IA 2019

Tuesday 24 April 2018

My students are just finishing their IA investigations, I mean the first years of course, it would be a bit late for this year’s candidates. As usual there are some interesting ones, actually they are all interesting, funny how something as simple as boiling potatoes can be so interesting so here are some of this year’s offerings.

  • The aforementioned boiling of potatoes, actually heating water with ball bearings in it, investigating the relationship between number of balls and rate of temperature increase.
  • Using photo editing software to determine the change in intensity on multiple reflections in an "infinity mirror".
  • Angle of incline and work done when running on a treadmill.
  • Stretch of a climbing rope related to the length of rope.
  • Modelling the human voice with elastic bands and a boomwhacker.
  • The amplitude of oscillation of the mast of a sailing boat compared to the amplitude of water wave.
  • Frequency and temperature of the sound wave in a trombone.
  • Heading a football, what is the relationship between head speed and impulse?
  • Comparing the note played in a bottle with a Helmholtz oscillator.
  • How is the light emitted from luminous stars related to the time of illumination?
  • The position of an electric guitar pick up and the amplitude of the signal.
  • The angular velocity of a dancer and the angle of her skirt.
  • Rudder angle and turning of a very small boat.
  • Aperture size and intensity of light entering a camera.
  • The speed of a falling magnet and the resistance connected to the coil it's falling through.
  • The frequency of a sand pendulum as the sand comes out.
  • The angular velocity and tuck angle of a diver.
  • Sliding playing cards.
  • Multiple reflections of a laser.
  • How the frequency of a trumpet note is related to length of pipe.
  • Shutter speed and light intensity.

All pretty interesting but the highlight for me was realising that the maximum force required to hold a pack of cards on a tilted track was just over 90°.


Tags: IA

My Quizzes
4 May 2018
Yash
15 Apr 2018