- Global warming
- Guidelines for submitting educational experiments
- Logging in the lab
Ideas for general science experiments
(If you are interested in performing and writing up one of these experiments,
please get in touch.)
- Dawn Chorus. Use light and sound level sensors to measure the dawn chorus.
- Sound waveforms. Use PicoScope oscilloscope to show the soundwaveforms produced by someone whistling,
speaking or singing.
Switch on the spectrum analyzer to see the frequency components — who’s whistle has the highest frequency,
who can whistle the loudest?
- Sound Decay. Use a sound source with a constant level and plot how it decays with distance
- Sound Insulation. Use a sound source with a constant level and experiment with different insulating
materials
- Sound waveforms of musical Instruments. Look at the scope waveform and FFT spectrum of different
musical instruments
- Light decay (inverse square law). How does light level decay with distance from source
- Light Insulation. Experiment with different materials to see which cuts out the most light.
Does using two bits of insulation have twice the effect?
- Day and Night. Plot temperature, light and humidity over a 24 hour period.
- Fruit Power. Make a fruit battery. Experiment with different fruits and electrodes.
- Acid Rain. Measure the pH of collected rainwater. Needs careful calibration.
- Output of a solar cell. What factors affect the output voltage and power available.
- Heat Insulation. Wrap test tubes in different insulating materials. Compare wet and dry insulation.
- Global Warming. Show how CO2 can effect warming. Heat two bottles using a lamp. One contains air and
the other CO2.
- Heat Loss Through Windows. Compare temperature inside and outside a window over 24 hours.
If possible compare single and double glazing.
- Fridges and Freezers. Plot temperature inside a fridge or freezer.
Also plot temperature of the heat exchanger on the back.
How is temperature affected by opening the door or by adding something hot to the fridge?
Can you see the effect of the thermostat?