Experimentally Investigating the Elastic Leidenfrost Effect Using Hydrogel Spheres [Apr. 2018 – Jun. 2018]

This extremely bassy project based on a fascinating phenomenon was the basis of my PHYS 173 Course (Modern Physics Laboratory: Biological and Quantum Physics). Everyone in the class worked on a separate project, and this work was key in my understanding of the experimental research process. Besides, Dr. Palacci is pretty darn awesome! Thanks to this experience, I will forever sincerely appreciate and respect the experimentalists out there for their perseverance and patience. At least as long as I have the mental capacity to appreciate and respect.

Here is the project’s title and abstract, followed by the contents of my final paper, modified for uploadation in this post.


Investigating Correlations between Physical Properties on the Steady-State Bouncing Height of Hydrogel Spheres Undergoing Elastic Leidenfrost Effect

The elastic Leidenfrost effect proposed by Waitukatis et al.[1] was explored further in an attempt to determine relationships between physical properties of the hydrogel spheres used and their steady-state bouncing heights. After fitting data to models motivated by various physical phenomena, the bouncing height was found to be most proportional to the inverse of radius squared and the inverse of the square root of mass. However, poor data indicates that this conclusion is highly inaccurate.

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