2025 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics: Event Descriptions

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International Year of Quantum Science and Technology

Judges determine the overall winner based on each team's score in the five different events.

1. The Do-Ahead Project: The Photoelectric Effect
2. The Plan-Ahead Competition: Bouncing Polymers
3. The Communication/Calculation Challenge: The Wave Properties Of Light
4. The Impromptu Team Activity
5. The Order-Of-Magnitude Quiz

 

The Do-Ahead Project: The Photoelectric Effect

The photoelectric effect describes a situation where light shines on a metal, releasing electrons. Einstein’s explanation of the photoelectric effect provided strong evidence for the particle nature of light, establishing a phenomenon of light that cannot be explained by light acting as a wave.

The goal of this competition is to design, build and demonstrate a "Rube Goldberg device" that incorporates different energy transfers, including utilizing the photoelectric effect by transferring light energy to electrical energy, to accomplish the task of bursting a balloon.

Rube Goldberg device is a contraption, invention, device or apparatus that is deliberately over-engineered to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, generally including a chain reaction. The expression is named after Pulitzer Prize winning American Cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg.

For this event teams are asked to:

1. Build a device that, in the most indirect and complicated possible manner, completes the otherwise simple task of popping a balloon within four minutes. The device’s action will be initiated by an unmodified ping-pong ball being dropped into the top of the device, triggering a transfer of energy from gravitational potential energy into some other form of energy, which will trigger another form of energy and so on until the final action bursts a helium-filled balloon suspended above the device.
2. Teams will be required to submit the document with Energy Transfer List to the info@physics.wku.edu via email by midnight on Wednesday, February 19, 2025.
3. If your device is deemed “dangerous” by the event coordinators when you submit your Energy Transfer List, you will be asked to restructure your device.
4. At the check-in for the event, your device will be impounded.
5. The timing will commence when the event supervisor initiates the clock displayed on the projector screen. The clock will not be stopped if the machine stops, jams, or otherwise fails.
6. If an energy transfer should fail to occur, except for the final action responsible for bursting the balloon, the team will be allowed to touch or adjust the device in order to trigger the next action. However, no points will be awarded for a failed energy transfer.
7. The entire device must fit within an imaginary box with dimensions of 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 1.0 m.
8. Each device must pass a safety inspection before operation. Faulty wiring, hazardous materials, uncontrolled projectiles, unshielded spills, and commercial batteries will not be allowed and are grounds for disqualification. Homemade batteries must be demonstrably safe and environmentally proper disposal must be provided. Matches and candles are the only flammable substances allowed. Nothing solid, liquid, or gas (with the exception of smoke from matches and candles subject to the judge’s discretion) is allowed to leave the confines of the device.
9. Six broad classifications of energy forms will be accepted: chemical, electrical, electromagnetic spectrum (light energy, not an electromagnet), mechanical (including pneumatic and hydraulic pressure), and thermal.
10. Points will be earned when the team correctly documents the manner in which its device changes the form of energy being used from one action to the next; although only for actions which directly contribute toward the final action. Scoring will be based only on the energy transfers that are listed in the Energy Transfer List submitted to the event supervisors prior to the start of the event.
11. The Energy Transfer List provides the sequence of energy transfers to be considered for scoring. This list must be legible and well organized, with one energy transfer per line using the format: Initial energy form → action → resulting energy form. An example list is shown after step 12.
12. All contestants will ensure that their entry works through the application of physics principles and generally follows the spirit of the competition.

Step	Initial Energy Form	Action	Resulting Energy Form	Transfer
0	Kinetic	Falling ping pong ball lands on mouse trap	Mechanical	0
1	Mechanical	Triggered mouse trap pulls string and releases metal electrode strips into homemade battery electrolyte solution	Chemical	C1
2	Chemical	Battery cell generates current	Electrical	E1
3	Electrical	Current causes light bulb to shine	E&M spectrum	S1
4	E&M	Photons strike photocell, and generate current	Electrical	E2
5	Electrical	Current flowing through thin wire generates heat	Thermal	T1
6	Thermal	Heated wire melts skin of the balloon, bursting it	Chemical	C2

 

Scoring Rules:

1. Points will be awarded as follows:
   1. 10 points will be awarded for the first six times any form of energy is converted to each of the accepted energy forms (300 points max). For instance, 60 points will be awarded for the first six successful instances of some energy form being converted to chemical energy. Transfers to that energy form after the 6^th successful instance will earn no points.
   2. Photoelectric Effect Bonus: 15 points for each time electromagnetic spectrum energy is transferred to electrical energy.
   3. 300 points will be awarded for successfully bursting the balloon via an acceptable energy transfer within the four-minute time limit.

