Arushi Wins Gold Award in the BPhO Computational Challenge 2024

During the last academic year, I participated in the British Physics (BPhO) Computational Challenge 2024, where I undertook a project to program Physics models, with this year’s theme being Projectile Motion.

As part of this project, I developed a website, which was then reviewed and given a Gold award.  Various phenomena in physics, such as the orbits of planets around stars, can be analysed and generalised into formulae, which can then be modelled computationally.

The website I created allows you to simulate different scenarios to do with different types of projectiles, by inputting starting conditions (e.g. the launch speed and height) and then plotting a graph that displays the trajectory and is updated in real-time.

The simulations include: calculating the maximum possible range of a projectile, creating models factoring in air resistance, and animating the trajectory of bouncing balls.

I would like to thank Miss Brown and the Physics department for their immense encouragement and feedback on the project, without which I could not have achieved this.

By Arushi, Year 13