Physics projects are a great way for Class 11 students to learn by doing.

Projects help you understand theory better, develop problem-solving skills, and make science more fun and memorable.

In this article you will find a clear introduction to how to choose a project, safety tips, how to write a report, 20 detailed physics project ideas with step-by-step guidance, and 30 more quick suggestions so you have a total of 50 ideas to pick from.

Everything is written in simple language so you can copy, paste, and start working right away.

Why choose a physics project?

• Projects turn abstract ideas into visible results.
• They help you prepare for practical exams and science fairs.
• You learn planning, measurement, drawing graphs, and writing conclusions.
• Projects look great on portfolios for college or competitions.

Must Read: 3D Project Ideas for Kids

How to pick the right project

1. Interest: Pick something you are curious about — you will enjoy it more.
2. Resources: Check what materials are available at home or school.
3. Time: Choose a project that you can finish in the available time.
4. Difficulty: Start with moderate difficulty. You can add advanced parts if time permits.
5. Guidance: If possible, choose a project your teacher or mentor can help you with.

Safety and materials

• Always wear safety goggles when working with electricity, heat, or chemicals.
• Use insulated wires for electric circuits.
• Avoid open flames near flammable materials.
• Work in a well-ventilated area.
• Ask your teacher before using mains power; prefer low-voltage batteries.
• Keep a notebook to record observations and measurements.

How to present your project (report & display)

• Title page: Project title, your name, class, school, guide’s name, date.
• Abstract: Short summary (4–6 lines) of what you did and found.
• Introduction: Why you chose this project and basic theory.
• Aim: One-line objective.
• Materials and apparatus: List everything used.
• Procedure: Step-by-step instructions.
• Observations: Tables, measurements, photos.
• Graphs and calculations: Label axes and units.
• Conclusion: What you learned and if the aim was met.
• Precautions: Any safety steps taken.
• References: Books, websites, teachers.

20 Physics Project Ideas for Class 11 2026-27

Below are 20 projects explained in student-friendly steps. Each project includes aim, materials, procedure outline, expected results, and ideas to extend the project.

1. Investigating Hooke’s Law with Springs

Aim: Verify Hooke’s law and find the spring constant.
Materials: Springs of different stiffness, set of known weights, retort stand, measuring scale, ruler, clamp, notebook.
Procedure: Hang spring vertically, measure natural length, add weight stepwise (e.g., 50 g increments), measure extension each time. Plot force (mg) vs extension. The slope gives spring constant k.
Expected result: A straight line through origin if Hooke’s law holds (F = kx).
Extensions: Compare different springs, test limit of proportionality, study combined springs (series and parallel).

2. Measuring Acceleration due to Gravity Using a Simple Pendulum

Aim: Measure g using a simple pendulum.
Materials: String, small dense bob, protractor, stopwatch, meter scale.
Procedure: Make a pendulum of known length. Displace slightly and measure time for 10 or 20 oscillations. Repeat for different lengths and compute period T. Use formula T=2πl/gT=2πl/g​ to calculate g. Plot T2T2 vs ll.
Expected result: Linear relation between T2T2 and ll; slope = 4π2/g4π2/g.
Extensions: Correct for amplitude, air resistance; measure local g at different heights (if possible).

3. Study of Damping in a Pendulum

Aim: Investigate how air resistance damps a pendulum’s motion.
Materials: Pendulum setup, stopwatch, cardboard cutouts of different shapes and sizes for drag, measuring tape.
Procedure: Start pendulum with fixed amplitude and measure amplitude decrease over time for different bob shapes or with added paddles. Plot amplitude vs time and find damping constant by fitting an exponential decay.
Expected result: Amplitude decays roughly exponentially with time; different shapes show different damping rates.
Extensions: Compare light and dense bobs, analyze quality factor Q.

4. Study of Friction: Static and Kinetic

Aim: Measure static and kinetic friction coefficients for different surfaces.
Materials: Wooden block, spring balance, sandpaper, glass plate, metal plate, weights.
Procedure: Place block on surface and pull with spring balance; note force just before movement (static friction) and during movement (kinetic friction). Calculate coefficients μs=Fs/Nμs​=Fs​/N and μk=Fk/Nμk​=Fk​/N. Repeat with different surfaces.
Expected result: μsμs​ usually greater than μkμk​, and different surfaces give different values.
Extensions: Study effect of surface area, lubrication (oil), or temperature.

