Purpose:

This page establishes the criteria for the project that you will choose. I'm not sure I'm literate enough to describe the various criteria succinctly. I will do my best but ultimately we'll need to check in and have a quick discussion about your proposal. Take a look at the Project Outcomes page as you consider potential projects so that you have a sense how they might connect. Here is a page of general descriptions of examples from different fields of physics that could be reasonable projects and might spark some ideas for you.

Criteria:  

1) Project Source: It doesn't feel particularly limiting to require you to draw the focus of your project from either Derek Muller (Veritasium) or Dianna Cowern (Physics Girl) videos. We will discuss elsewhere guidance for choosing wisely.

2) Underlying physics from PH211/PH212: It makes the most sense to me that you would pick a project setting that is described by physics that we explored in the first two terms. This should mean you are somewhat comfortable with your conceptual understanding and the mathematical tools. The idea is that your project setting could be described analytically (math formula) when reduced to it's most simple form. I know there are a bunch of great possible projects from the material we are exploring in PH213 but it feels out of sync to start into a significant project where it will weeks until you learn the basic tools and strategies you need. This is an option but you will need to convince me that you can get ahead of the class in the topic you choose.

When you think of a possible project I will ask you (in the Proposal Labto write out your answers to the following 4 questions:

I: Describe the physics/engineering setting that you would like to understand better. Be as complete as possible without writing a book. Articulate what physics concepts you believe apply to this problem setting. Connect each physics concept you articulate to your setting and explain why it is relevant.

II: What is the most simple form of the problem and what are the physics tools you would use to describe and predict it's behavior?

III: What is it about the problem that needs to be modeled as an evolving situation? Is the air drag that keeps changing magnitude and direction? Does one or more of the forces in the problem change with time or position? Are there variations in the forces in different settings that need to be addressed. This is the feature of the problem that requires us to consider a numberical approach to solving the problem.

IV: How do you picture incrementally improving the model? Describe what you envision as a series of small improvements that you might make to get from the very simple model in (I) to something that approaches the true complexity of the 'real' problem.

3) Instructor Approval: You will have a quick meeting with your instructor during lab or office hours to get formal approval for your proposal. Past experience suggests students find really interesting but alarmingly difficult projects to propose. Even problems that might at first seem too simple can be dialed up into worthy numerical problems. Be aware that sometime during the term I will google your project to see if someone has already written a Jupyter or Python notebook for your proposal.

4) Draft and Final Proposal: This first week you should consider your proposal a draft. Once you have talked with your instructor and integrated any feedback from them you will rewrite and submit a final proposal. While you are finalizing your proposal there will be other lab tasks coming at you so don't put it off!