Physics Olympics Schedule
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Time |
Event |
Location |
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Registration & Refreshments |
Room 335, |
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Welcome/Instructions |
Room 335, |
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Morning
Events |
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Mousetrap Car Race |
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Airplane Drop |
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Egg Drop |
Loading Dock, |
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Lunch |
Union Station, |
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Afternoon
Events |
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Eggstraction |
Tennis Courts |
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Water Rocket |
Intramural Fields |
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Trebuchet |
Intramural Fields |
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Ribbons
and Trophies |
Room 335, |
MOUSETRAP
CAR RACE
Objective: Each team is to produce one vehicle
powered by a mousetrap. The vehicle
should travel a distance of 10 meters in the shortest possible time.
Apparatus: Each team is responsible for designing and
building one mousetrap-powered vehicle prior to the day of the
competition. SFASU will provide the
timing system.
Regulations: A mousetrap spring is to provide the sole
source of power for the vehicle. No
other stored energy supplies - including gravitational potential energy - may
be released by the spring.
The trap used to power
the vehicle must be sold commercially as a mousetrap. As such, the trap spring should consist of a
steel wire nominally 1.3 mm in diameter wound into a coil nominally 7 mm in
diameter with approximately 20 turns. Rattraps, or any other traps with springs
differing significantly from that just described, will be disqualified.
The mousetrap spring and
the portion of the trap board to which the spring is attached may not be
altered in any way. The trap restraining
arm and other portions of the board may be modified. In no case should the spring move through an angle
of more than 180 degrees.
The mousetrap must be
contained in the vehicle and must propel the vehicle by means of a wheel or
wheels in contact with the ground. A
launcher or device that pushes the vehicle is prohibited.
One wheel of the vehicle
must remain in contact with the ground at all times. The vehicle must remain as a single unit at
all times. The vehicle must have a mass
of at least 0.5 kg. The vehicle must be
started from a standstill by releasing the mousetrap spring in a manner that
imparts no additional energy to the vehicle, i.e., the vehicle may not be given
a push start. There will be a
five-minute time limit to prepare and race your vehicle on the day of the
Physics Olympics.
The racecourse will
consist of a hard, smooth, level surface with lanes for individual vehicles
each 10 meters long and 2 meters wide.
The time interval required for each vehicle to cover the 10 meters will
be measured from the time the leading edge of the vehicle's front wheel breaks
the plane of the starting line to the time the leading edge of the same wheel
breaks the plane of the finish line. If
the vehicle does not travel the entire 10 meters, then the distance traveled
from the start will be used to determine the vehicle's score. If the vehicle leaves the lane from either
side, it will be considered stopped when it breaks the plane of the lane
boundary.
Scoring: 20 points will be awarded to each team
that shows up with a viable vehicle.
40 points will be
awarded to each vehicle completing the 10-meter distance. If a vehicle
completes a fraction of the full distance, the corresponding fraction of 40
points will be awarded.
Vehicles completing the
10-meter distance will be awarded up to 40 additional points based on the time
required to complete the distance. The
overall fastest time of the day for the entire field of entries will be divided
by an individual vehicle's finish time to determine the fraction of 40 points
awarded to that vehicle. The standing
overall fastest time will be posted for reference while the competition is in
progress.
Each vehicle will be
allowed to complete two runs. The
vehicle's best time/distance will then be used to determine its score.
AIRPLANE DROP
Objective: To construct a glider which will
travel the greatest possible distance in a given horizontal direction when
dropped from a stationary position.
Apparatus: Each team is responsible for
constructing one aircraft. We will
provide the dropping apparatus and will measure the distance traveled by each craft.
Specifications: 1) The only building materials to be used
are balsa wood, glue, aluminum foil, Mylar and string. These supplies can be found at hobby shops or
grocery stores.
2) The aircraft will be dropped from a height of
4.5 meters.
3) The dropping apparatus will consist of a
clothespin with foam pads inside the jaws.
There must be some portion of the craft designated as the attachment
site for the dropping apparatus. It must
be 1mm to 5mm thick (to accommodate the size of the jaws) and must be EASILY
reachable by the clothespin.
4) When dropped, the dropping apparatus will be
held such that the clothespin is in a vertical position, “jaws” down. However, the orientation of the craft inside
the apparatus is left to the discretion of the team (i.e. should the craft
start out nose down, or completely level, or at what specific incline, etc.).