5. Investigating Ohm’s Law and Internal Resistance of a Battery

Aim: Verify Ohm’s law and measure battery internal resistance.
Materials: Battery (e.g., 1.5V), variable resistor or set of resistors, ammeter, voltmeter, connecting wires, rheostat.
Procedure: Connect circuit, vary resistance, record voltage across battery and current. Plot V vs I; slope gives negative internal resistance, intercept gives emf. Alternatively, use V=E−IrV=E−Ir to calculate r.
Expected result: Linear V-I graph; internal resistance small but measurable.
Extensions: Compare new vs old batteries, temperature effect on internal resistance.

6. Building and Testing a Series and Parallel Circuit

Aim: Compare current and voltage in series and parallel circuits.
Materials: Bulbs or resistors, DC power supply (low voltage), ammeter, voltmeter, connecting wires, switch.
Procedure: Build simple series circuit with two bulbs; measure current and voltage across each bulb. Then build parallel circuit; measure again. Compare brightness of bulbs and current distribution.
Expected result: In series current same through all; in parallel voltage same, current splits. Bulbs in parallel brighter when individual rated for supply voltage.
Extensions: Calculate equivalent resistance and test with multimeter.

7. Measuring Speed of Sound Using Resonance in a Tube

Aim: Determine speed of sound in air using resonance.
Materials: Resonance tube (variable length), tuning fork (known frequency), water container, ruler.
Procedure: Strike tuning fork and hold over tube; change water level to find resonance (loud sound). Measure effective length for resonance. Use relation for open-closed tube λ=4lλ=4l for fundamental to compute speed v=fλv=fλ.
Expected result: Obtain a value close to 343 m/s at room temperature (with small experimental error).
Extensions: Repeat at different temperatures and plot speed vs temperature.

8. Investigating Heat Transfer: Thermal Conductivity of Materials

Aim: Compare how well different materials conduct heat.
Materials: Rods of brass, copper, aluminum (same size), heat source (candle or small heater), wax or thermocouples, stopwatch.
Procedure: Fix rods horizontally, heat one end, place wax dots along length to see where wax melts, or measure temperature at intervals with thermocouples. Compare speed of heat propagation.
Expected result: Copper and aluminum conduct heat better than brass; temperature increases quicker along their length.
Extensions: Estimate thermal conductivity using steady-state method and Fourier’s law.

9. Demonstrating Conservation of Energy with a Roller Car

Aim: Show conversion between potential and kinetic energy and energy losses.
Materials: Toy car, inclined plane of adjustable angle, meter scale, stopwatch, balance (for mass).
Procedure: Release car from different heights; measure speed at bottom using time or distance interval. Calculate potential energy mghmgh at top and kinetic energy 1/2mv21/2mv2 at bottom. Compare and discuss energy lost to friction.
Expected result: mghmgh ≈ 1/2mv21/2mv2 minus work done by friction; energy not lost but converted to heat.
Extensions: Add different surface textures to incline to study frictional losses.

10. Study of Projectile Motion Using a Launching Device

Aim: Verify projectile motion equations and range vs angle relation.
Materials: Projectile launcher (spring or small catapult), protractor, measuring tape, stop-watch, soft projectile (ball).
Procedure: Launch projectiles at different angles but same initial speed; measure range. Plot range vs angle. Use projectile equations to compare predicted and measured ranges.
Expected result: Maximum range at 45° (for level ground and no air resistance).
Extensions: Account for air resistance, vary initial speed, or launch from different heights.

11. Investigating Refraction: Measure Refractive Index of Glass/Water

Aim: Find refractive index using Snell’s law.
Materials: Laser pointer, protractor, glass slab or acrylic, white paper, ruler.
Procedure: Direct laser at slab at different incident angles. Mark incident and refracted rays and measure angles. Use Snell’s law n1sin⁡θ1=n2sin⁡θ2n1​sinθ1​=n2​sinθ2​ to compute n of the slab or water.
Expected result: A consistent value for refractive index; plotting sinθ1 vs sinθ2 gives slope equal to index ratio.
Extensions: Measure dispersion by using different colors of light (if available).

12. Build a Simple Spectrometer and Observe Line Spectra

Aim: Observe spectra from different light sources and identify lines.
Materials: CD or DVD (diffraction grating), cardboard tube, slit (paper), lamp or gas discharge tube, smartphone camera.
Procedure: Make a slit, align light source, view diffracted light across CD. Record spectra for sunlight, LED, fluorescent lamp, and a gas discharge lamp (if available). Note differences in continuous vs line spectrum.
Expected result: Continuous spectrum for white light; discrete lines for gas discharge lamps.
Extensions: Calibrate with known wavelengths to measure unknown spectral lines.

