car (in a safe area!).

The second question requires a more extensive survey of traffic patterns, including the dependence upon the time of day. Coordination with any nearby light might also have to be considered.

Caribbean Rainfall

• What are the monthly and yearly trends in the rainfall in the US Virgin Islands?
• Are there identifiable longer term trends?
• Are there discernable geographical patterns?
• Is the rainfall in a given area, which is collected by the roof of an average size home, sufficient to support the needs of an average size family?
• What is the importance of the size of the cistern?

Discussion

  Rainfall information for several locations in the US Virgin Islands is available from the Water Resources Research Institute (WRRI)here at UVI. Selected data and details of one method of analysis using spreadsheets can be found at the Statistical Analysis Lab on the SCI 301 Website. (This lab is designed for our non-science majors and should serve only as a general outline for addressing the questions.) For a full data set, contact the WRRI office.

Caribbean Wind Patterns

• What are the trends in the windspeed and direction in the US Virgin Islands?
• Are there identifiable longer term trends?

Discussion

  Data on wind speed and direction at the location of the WRRI monitoring station are avaliable at the WRRI Weather Center website. Statistical analysis would best be performed using spreadsheet software. The Statistical Analysis Lab on the SCI 301 Website provides a starting point for those not familiar with the capabilities of spreadsheet software.

Elastic Properties of Beams

• What is the elastic modulus and the ultimate strength of a beam under a flexural load?
• What role does the grain of the wood play in wood beams
• What effect does insect treatment have on these quantities.

Discussion

  Any type of beam may be chosen, but an analysis of standard construction lumber (2 by 4's, 2 by 6's , etc.) may be of particular interest. There are many ways to load a beam, such as point loading and uniform loading. It will be necessary to determine which is the most practical and/or of the most interest. There are many engineering sources that provide the relationship between deflection under load to the dimensions and elastic modulus of the beam. It may be necessary to perform "scaled" experiments. The question of how treatment effects elasticity may not be a well researched area and hence offers a unique research opportunity.

Hurricane Movement and Behavior

• Is there a correlation between hurricane translational speed and strength, as define by sustained winds?
• Does the Atlantic show a discernible geographic pattern for hurricane strength or for translational speeds?
• What are the long term hurricane patterns for our region?
• What are the effects upon hurricane strength and translational speed as they pass over islands in the Caribbean?

Discussion

  There are numerous sites that maintain data on past hurricanes, listing time, location of the eye, and sustained winds. One such site is the UNISYS organizations Unisys Weather site . Specific data for the Atlantic can be found at http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/. Using a spreadsheet, the time, position and sustained winds data can be processed to determine translational speeds. Analysis of geographical patterns or the effects of islands on hurricanes will require detailed maps of the regions of interest.

Air Resistance

• What is the functional relationship between velocity of a freefalling sphere and distance fallen?
• What is the functional relationship between air resistance and velocity?
• How does terminal velocity depend upon the physical parameters of the sphere?

Discussion

  Freefall is an idealized concept in which objects fall only under the enfluence of gravity. Air resistance plays an ever-increasing role as the velocity of the sphere increases. Design an experiment in which you can measure the average or instantaneous speed of a sphere for various distances fallen. You may wish to consider the use of a video camera to record the fall of a sphere.

For the question involving terminal velocity, two obvious parameters to consider would be mass and diameter. If your are examining terminal velocities in air, then light spheres will probably be required. Terminal velocities in liquids will be considerably lower than those in air and could be carried out on a smaller scale.

Musical Instruments

• Can a functional string or woodwind musical instrument be designed using standard expressions for the frequencies of standing waves?
• What effect does temperature have on the frequency of string and/or woodwind instruments?

Discussion

  In this project, you would build a musical instrument based upon a design that utilizes the well-known relationships between the frequencies of standing waves in the physical characteristics of the resonanting instrument. There are several types of instruments that could be built. The text deals at length with standing waves in strings and pipes. There is considerable information available on the net for other instruments, such as chimes, plates, and steel pan.

If you wish to investigate the effect of temperature on an instrument, it may be necessary to create a controllable climate. There are tuning forks and frequency generators available in the physics lab for callibration and tuning.