Science Project

The #1 community for Gun Owners in Indiana

Member Benefits:

  • Fewer Ads!
  • Discuss all aspects of firearm ownership
  • Discuss anti-gun legislation
  • Buy, sell, and trade in the classified section
  • Chat with Local gun shops, ranges, trainers & other businesses
  • Discover free outdoor shooting areas
  • View up to date on firearm-related events
  • Share photos & video with other members
  • ...and so much more!
  • Swapfoot

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Nov 7, 2008
    41
    8
    Greenwood
    My son (11 years old) wants to do a school science fair project around his shooting sports. I realize that I have combined, kids, school, and shooting in the same sentence, but I have permission from the school. I had something in mind, but I thought I would see if anyone has any good ideas that I can steal. We obviously can't bring guns or live ammo to school, but we can form a hypothasis and try to support it with "lab" data. Any cool ideas would be appreciated.

    Greg
     

    PhantomJ

    Marksman
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 20, 2008
    236
    18
    Greenwood
    How about a proof that a bullet fired horizontally and one dropped from the exact same height hit the ground at the same time? Simple enough concept, but a lot of people don't know/understand it.
     

    Scutter01

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    2   0   0
    Mar 21, 2008
    23,750
    48
    How about calculating bullet trajectories on Earth versus on the Moon, and determine how fast and at what angle it would have to go to achieve orbit? You don't necessarily need to do any math for it, if it's beyond his skill, but he should be able to make some hypotheses and do internet research to obtain data to draw a conclusion.
     

    lovemywoods

    Geek in Paradise!
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    50   0   0
    Mar 26, 2008
    3,026
    0
    Brown County
    Anything around ballistics could be fun. If you have access to a chronograph, could show different velocities for different round. Relate that to total energy (1/2mv^^2).

    Could do some simple penetration tests using common materials and a few common rounds. See the site The Box O' Truth - Ammo Penetration Testing for some examples.

    Could do some water penetration tests. (Start saving milk jugs now!).

    Have fun!
     

    obijohn

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    6   0   0
    Mar 24, 2008
    3,504
    63
    Terre Haute
    my son has done several science projects along these lines. one was the effect of barrel length on velocity. we used a paintball gun and cut the barrel in one inch increments. the results were...interesting. by taking copious notes, photos and vids the need for taking the actual hardware to school was not needed for the display. btw, spencer took a first at his sschool and a first at regionals with special award (certificate and cash) from the department of the army.
    he also did one csi style. i took 6 .22 pistols and shot 5 rounds from each one in a barrel of water. he and his partner attempted to match the brass and the bullets to the pistols. due to the crude equipment used to make the id, the results weren't what the boys hoped for, but the science was sound.
    i also helped some high school boys do some penetration vs velocity studies with a .45. helped them with the "lab work" of the experiment, but i don't know any of the results.

    hope this helps and good luck with the science project.
     

    42769vette

    Grandmaster
    Industry Partner
    Rating - 100%
    52   0   0
    Oct 6, 2008
    15,222
    113
    south of richmond in
    when i was in early high school i did a science fair project on the affect barrel length has on decibles (how loud the gun was) of cource i knew a shorter barrel gun in the same caliber would be louder but it made for a great project and i got to shoot tons of guns my brother-in-law had a decible meter
     

    spasmo

    ಠ_ಠ
    Site Supporter
    Rating - 100%
    5   0   0
    Apr 27, 2008
    6,659
    38
    My daughter is doing the science fair project this year too but she wants to do something with Rocks and Minerals. I don't know what yet but that's the subject anyway. She's 9.
     

    cordex

    Expert
    Rating - 100%
    5   0   0
    Jun 24, 2008
    818
    18
    I had a friend who did one that evaluated change in bullet velocities based on the amount of powder put into a cartridge.
     

    dburkhead

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Mar 18, 2008
    3,930
    36
    How about how the marks left on bullets by the barrel (both the traces of rifling and the smaller scratches left by irregularities in the barrel) change as more and more rounds are fired.

    Could show why "ballistic fingerprinting" is useless as a "crime control" measure.

    Of course, you would need a microscope with an attached camera to do that. Well, it just so happens that I know someone who has access to one. :D
     

    jblomenberg16

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    67   0   0
    Mar 13, 2008
    9,920
    63
    Southern Indiana
    I like the basic ballistics / trajectory project. You could do something pretty cool by setting up some targets on a 100 yd range, say every 5 yds or so. Put them all in line and level, the shoot at them with various calibers and bullet weights. Maybe a .22LR, 9mm Luger, and then a higher powered rifle round. You can then track the basic arc of the round as gravity takes hold by measuring the distance above or below a common reference point.

    If you're good, you could determine the velocity of the round, how long it takes to go 100yds, and what the expected drop would be due to gravity, and then test the theory.

    The hard part is probably getting all the targets perfectly aligned both side to side and verticaly.

    The output could then be some basic ballistics graphs showing the trajectory, and how velocity and bullet weight affect bullet drop.
     

    Rookie

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    14   0   0
    Sep 22, 2008
    18,155
    113
    Kokomo
    I did a project in school where i shot different milk jugs with different calibers. Didn't learn a whole lot, but it was fun...
     

    cce1302

    Master
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Jun 26, 2008
    3,397
    48
    Back down south
    How about a proof that a bullet fired horizontally and one dropped from the exact same height hit the ground at the same time? Simple enough concept, but a lot of people don't know/understand it.

    I did something like that when I was in 6th grade. I also demonstrated (on paper) why you aim low when shooting at extreme angles up or down.
     

    Swapfoot

    Plinker
    Rating - 0%
    0   0   0
    Nov 7, 2008
    41
    8
    Greenwood
    Great Ideas

    Everyone, these are great ideas! I am appreciative of the number of responses. I am reading with enthusiasm.

    My original thought was to measure the force required to break a clay pigeon (from the top). I was then going to set up stationary targets at incresing distances to see at what distance we stopped breaking the target. I would obviously have to put a patterning paper behind the target to make sure that the shot was hitting the target. I would know the mass of the pellets and the muzzle velocity. Assuming that it takes at least 3 pellets to break the target, I can say that at this distance the velocity has fallen below the breaking point (1/2 mv^2). The experiment would be to compare the mathematical and theoretical values to the observed ones.

    I realize this is fraught with issues, but it was a starting point. I must admit I like the milk jugs just for the fun of it though. :shoot:

    Again, thanks.
     

    indyjoe

    Master
    Rating - 100%
    8   0   0
    May 20, 2008
    4,584
    36
    Indy - South
    I like the idea of setting up targets every 5 yards to prove acceleration of gravity. Also use a chrono to determine initial and final velocity, which would be required in the calculation and allow you to model the bullet velocity along the path. I would set it up with a laser pointer made level. Then mark each point on the paper with a hole that allows the laser to shine to the next, etc. This gives a perfectly straight reference to measure the associated drop with each.
     

    jblomenberg16

    Grandmaster
    Rating - 100%
    67   0   0
    Mar 13, 2008
    9,920
    63
    Southern Indiana
    Even if you don't end up making this a science project, I might just do it for mysle to get an idea of the trajectory of a few of the rifle rounds I shoot. :D

    Indyjoe has a good idea for aligning the targets. The other thing to include if you go this rought, is having the barell level to the targets. Depending on how your guns are sighted in, the bullet may actually travel "up" just a bit since the sight plane and barrel are usually not parallel.
     
    Top Bottom