13. Study of Electrostatics: Charge and Force Using Coulomb’s Law

Aim: Demonstrate static charge and estimate force change with distance.
Materials: Pith balls, insulating threads, rod for charging (e.g., PVC or ebonite), fur or cloth, ruler.
Procedure: Charge rods by rubbing and bring near pith ball pairs. Observe attraction/repulsion and measure separation. Though measuring actual Coulomb force precisely is difficult, you can show qualitative inverse-square behavior by observing how interaction weakens with distance.
Expected result: Force decreases as distance increases; pith balls show clear attraction/repulsion.
Extensions: Use electroscope for charge detection, measure charge transfer quantitatively with sensitive equipment if available.

14. Constructing a Simple Motor and Exploring Its Working

Aim: Build a basic DC motor to show conversion of electrical energy into mechanical energy.
Materials: Insulated copper wire, small magnet, battery, paperclips or supports, sandpaper, tape.
Procedure: Make a coil from copper wire, strip part of insulation on two ends to make a commutator effect, place coil between magnets, connect to battery via supports. The coil should spin. Explain Lorentz force and direction of motion.
Expected result: Coil rotates when current flows.
Extensions: Change number of turns, battery voltage, or magnet strength to study effects on speed and torque.

15. Law of Combination of Resistances: Series and Parallel Measurements

Aim: Verify formulas for equivalent resistance in series and parallel.
Materials: Several resistors of known values, multimeter, connecting wires, breadboard.
Procedure: Measure individual resistances, then connect two or three in series and in parallel, measure equivalent resistance with multimeter, and compare with theoretical values Req(series)=R1+R2Req(series)​=R1​+R2​ and 1/Req(par)=1/R1+1/R21/Req(par)​=1/R1​+1/R2​.
Expected result: Measured and theoretical values should match within measurement error.
Extensions: Use temperature to show change in resistance and repeat.

16. Measuring the Coefficient of Viscosity Using a Falling Sphere Method

Aim: Estimate viscosity of a liquid (e.g., glycerin) using Stokes’ law.
Materials: Tall glass tube, glycerin or motor oil, small steel ball bearings, stopwatch, calipers, thermometer.
Procedure: Drop sphere and time terminal velocity after steady fall is reached. Use Stokes’ formula F=6πηrvF=6πηrv and balance of forces to compute viscosity ηη. Measure radius r and density differences as needed.
Expected result: A numerical estimate of viscosity close to tabulated values if careful.
Extensions: Compare viscosities of liquids at different temperatures.

17. Building a Solar Cooker: Study of Heat Concentration

Aim: Design a simple solar cooker and measure its heating efficiency.
Materials: Cardboard box, aluminum foil, glass sheet, thermometer, black pot, insulation materials.
Procedure: Build box-type cooker lined with reflective foil and place black pot inside under sunlight. Measure temperature rise of water compared to open sunlight. Calculate energy absorbed and time to reach boiling.
Expected result: Cooker reaches higher temperature faster than bare pot in sunlight.
Extensions: Try different reflector angles, different pot colors, or concentrator shapes (parabolic).

18. Investigate Magnetic Field Patterns Using Iron Filings

Aim: Visualize magnetic field lines of bar magnet and compare with theory.
Materials: Bar magnets, iron filings, paper, compass.
Procedure: Place magnet under paper, sprinkle filings on paper and gently tap to let filings align along field lines. Use a compass to sample field direction at multiple points. Sketch observed patterns and compare with dipole field lines.
Expected result: Field lines emerge from north and enter south pole; pattern matches textbook dipole.
Extensions: Study field of two magnets placed together (like poles and unlike poles) or field around current-carrying wire with a compass.

19. Investigating Thermal Expansion of Solids

Aim: Measure linear expansion coefficient of a metal rod.
Materials: Metal rod (steel or brass), micrometer or vernier caliper, heating arrangement (water bath or heater), thermometer, scale to measure length changes, dial gauge (if available).
Procedure: Measure length at room temperature and then at higher temperatures; compute change in length ΔLΔL and use formula α=ΔL/(LΔT)α=ΔL/(LΔT).
Expected result: Compute coefficient of linear expansion within expected range for the chosen metal.
Extensions: Compare different metals and discuss practical implications (railway tracks, bridges).

