PHY205 Independent Projects
Your independent projects must be written by yourself. You may use any resources that you can find to
help you learn about the material, however you may not copy any of the resources you use (unless you
do it properly with quotation marks and proper referencing). You should write your report in your own
words. You are trying to demonstrate your understanding of the physics, not your ability to find other
people’s writings on their understanding. Your goal is to demonstrate that you can explain how
something works to, say, your grandparents.
You should have a brief bibliography which gives general credit to any of the resources that you used
which you found were helpful to your understanding. This may or may not include the course textbook,
depending on your topic and whether you actually used the textbook. The bibliography should be brief,
2 or 3 entries should be lots. The bibliography may include websites. Do not put references in your
bibliography unless you cited them somewhere in your text (including images). If you found a
document which helped you (as we expect you will) you must clearly indicate what part of your paper
it helped you with.
The projects are 300-word maximum reports which describes the physics of how some every day
object, system or event works. You will need to focus on the physics. For example, a report on how
useful (or dangerous) cars are is not what we are looking for. We want a report on how a car engine
works. It might be helpful to include an equation or two to explain something more concisely, however
not all topics will need this. Please do not include any calculations. Pictures will almost certainly be
useful. You may copy pictures as long as you give credit by mentioning where you got the pictures (for
example, state the URL of the website that you downloaded it from).
You will submit each report through Canvas. Canvas will submit your report to Turnitin.com. You are
encouraged to check your score – if you get a bad score (over 30% match) it indicates that you are at
risk of being accused of plagiarism. Note that your report must be typed in order to be submitted to
Turnitin, so no hand-written papers will be allowed. Please be kind to your teaching assistants: use a
12-point font, something readable and professional-looking. Times New Roman (this font) is fine, as
are many other choices, but avoid fonts like Comic Sans.
The penalty for lateness is 10% per business day. The project will be marked out of 10 as follows:
1/10 for references and citations
3/10 for style and readability
3/10 for the accuracy of the physics
3/10 for depth and focus (for example, if your report is on car engines and you spend time discussing
the effects of pollution then you have lost focus on the core issue)
Please check Canvas for a more detailed version of the rubric.
The next page has a list of suggested projects. If you have a project in mind which is not on the list,
please email me to make sure it is reasonable. You do not need to email me about your project topic if
you pick it from the relevant list. Note that you cannot pick a topic from a previous (or future) list. So
do not pick “car engines” for your first project.
First project (due January 27)
When you are standing on a train and the train brakes suddenly, you need to stop yourself from falling
over. Explain what is happening.
According to physics, objects cannot apply forces on themselves. So how does a car accelerate?
How does a parachute let you fall great heights without serious injuries?
Second project (due February 10)
How do air bags save lives during car collisions?
How does a cat land on its feet if dropped from an upside-down position?
Why can some insects walk on water, but no mammals can walk on water?
How do hot air balloons fly?
Third project (due March 3)
Why do coastal cities (like Vancouver) have milder climates than inland cities (like Calgary), even
when they are at the same latitude?
Why does a house made of glass get so warm on a winter day?
How does a car engine work?
Fourth project (due March 17)
Pick a musical instrument and explain how it works.
How does a police radar gun measure the speed of a car?
When you take clothes out of a clothes drier they sometimes stick together. Explain why.
Fifth project (due March 31)
How do metal detectors in an airport work?
How do magnetic levitation trains work?
What causes the northern lights (aurora borealis)?
How does a colour printer make any colour from just three inks (plus black)?
