Google Science Fair 2013 and the first finalists from Russia

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    Today we’ll talk about an online science project competition designed for students aged 13 to 18 from around the world called the Google Science Fair . The main prize of 2013 is a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands as part of the National Geographic expedition and a grant of $ 50 thousand for training.

    This intellectual competition has been held since 2011, and this year the representatives of Russia with the Litin project reached the final (last year the post-Soviet space was represented by a lyceum student from Kiev). Information about all finalists is presented on the official website of the competition.

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    Eighth-graders Lisa Sosnova and Tina Kabir from the Moscow school "New Education" created "LiTin" - a device that allows you to measure the mass and density of a variety of substances - from plastic bottles.

    “As part of this work,” the accompanying documents say, “the task was set and successfully solved to use readily available materials to create a universal instrument that allows you to measure the mass and density of liquids, bulk materials and solids. The principle of operation of the device is based on the law of Archimedes. The causes of possible errors were also studied. In the framework of the developed method, they are minimized. Test results are within the margin of error. Control results were obtained using laboratory equipment and coincide with previously published substance densities. ”

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    “The main advantage of our device, fundamentally distinguishing it from analogues, is its versatility. The densitometer developed by us is easy to manufacture and operate. The efficiency of the device is confirmed by laboratory tests, ”the girls say.


    Interview

    LiTin: everything ingenious - just

    Lisa Sosnova and Tina Kabir from Moscow kindly agreed to give us an interview. Young talents turned out to be very sociable girls, quickly bribing with their still childish spontaneity. At the same time, they speak about their project in all seriousness and even with caution - "so that no one steals the invention."

    - Lisa, how did you find out about the Google Science Fair 2013 and why did you decide to take part in it?
    - This year we finished our densimeter (“in the original” it is a device for measuring the density of gases, liquids and solids, but the functionality of LiTin is limited, it does not work with gases - approx. Author). And participated with him in the All-Russian competition to them. Vernadsky, showed him at the Moscow contest "Fair of ideas in the South-West of Moscow - 2013."

    Having received diplomas of winners at both competitions, we decided to direct our work to the international Google Science Fair. Our scientific adviser advised us to participate in this competition, for which many thanks to him!

    - Tell the story of the device: from the emergence of the idea to the embodiment.
    “We asked ourselves,“ How can I weigh a bird's feather at home? ” They suffered for a long time with the design of the device that would solve this problem, as a result, they created a float scales with a bulb and weighed the bird's feather! This year we thought, why with the help of this design not to measure the density of substances?

    As a result, a device was created that allows measuring both the mass of bodies and the density of liquids, bulk materials, and solids. The principle of operation of the device is based on the law of Archimedes.

    Roughly speaking, our “LiTin” is a modified densimeter that can be assembled from improvised means and at home.

    - What is the practical value of the LiTin device? Where can I use it?
    - In practice, the device can be used in schools. In a physics lesson, for example. We also want to offer its use in schools for children with disabilities.

    - Do you plan to patent the device?
    - We are working in this direction.

    - Tell us about the device itself - what does it consist of?
    - The device is made of three transparent plastic bottles: the float (section S1) is placed in the outer glass (section S2), a guide cylinder is fixed between them. The diameters of the guide cylinder and the float should differ by the smallest possible value (of the order of 3-5 mm), providing free movement of the float. A cup is attached to the float. Holes are made in the guide cylinder for free penetration of water. The float is minimally filled with water so that the cylindrical part of the float of constant cross section protrudes from the water in the glass.

    The principle of operation is based on the law of Archimedes: the weight of the body located on the weighing pan is equal to the weight of the additionally displaced water. Usually measure the depth of immersion of the float. Using the condition of incompressibility of the liquid, we were able to replace the measurements of the depth of immersion of the float (on the scale of the float) by measuring the level of water in the glass (on the scale of the glass, which is located outside and is convenient to use).

    - How do you like working in tandem and who is the “locomotive” and who is the “train driver”?
    It was not difficult for us to work together. We are best friends and have known each other for more than 5 years. Therefore, disagreements rarely occurred, but there are no "main" and "subordinates" in the project, we work on an equal footing.

    - When will the name of the winner of the Google Science Fair 2013 be known? Is it possible to influence the final result? Or have the works already been completed and not be affected?
    - According to the regulation, on September 23 the name of the winner will be known. This will happen at Google Headquarters in Mountain View (Santa Clara County, California). The main prize will be a 10-day trip to the Galapagos Islands as part of the National Geographic expedition and $ 50,000 for training. In addition, there are many other prizes.

    In the final, all participants will tell the jury about their project in English. We are preparing hard for this. It only seems that the end of September will not be soon. For us, time moves very fast ...

    Now the support provided by parents, our physics teacher, class teacher, and friends is especially important to us. Thank you all!

    References

    Details of the LiTin project . You can still have a look or download the presentation of the project.

    The interview is made up of questions from readers of the public VKontakte “SIMPLE SCIENCE”.

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