IB Prized Writing Sevenoaks School IB Prized Writing 2014 | Page 21

Robert Cinca - Physics Robert Cinca - Physics I chose to do my Extended Essay in Physics, and the journey to complete my first ever piece of original research was very rewarding. The need to commit so much time was perhaps the greatest difficulty but also the greatest strength of the Extended Essay as it consolidated the Physics I had already learnt in class and furthered my general understanding of the subject. I started formulating potential research questions in March and handed in my final copy in late September; a long period of time but it was extremely fulfilling as it gave me a more mature approach to the subject. Supervisor: Dr Steve Sharp This Extended Essay ties together three aspects of Physics; theoretical, experimental and modelling. Robert’s enthusiasm for electrical physics, electronics and computer science fuelled interest in the essay, leading him to investigate the surge current time of a filament bulb. His positive and independent approach was exemplary. When difficulties occurred he was quite resourceful; such as when trying to measure the filament of a bulb, he was able to ask the Biology department and use their calibrated electronic microscopes. He also remained critical of any agreements or discrepancies between his predictions and experimental findings. Plus he was able to suggest possible improvements to his excel model. This was an outstanding piece of work. 20