CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY education

New delhi

BANNARI AMMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL

SENIOR SECONDARY
(AFFILIATED TO CBSE,NEW DELHI)

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMISTRY
PROJECT REPORT 2018-2019
TOPIC: PREPARING A CRYSTAL
RADIO
PROJECT REPORT ON
PREPARING A CRYSTAL RADIO

BANNARI AMMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL

SENIOR SECONDARY
(AFFILIATED TO CBSE, NEW DELHI)
GUIDED BY
MISS SIVAGAMI M.Sc., B.Ed., M.phil
DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
BANNARI AMMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL
DONE BY:APSARA PHILO.S
REG.NO:
 CERTIFICATE
I hereby certify that this is a bonafide report of the project work done by
Miss Apsara Philo.S of class 12th, Bannari amman public school ,
sathyamangalam during the year 2018-2019.

Place:

Date:

Miss. Sivagami M.Sc., M.phil., B.Ed

DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS
BANNARI AMMAN PUBLIC SCHOOL
This is to certify that APSARA PHILO.S

REG. NO.----------------------------- has submitted this project for the

practical examination of AISSCE 2018-2019.

Date:--------------------------

PRINCIPAL EXAMINAR IN CHARGE

TOPIC: preparing a crystal radio

Content
AIM
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
PROBLEM
HYPOTHESIS
MATERIALS
PROCEDURES
OBSERVATIONS
CONCLUSIONS
BIBLOGRAPHY
AIM:
The objective: Have you ever wondered how a radio can grab signals that
are transmitted through the air and convert them into sound? In this
science project, you will build your own AM radio receiver from scratch
and use it to listen to AM radio broadcasts. With your crystal radio you
will be able to experiment with the circuit and the antenna to get the best
reception.

Which antenna length gives the best radio signal? After researching the
electromagnetic spectrum, frequency, wavelength, quartz crystals, and
radios, I realized I had all the basics for picking up AM radio stations using
simple equipment from The Source. But which antenna length would
produce the clearest, strongest radio signal in my crystal radio?

A crystal radio is among the simplest of radio receivers… there’s no

battery or power source, and nearly no moving parts. The radio is made up
of a tuning coil (magnet wire wrapped around a toilet paper tube), a
detector (germanium diode) and crystal earphones, and an antenna wire.
The crystal radio turns the radio signal directly into a signal that the
human ear can detect. Since the radio does not use external power, the
source of power comes directly from the radio waves themselves. This radio
detects in the AM band that have been traveling from stations
(transmitters) thousands of miles away.

One of the biggest challenges with detecting low-power radio waves is that
there is no amplifier on the radio to boost the signal strength. I had to find
the quietest spot in my house away from any transmitters (and loud noises)
that might interfere with the reception. When designing the experiment, I
had to take into account the finer details, such as the width of the wire,
whether to use magnet or plastic-insulated wire, the type of diode, and the
tube diameter. In addition, I also needed to find an adequate grounding
source (I used a metal water pipe) and have enough space to spread out my
antenna, which ranged from 10’ to 100’.
Statement of Purpose:
I expected to discover how radio waves transmit information through air ?
And how is this information converted into sound?

Problem:
• How do radio waves transmit information through the air ?

• How is this information converted into sound ?

Hypothesis
I predicted that the longer the antenna, the stronger the signal in the
crystal radio. My best guess is that an antenna that's long would produce a
clear enough signal to hear distinct words and songs.
Materials
2 packs of 18 gauge (AWG) coil wire

•1 XL pizza box

•Crystal earpiece

• 2 pieces of alluvium foil cut 6 inch by 6 inch

• 1 piece of paper 9 inches by 7 inches

Procedure
• First, I became familiar with the experiment and setup. After raiding
Radio Shack for magnet wire, diodes and earphones, I created a simple
crystal radio that could detect AM radio waves without the use of a battery.
I ran ten trials varying the length of the antenna and estimated the signal
strength using the following scale:

1 – No Signal: you can’t hear any signal at all

2 –Inaudible Sound: you can barely hear a signal, but can’t make
out any words

3 – Weak Signal: you can hear a few words here and there, but
nothing that makes sense

4 – Medium Signal: you can hear most words, but it still sounds
scratchy

5 – Strong Signal: you can clearly hear words or songs

Observations
Conclusion
I found that my initial hypothesis (the longer the antenna, the stronger the
signal in the crystal radio) was supported by the data. My best guess was
that an antenna that was long enough would produce a clear enough signal
to hear distinct words and songs. For further study, I recommend running
an experiment to test the various gauges of wire, tube diameter, and types
of grounding sources. This experiment was a lot of fun!
Bibliography
www.sciencebuddies.com

www.rimstar.org