2003 Physics Olympics

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The Year Of The Potato

Event 1:  Mail-A-Pringle: the Do-Ahead Project 

The object of this Do-Ahead Project is to design a container in which a Pringle can arrive intact after being sent through the U.S. Mail from your local post office to this address:

Western Kentucky Physics Olympics
c/o Prof. Richard Gelderman
PO Box 500
Union, WV 24983

1. The Pringle must be unaltered in any fashion.
2. Pack the Pringle in the smallest container possible (smallest volume, smallest mass).
   Within the package, enclose the Pringle in a sealed ziplock-style plastic bag from, which the Pringle can be easily removed by the judges.
3. The size of the package must be bigger than 5 inches by 3 inches (according to US Post Office regulations) and smaller than 6 inches by 5 inches by 8 inches (such that it can fit into a standard rural-style mailbox).
   Using the U.S. Postal Service, mail the Pringle to the designated address for arrival on or before Wednesday, February 25th, 2003. Late deliveries will not be judged.
4. A judge will unpack and remove the Pringle from all containers and wrappings. The Pringle must be unblemished, naturally colored, with no cracks or damage evident. A Pringle which is damaged in the normal process of removing it from its containers/wrappings will be judged as having failed to survive.
5. Each team's score is calculated as the sum of points awarded for the Pringle's survival (0 to 50) and the product of volume (cm³) and mass (g). In case of tie scores, the amount of postage will be considered (less is better). The team with the lowest score wins.
6. All contestants will ensure that their entry works through the application of physics principles and generally follows the spirit of the competition.

 

Event 2: Potato Toss - the Plan-Ahead Competition

Teams do the strategizing and construction ahead of time for the Plan-Ahead Competition, arriving at the event ready to compete with their apparatus. For 2003 each team must design and build a device that will launch potatoes to land as close as possible to any one or more of the specified targets located 30, 70, and 100 meters from the launch position.

1. The launching device must store the energy required for the launch and be triggered from at least 3 meters distance. If any person is within 3-meters of the device at the time of launch, that launch shall be forfeited. 
2. The launching device must have a total mass of less than 5 kilograms, and when fully assembled must be sized so it both fits through a normal-sized door and can rest on a 1-meter by 1-meter platform for the weigh-in. 
3. The only external power source allowed for operation of the launching device will be the muscle power of the team members. Chemical, electrical, steam, geothermal, nuclear, or internal combustion powered devices are explicitly prohibited. 
4. Judges will supply the projectiles. Each team will be able to choose its three potatoes from an assortment of twelve, medium-sized Idaho-type potatoes. The entire potato must be launched and all of the potato must be retrieved to earn a score. 
5. Each team will be allowed twelve minutes to set up its device and successfully launch three potatoes. Any device that does not successfully launch a potato during the twelve-minute period will place at the bottom of this event's rankings. Every team will have one and only one launch opportunity. 
6. Each team's score is calculated as the radial distance point (measured in meters) from the center of the target to the where the judges deem the potato first hit the ground. Any potato which is further than ten-meters from any target will receive a maximum score of 10. There will be scale factors applied to the measurements for the more distant targets. The score for potatoes landing within ten-meters of the most distant target will be computed as the distance in meters divided by 5. The score for potatoes landing within ten-meters of the middle target will be computed as the distance in meters divided by 3. See the links below for sample score calculations.
7. Safety goggles must be worn by all team members entering within a five-meter circle surrounding the launch point. The penalty for violation is immediate forfeiture for the event. Guests/spectators will not be allowed within the five-meter zone. 
8. All contestants will ensure that their entry works through the application of physics principles and generally follows the spirit of the competition. 
9. Prior to launching their potatoes, each team will be asked to give the judges a prediction of their total score. In the event of a tie, the team with the most accurate prediction will win.

Example Potato Launch Score Calculations
The examples below are in PDF format and require Adobe Acrobat to view.  They can be printed on legal size paper.

Example 1  |   Example 2

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Event 3:  The Calculation/Communication Challenge

Students will use teamwork, communication and calculation skills to achieve the specified goal. Two members of the team will be presented with a collection of components and must use the appropriate physics concepts to calculate a plan achieve the goal. Additional details of the specific task will be announced at the event.  It will involve making accurate measurements using computer-based instrumentation.  The remaining two team members follow the team's written instructions to set up the components with no additional communication. Finally, the judges perform the test and score the result. The first two team members have 30 minutes to produce the written plan for accomplishing the task. During this time they can ask questions and seek advice from a judge/guide.  Then the written plan is handed to the second pair of team members, who have 15 minutes to execute the instructions. Finally, the judges test the construction and score the team's effort according to the announced guidelines. 

 

Event 4:  Impromptu Team Physics Activity

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 and the ability to work with formulae. Every team will come away with smiles and good memories regardless of how well they master the particular challenge.

 

Event 5:  Order-of-Magnitude Quiz (also known as 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 5 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.