Physics
Physics projects for college and diploma: 20 ideas.
Each project below opens to its own page with what it shows, the science behind it, the materials, safety, step-by-step instructions, what you should see and viva questions. Many can be made from things at home; where a kit helps, the page links one.
Other subjects for college and diploma: Chemistry, Earth and space, Electronics and robotics, Environment, Computing and coding.
Footstep power with piezo discs
Piezoelectric discs make a small voltage when they are pressed. Many discs under a tile, with a rectifier and a capacitor, can light LEDs, though the energy from each step is very small.
Solar cell I-V curve and maximum power point with a potentiometer load
A solar panel is not a battery: its voltage and current change with the load. By plotting current against voltage and power against voltage, a student finds the maximum power point, fill factor and effect of shading, which are the basis of MPPT charge controllers.
Peltier mini cooler box: temperature drop with different heat sinks
Mini fridges for medicines and vaccines in remote places use Peltier modules, which pump heat electrically without gas. The project builds a small insulated box and shows that how well the hot side is cooled decides how cold the box becomes.
DC motor torque-speed curve and back EMF measured with a rope brake
Selecting a motor for a robot or pump needs its torque-speed curve and efficiency. A homemade rope brake loads a small motor with known torque, while voltage, current and rpm are measured to plot the characteristics and show the back EMF effect.
Rotating-magnet coil generator: output voltage against speed and turns
Bicycle dynamos and wind turbines make electricity from a moving magnet near a coil. The project builds a model generator and tests how peak voltage depends on the speed of rotation and the number of turns, which is Faraday’s law in action.
Falling magnet through a coil recorded with a phone sound card
A magnet dropped through a coil induces a voltage pulse, and one dropped through a copper pipe falls slowly because of eddy currents. The project records both events and measures how induced voltage depends on speed and how Lenz’s law slows the fall.
Slider-crank and scotch yoke models compared for piston displacement
Engines, compressors and pumps convert rotation to straight-line motion. A slider-crank gives a motion that is not quite sinusoidal, and a scotch yoke gives a perfect sine. The project builds both from plywood or acrylic and measures piston position against crank angle.
Spur gear train model testing speed ratio, torque and backlash
Gearboxes in bicycles, clocks and winches trade speed for torque. A model gear train made from salvaged toy gears or laser-cut MDF lets a student check that the speed ratio equals the inverse of the teeth ratio and measure backlash and losses.
Four-bar linkage wiper mechanism and its coupler curve plotted on paper
Windscreen wipers, bike pedals and door closers use four-bar linkages. A linkage turns one motion into another through four links and four pins. The project builds a crank-rocker model, traces the path of a point on the coupler and checks the Grashof rule for which links can rotate fully.
Cam and follower model: three profiles and their displacement diagrams
Engine valves and sewing machines use cams to give exact timed motion. The project cuts three cam profiles, measures the follower rise at each angle and plots a displacement diagram, which shows why the shape of the profile matters for smooth motion.
Warren truss bridge from ice-cream sticks tested to failure
Railway and road bridges use trusses because a triangle is rigid and each member carries either tension or compression. The project builds a Warren truss, loads it step by step until it fails, and compares the failure load with a simple member-force calculation.
Model footing on sand: bearing load against footing width and depth
Buildings stand on foundations that spread the load over soil. The project loads small square footings on a tray of sand and shows that a wider footing carries more total load but the same or lower pressure, and that burying the footing raises its capacity.
Simply supported wooden beam: deflection test and Young’s modulus estimate
Floors, shelves and bridges bend under load. A strip of wood supported at both ends and loaded at the middle bends by an amount that depends on its depth, length and Young’s modulus. The project measures the deflection and calculates the modulus for different woods.
Micro-hydro Pelton wheel model: electrical power against head and flow
Hill villages in Uttarakhand, Himachal and the North East run small hydro plants on streams. A bucket wheel turned by a jet of water drives a generator. The project builds a Pelton-style wheel from spoons or cups, drives a small motor as a generator and measures how output power changes with head and flow, and finds efficiency.
Savonius vertical-axis wind turbine: blade design and power coefficient test
Small wind turbines for rooftops and villages must work with turbulent, low wind speeds. A Savonius rotor made from half-cut drums or pipes works without turning to face the wind. The project builds three rotor designs, tests them in a box fan wind stream and calculates their power coefficient.
Suspension bridge model: cable sag, deck load and tower deflection test
Long river bridges in India, like the ones at Bhagalpur and Rishikesh, are cable-based structures. A model with two towers, a main cable and hangers shows how deck loads travel through the hangers to the cable and then to the anchors. The project measures cable sag and tension and checks them against the parabola theory.
Shake table for model buildings with an MPU6050 and a base isolation test
Large parts of India lie in seismic zones, and building codes require earthquake-resistant design. A low-cost shake table moves a model building side to side at chosen frequencies. The project finds the natural frequency of tall and short models, shows resonance and tests a rolling base isolator.
Hydraulic ram pump model from PVC fittings with a delivery head test
A hydraulic ram (hydram) lifts part of the water from a stream to a much higher tank without fuel or electricity, using only the flow of water itself. It is used in hill villages. The project builds a small one from PVC fittings and measures delivery height, flow and efficiency.
Low temperature difference Stirling engine from tin cans run on hot water
A Stirling engine runs on any heat difference, even hot water against room air, which makes it suitable for solar and waste heat. The project builds a gamma-type engine from tin cans, a displacer and a syringe, and measures rpm against the temperature difference.
Doppler shift of a whirling buzzer, the idea behind galaxy redshift
A sound source moving towards you sounds higher in pitch, and one moving away sounds lower. Astronomers use the same idea with light to find that distant galaxies are moving away from us.