What this project is really about
The year is 1687. Sir Isaac Newton has just published his Principia Mathematica—three laws that he claims can predict exactly how any object moves, anywhere, under any conditions. The scientific world is stunned. But not everyone is convinced. Robert Hooke, one of Europe's sharpest scientific minds and Newton's most formidable rival, is sceptical. He does not dispute that Newton's laws are elegant. He disputes that they hold up in the real world—where materials are imperfect, air pushes back, and no mechanism fires with mathematical precision. The two men have made a public wager. Newton claims his laws can predict exactly how far any projectile will fly—at any angle, with any force. Hooke says real-world engineering will always deviate from theoretical predictions. He believes that when you actually build something and test it, the gap between theory and experiment will tell you more than any formula ever could. To settle the wager, they need an experiment. They need data. They need you. As a newly recruited junior engineer at the Hooke Research Institute, your mission is this: design and build a prototype launcher. Test it rigorously across multiple trials. Record what happens. Then compare your real-world results to what Newton's laws predicted should happen. You will think like an engineer and investigate like a scientist. Every launch will tell you something. Every failure will reveal a clue. Every redesign will bring you closer to the truth. The wager is on. The Institute is counting on your data.
What you'll walk away knowing how to do
This project isn't about memorising facts. It's about building capabilities that transfer — to your next project, your next class, and beyond.
Learn from someone who does this for a living
You're not learning from a textbook. You're learning from a practitioner.
Garima Soharu Bhandari
California State University, Sacramento, USA
Garima Soharu Bhandari brings real-world expertise and professional depth to this project, guiding students through every phase with insight that goes beyond the classroom.
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