20. Build a Water Lens and Study Focusing Properties

Aim: Create a simple lens using water and study image formation.
Materials: Clear plastic sheets or a shallow transparent bowl, water, light source (LED), screen (white paper), ruler.
Procedure: Form a convex water lens by letting water bulge in a circular ring or use a water-filled balloon. Shine a distant light source and find focal length by focusing on a screen. Measure image distance for different object distances and verify lens formula 1/f=1/v+1/u1/f=1/v+1/u.
Expected result: You can measure focal length and observe real inverted images for distant objects.
Extensions: Study spherical aberration and try different lens curvatures.

30 More Quick Physics Project Ideas

Below are 30 additional ideas you can pick quickly; each line gives a short description so you can choose one that interests you.

1. Solar cell efficiency test: Compare output of solar cells at different angles and light intensities.
2. Simple seismograph model: Use a pendulum and paper to record vibrations.
3. Investigate capillarity: Compare capillary rise in tubes of various radii and liquids.
4. Study Doppler effect: Use sound source and record frequency shift with smartphone.
5. Build a DIY Van de Graaff model (small): Demonstrate static electricity build-up.
6. Study thermal insulation: Compare insulating ability of different materials by cooling rate of hot water.
7. Gyroscope stability demo: Make a bicycle wheel gyroscope and study precession.
8. Light intensity vs distance: Verify inverse square law for point source using a photometer or light sensor.
9. Demonstrate polarization of light: Use polarizing sheets and LCD screen.
10. Study refraction through prisms: Measure deviation angles for different incident angles.
11. Characterize LDR (light-dependent resistor): Study resistance vs light level.
12. Build a Crookes radiometer model: Show how temperature differences cause rotation (explain thermal transpiration).
13. Investigate resonance in bridges or beams: Use frequency sweep to find resonant frequency of a ruler or beam.
14. Measure coefficient of restitution: Drop ball on surface and measure bounce height vs drop height.
15. Investigate photoresistor in circuits: Use LDR in a voltage divider and measure voltage change with light.
16. Water-wave interference experiment: Use ripple tank or shallow tray to show interference patterns.
17. Magnetic braking demo: Show eddy current braking with a magnet falling through copper tube.
18. Study sound absorption by materials: Measure decay time in a small chamber with different linings.
19. Build a simple IR remote and receiver: Demonstrate remote control basics and digital encoding (basic).
20. Investigate projectile motion on inclined plane: Launch along incline and measure motion components.
21. Study buoyancy and Archimedes’ principle: Measure volume and density using displacement method.
22. Build a simple balance using knife-edge: Measure small mass differences and sensitivity.
23. Explore thermal conductivity using heat flow meter (homemade): Compare rods in steady state.
24. Investigate electric heating element: Measure temperature rise vs current (Joule heating).
25. Study surface tension by capillary action of paper strips: Compare liquids.
26. Design a water rocket: Study effect of pressure and nozzle size on height.
27. Test thermal radiation from black and shiny surfaces: Use thermometers to measure temperature gain under lamp.
28. Build a pinhole camera and measure image formation: Study aperture effects on sharpness.
29. Investigate elasticity of rubber bands: Plot stress vs strain for rubber and compare to Hooke’s law.
30. Study pendulum clocks and timekeeping: Compare period stability under small amplitude changes.

Tips for doing well in your project

• Keep a clean lab notebook: Date every entry and record raw data.
• Repeat measurements: Do at least 3 trials and take average to reduce error.
• Include units: Always write units (m, s, kg, N, etc.) with numbers.
• Draw diagrams: Neat labeled diagrams help judges and teachers understand your setup.
• Explain errors: Mention possible sources of error and how they affect results.
• Photograph your setup: Include photos in the report or display board.
• Practice presentation: Be ready to explain method, results, and theory in simple words.

How teachers may assess your project

Teachers usually look for:

• Clear aim and relevant theory.
• Proper experimental design and controls.
• Accurate and sufficient data.
• Correct use of graphs and calculations.
• Logical conclusion and discussion of errors.
• Creativity and depth of understanding.

Must Read: 30 Writing Project Ideas 2026-27

Conclusion

Physics projects are a powerful way to learn by doing. This article gave you easy-to-follow steps, safety advice, report format, 20 detailed projects, and 30 quick ideas to reach a total of 50 project options.

Pick a project that excites you, plan carefully, keep records, and remember—mistakes and unexpected results are part of real science. Start with a simple setup, do careful measurements, and explain your results clearly. Good luck — have fun exploring physics!