Browse 178 real Physics and Astronomy projects entered in 2017, with abstracts, awards and links to the original entries.
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
The purpose of this experiment was to determine which bicycle wheel diameter is quicker in straight-line trails and which is quicker in single track, complex terrain requiring maneuverabilit…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
Multi Wire and Gas Electron Multiplier (GEM) are both gas ionization detectors used in high energy physics research. A prototype detector using principles from both devices was fabricated. G…
CSEF · 2017
Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only)
Objectives/Goals I wanted to see how different 3-D printed rockets would fly in linear distance. I also was trying to see why the rockets we use today fly so well. My hypothesis is that the…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals My objective was to learn if and by how much overclocking can improve my computer. Methods/Materials I used my custom built computer to test overclocking. I used a dowloaded…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy First Award
Objectives/Goals The subject of planetary nebulae is one of which we still have much to learn. This project intended to use the known and acquired details about the morphology, central star…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy
Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to determine the efficacy of four methods of preliminary orbit determination (those of Olbers, Gauss, Herget and Laplace) under differing ob…
CSEF · 2017
Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) Third Award
Objectives/Goals The goal of my project was to apply a genetic computational strategy to optimize airplane wing shapes. Methods/Materials Materials: Python 2.7 programming language interpret…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy
Objectives/Goals This project analyzes the spectra of 157 stars, collected by the Lick Observatory's Automated Planet Finder (APF) telescope, to search for potential laser signals from extra…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy Fourth Award
New survey telescopes and advances in observational technology have allowed astronomers to collect more detailed data about the universe than ever before. More efficient automated data analy…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
The purpose of the project is to determine if fire extinguishers can be made using only sound waves to combat fire. My hypothesis was that sound waves with any frequency will extinguish a fi…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy
Objectives/Goals The goal of this study was to understand and develop a mathematical and computational model of a typical cosmic radiation particle as it travels through time changing magnet…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to create a smart air filter controller that can control any standard air filter based on the level of particulate matter air pollution. The…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics Honorable_mention Award
Objectives/Goals The US Department of Transportation states, in one of its reports, rear-end collisions contribute to more than 33% of all car accidents. The objective of this engineering pr…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
The project focuses on analysis of Gerchberg-Saxton algorithm, which is performed in the Fresnel domain. The established setup consists of two intensity measurements of a photon probability…
CSEF · 2017
Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only) First Award
Objectives/Goals The objective of my project is to observe the flight characteristics of thrust, mass & speed of 2-Wing & 4-Wing Penaud ornithopters & to measure the effect of wing battens o…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics Second Award
Objectives/Goals Currently, there are not many options to heat or cool the body without adding or dropping layers. Additionally, there is no way to intelligently increase and decrease one#s…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals The objective is to build a pocket-sized, user-friendly, everyday refrigeration device suitable for transporting pharmaceuticals in developing countries and other areas wher…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals California experienced a historic drought between 2011 and early 2017. To comply with water usage restrictions, different costly water saving methods have been available for…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy Fourth Award
Detection of harmful chemicals used in industrial complexes is crucial in order to create a safer environment for the workers. Presently, most chemical detectors used in workplaces are expen…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals The goal of this project is to design and build a prototype of a smart water sensor that will send an electronic message alert when a water leak is detected, creating a next…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
Photometry is an important way to obtain physical properties of asteroids. The aim of this project is to test the feasibility of asteroid photometry with small-aperture telescopes. Several a…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
Approximately 700,000 asteroids are being tracked, however this may represent only 1% of the total. While a number of professional efforts are searching for near-Earth asteroids, amateur ast…
CSEF · 2017
Aerodynamics/ Hydrodynamics (Junior Division Only)
Objectives/Goals My primary objective was to determine if ducted or non-ducted propulsion fans of the same size and propeller velocity would create more thrust and whether various inlet conf…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
A swinging Atwood’s machine (SAM) is consisted of a pendulum, a counterweight, and a massless string connecting the two. The pendulum is allowed to swing around the horizontal bar holding th…
CSEF · 2017
Electronics & Electromagnetics
Objectives/Goals My objective is to make a device utilizing crossed polarized lenses to control the amount of light hitting a light sensor. I will see how many total lux I can reduce the lig…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy First Award
When paraffin is placed on a heat source, a wisp of smoke forms. The project aims to discover some characteristics of this smoke and quantitatively explain them. First of all, the morphology…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy
It is well known that pickles connected to DC voltage light up on the negatively charged electrode. We expected that performing the experiment with AC voltage would result in the pickle glow…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy
Objectives/Goals Build a 360-degree view periscope with no image disorientation, maximum comfort and minimum space requirement. Methods/Materials Materials - Cylindrical wine paper box, Mirr…
CSEF · 2017
Physics & Astronomy
Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to determine if the light curve of a type 1A supernova compared to the light curve of a stellar mass black hole can help predict that the su…
ISEF · 2017
Physics and Astronomy Second Award
OB stars are the most luminous and massive stars, living short lives and exerting a disproportionate influence on their environments. They are key to understanding progenitors of gravitation…