Description of project:
In this project, I entered into a Science Fair from Berkeley High School in which Jennifer Doudna was involved in. I did research on the hall effect and how electromagnetism works in order to answer my guiding question “How can I create a logic gate by using the hall effect?”. Essentially, I created a circuit with the help of an electrical engineer where the hall effect would turn a light on and off.
Purpose of project:
The purpose of this project was to advance my knowledge in physics and challenge myself into doing an experiment outside of high school content.
Challenges:
The hardest part about this project was coming up with a good question to research. It would essentially determine the success of the project as an entry to the Science Fair. Another great challenge was learning enough to actually further my project and make an accurate analysis about it.
My process:
I see this project as a definite success because I massively increased my awareness in all areas of physics. When coming up with a question, I studied all “human scale” subjects in physics and tried to speculate about each one. I created lists and notes of all the subjects I studied just to know enough to ask questions and be curious about. Without a doubt, this project massively furthered my love for physics. This also led me to read a book by Dr. Feynman, “Six Essential Pieces”. I arguably gained more from this project in the process of coming up with a question to research.
Other Thoughts:
The feeling of excitement one gets after working on a project for so long that you finally start to understand and make progress in it is one of the more fulfilling feelings an inventor and scientist will ever experience in their life. I experienced this in this project when the circuit I was working on for dozens of hours for was finally working specifically with the hall effect.