2. Penalty points will be deducted as follows:
   1. 100 points if your final Energy Transfer List is not submitted by the deadline (February 19^th, 2025),
   2. 10 points off for each line deemed inaccurate in the Energy Transfer List
   3. 75 points off for incorrectly formatted, incoherent, or illegible Energy Transfer List,
   4. 110 points off for parallel or dead-end paths,
   5. 200 points off for size violation,
   6. 50 points off for the first time any solid, liquid or large amount of smoke, odor or gas leaves the boundary of the device prior to the final action; the second instance disqualifies the device.
   7. Disqualification if any flames leave the boundary of the imaginary box or your device is deemed too dangerous by the event organizers.

3. Ties will be broken according to (1) least number of penalty points, (2) completion time closest to 90.0 seconds, (3) the judges’ subjective assessment of the tower’s aesthetics (construction quality, decoration, etc.)

 

Plan-ahead event: Bouncing Polymers

The object of this Do-Ahead Project is to make a bouncing ball from household ingredients. Once you understand the basic technique, you can alter the recipe for the ball to see how the chemical composition affects the bounciness of the ball. Here's a list of materials you need to gather to make bouncing polymer balls:

• timer
• 2 containers for mixing
• measuring spoons
• spoon or craft stick to stir the mixture
• warm water
• borax (used for laundry)
• cornstarch (used for baking)
• school glue (e.g., Elmer's)

 

Pour 2 tablespoons warm water and 1/2 teaspoon borax powder into the first cup. Stir the mixture to dissolve the borax.

Pour 1 tablespoon of glue into the cup labeled 'Ball Mixture'.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of the borax solution you just made and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch. Do not stir.

Allow the ingredients to interact on their own for 10-15 seconds and then stir them together to fully mix.

Once the mixture becomes impossible to stir, take it out of the cup and start molding the ball with your hands. The ball will start out sticky and messy, but will solidify as you knead it.

Experiment with the ratio between the amounts of glue, cornstarch, and borax. You can also vary the diameter of the finished ball, how long it takes to solidify into a ball. The goal is to create a ball that bounces high when dropped from a height of 2 meters.

Don't eat the materials used to make the ball or the ball itself. Wash your work area, utensils, and hands when you have completed this activity.

1. Each team may bring one ball to the competition for judging.
2.  Each team’s bouncing polymer ball will be inspected by the judges to ensure it was made from the listed ingredients.
3. Rankings are determined by the height in centimeters that the ball reaches when rebounding off of a concrete floor after being dropped from a height of 2.00 meters.  
4. All contestants will ensure that their entry works through the application of physics principles and generally follows the spirit of the competition.
5. In the unlikely event of a tie, the ball with the least mass will be ranked higher. 

 

Communication/Calculation Challenge: The Wave Properties Of Light

Your team will divide into two groups. Two members of the team will be given information on the wave properties of light and will be asked to produce a written plan to allow the remaining two teammates to accurately use the information in the plan  to perform a size measurement of a given object.

***For this event, please make sure that you have access to an electronic device such as phone, tablet or a laptop that you can bring with you and review a video during one part of this event.***

 

Impromptu Activity: 

The instructions regarding this event are not released until it begins, so everyone is on an equal footing. Activity is the key word for this competition, with the goal being for each team to achieve the desired result as quickly as possible. The situation is designed to reward teamwork and common sense thinking as well as knowledge of physics. Every team will come away with smiles and good memories regardless of how well they master the particular challenge.

 

Order of Magnitude Quiz (Fermi Questions):

Arrive at a reasonable approximation for the value of a complex situation with very little to no information available to directly compute the answer. In this quiz, the contestants will need to quickly make assumptions for values to use in simple calculations in order to arrive at the "correct" answer, stated as the power of ten of the number that fits the accepted value.

Teams will receive 10 questions to complete within 15 minutes. The teams can divide the work in any way they see fit, but only one answer per question per team will be accepted. Answers will be judged according to how many orders of magnitude the team's answer is from the judge's solution. The lowest score wins -- 0 points awarded for the answer accepted by the panel of judges, with 1 point scored per order of magnitude from the accepted value.

Examples of Order-of-Magnitude Quiz questions include:

• How many electrons enter the starter motor when a new, full-sized pickup starts?
• How many times would a tire of a Ford Taurus rotate when driven from NYC to LA?
• Estimate the number of gallons of gasoline used annually by all the cars in the USA.