2009 Physics Olympics

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The Science Of Supervillains

Overview

Western Kentucky Physics Olympics is a half-day competition consisting of a pentathlon of challenging problem-solving activities that reward teamwork, creativity, and communication. The WKU Department of Physics & Astronomy invites each high school to send one or more teams of four to compete in the 2009 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics. This year’s event will be held Saturday, February 28 from 8:30 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. in the Thompson Center, Central Wing on WKU’s Bowling Green campus.

The competition will commence with two activities that involve competitors arriving at the event ready to compete with devices they have designed, constructed, and tested. The competition entitled Save the Citizen requires each team to design, construct, and use a package to safely transport a “hostage” through harrowing circumstances. For Escape Pod each team will assemble and test a rocket powered escape device to be used as an emergency exit strategy if capture is imminent. This year’s “Calculation/ Communication Challenge”, "On-the-Spot Activity” and "Order-of-Magnitude Quiz" will remain cloaked in secrecy.

 

Event 1: Save the Citizen

Every supervillain depends on the existence of hapless citizens to ensure the attention of his/her arch-nemisis superhero. The hero must be convinced that there is danger involved, but the officials at the supervillain union impose large penalties for causing situations that involve actual death and dismemberment of innocent bystanders.

The object of this Do-Ahead Project is to design a container in which an innocent bystander (represented by 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 Richard Gelderman
     Department of Physics and Astronomy
     Western Kentucky University
     Bowling Green, KY 42101-1077

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 sealedziplock-style plastic bag from, which thePringle 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 Friday, February 27th, 2009. 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. APringle which is damaged in the normal process of removing it from its containers/wrappingswill 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: Escape Pod

For those times when plans go awry and world domination is not going to happen, the successful supervillain has an escape plan.

Each team will construct one or more rockets to carry aloft for at least 15 seconds one raw grade-A medium chicken egg and return egg safely to the ground without any cracks or other external damage. Any external damage to the egg will result in a loss of points. Points earned for time aloft greater than 15 seconds.

1. Teams that complete the online Physics Olympics registration will be provided with a rocket kit (Estes Viking rocket, assembly required), eight igniter packs, and six rocket engines (three C6-3, and three C6-5 engines). A single rocket launch kit and additional engines are available free of charge from the Physics Olympics organizers upon request.
2. Teams may decorate and modify the provided rocket, or construct an alternative rocket.
3. The supplied engines are to be used to characterize the rocket’s performance, with the expectation that teams will perform sufficient practice flights to be able to understand how the rocket performs with the various engines provided. The team must decide which type of engine they will use for the competition and decide how long their rocket will stay aloft after being launched with that engine. The manufacturer’s specifications for each type of engine are posted at the Estes website.
4. During the registration period on the day of the 2009 Physics Olympics, each team will submit their rocket, the type of engine they wish to use during the three competition flights, and their prediction for the time the rocket will remain aloft using that engine. The judges will provide the requested type of engine and the eggs to be used during the competition.
5. Teams will be responsible for the safe launch of their rocket for two flights during the competition.All launches will be controlled by the range safety officer.The range safety officer will be the sole arbiter of safety during the competition. Unsafe conduct is grounds for immediate elimination from the event.
6. Scores shall be based on total flight duration of the portion of the rocket containing the egg, measured from the ignition of the rocket’s engine until the moment of landing or until the rocket can no longer be seen due to distance or to an obstacle. The official duration will be the median of the times recorded by three judges, rounded to the nearest 0.01 second. If one or two stopwatches malfunction, the remaining time(s) will be used. Scores will be computed by taking the absolute difference between 15 seconds and the measured flight duration to the nearest 1/100 second (this difference is always a positive number, or zero).
7. The winner of the competition will be the team who most closely predicts the total time aloft for their rocket. Ties will be broken using the time of the flight that is next closest to the median time aloft.
8. Each part of the rocket must either contain a recovery device or be designed to glide, tumble unstably, or otherwise return to earth at a velocity that presents no hazard. Any entry which has a major part (including but not limited to an expended engine casing) land without a recovery system, or at a velocity that is judged by an event official to be hazardous, due to recovery system absence, insufficiency, or malfunction, will be disqualified.
9. Rockets must be allowed to land at the end of flight without human intervention (catching) and will be disqualified if there is such intervention. At the end of the flight the team members are responsible for removing the egg from the rocket in the presence of a judge. The egg must be presented to the judges, who will inspect it for damage.
10. All contestants will ensure that their entry works through the application of physics principles and generally follows the spirit of the competition.

 

Event 3: Loot Lift – Communication/Calculation Challenge

Students will use teamwork, communication and calculation skills to devise a plan, using only the resources made available by the judges, to lift as much of the loot as possible from the “vault” up to your get-away vehicle.

 

Event 4:  No Touch Flight – Impromptu Team Activity

It was destined to happen, the superheroes have arrived and you and your villainous henchmen must, once again, live to fight another day. Work with your teammates to use physical principles such as electrostatic repulsion and Bernoulli’s principle to launch and propel your flying ring across the finish line. 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.

 

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 7 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.