Procedure: Each team will have its craft dropped
twice by the event judge. The team may
only participate at this point by informing the judge as to what part of the
craft is to be loaded into the dropping apparatus (i.e. the team will not load
the craft themselves).
Scoring: The distance traveled by the craft
in any given direction will be measured for each trial; the distance of the
greater of the two trials will be given as the team’s score.
EGG DROP
Objective: To design a container that will protect a
Grade A Large egg from a fall of about 13 meters (3
stories) onto a concrete surface of area approximately 3 m x 2.5 m.
Apparatus: Each team will construct one container
before the day of the competition. Each
team will be responsible for the secrecy of their design. We will provide the eggs and they will be
raw.
Regulations: The container must be able to fit inside a
box of dimensions 40 cm x 40 cm x 40 cm. Its mass must be less than 1 kg. The container may be constructed of any kind
of material. There will be a five-minute
time limit to load the egg into your container on the day of the Physics
Olympics.
Procedure: The container will be dropped from a hinged
board, extending from a balcony over a concrete surface. The container does not have to survive the
fall, but the egg must. A cracked or
broken egg will disqualify the entry.
The judge will inspect the egg within one minute of the drop. Only one drop will be made for each team's
device.
Scoring: Scoring will be based on the following
equation: Score = Mass + (10 * Time)
where
Mass = mass of the egg container in grams
(not including the egg) and
Time = time
in seconds from release of the device till its impact.
The device with the
lowest score is the winner.
EGGSTRACTION
Objective: To
design a device operated by one person that will extract a Grade A Large egg from the middle of a 4.25-meter radius circle.
Apparatus: Each
team will construct the device before the day of the competition. Each team
will be responsible for the secrecy of their design. We will provide the eggs
and they will be raw.
Regulations: The
device may be constructed of any kind of material. Participants can use
pulleys, motors, carts, remote control vehicles, etc. to move the egg outside
of the circle. The operator cannot touch the pavement within the 4.25-meter
radius circle and cannot enter the space above the circle (an imaginary
vertical cylinder). If a participant
enters this cylinder the judge will stop the extraction and call “fault”. Two faults result in disqualification.
Procedure: The
circle will be outside on a concrete pavement like a tennis court or on a gym
floor. One team member will place the egg in the center of the circle. Another team member will retrieve the egg
from the device once it is outside of the circle and hand it to a judge. The judge will inspect the egg within one
minute of the extraction. Only one extraction will be made for each team's
device. Each team will have five minutes to set up the device before the clock
starts. No part of the device may be inside the imaginary cylinder before the
clock starts.
Scoring: Scoring will be based on time to complete the task. The team with the shortest time is the winner.
Tiebreakers will be based on creativity.
TREBUCHET
A trebuchet
is a medieval engine for hurling heavy projectiles.
Objective:
To vault an object, a softball, as
far as possible using only gravity.
Regulations:
1. The device must be made of wood, non-elastic
fabric, rope, duct tape and wood glue.
2. No springs or elastic materials may be used.
3. Lubricants can be used.
4. There can be no metal parts of any kind
including bolts and nails.
5. Rocks and bricks can be used only for the
counterweights.
6. Only rocks and bricks can be used for the
counterweights.
7. The device can only be powered by a
descending counterweight.
8. Participant cannot touch the trebuchet once
the counterweight is released.
9. The total weight of the device (including the
counterweight) cannot exceed 100 pounds.
10. SFA will provide the softballs to be launched
on a grass field.
11. If a trebuchet poses any threat to safe
competition, the judges reserve the right to disqualify it.
12. No practice launches will be allowed on the
day of the Physics Olympics. So be sure to test your trebuchet in advance. There will be a five-minute time limit to
prepare your trebuchet for launch on the day of the Physics Olympics.
Scoring: Scoring will be base on the distance
from a line in front of the trebuchet to the first impact point of the
softball.
WATER ROCKET
Objective: To build a rocket from a 2 liter plastic
soft drink bottle.
Regulations:
1. You are
to build a rocket from a 2-liter soft drink bottle that uses water and
compressed air as a propellant. You are
to employ only a bicycle tire pump to pressurize the rocket. As an example, you may fit a rubber stopper
with a basketball needle through it into the bottle and attach the tire pump to
the needle.
2. Your launch
mechanism must safely hold the pressurizing mechanism and contain any stopper
or plug that is ejected by the rocket upon launching.
3. The rocket must have a parachute. The rocket may have a Styrofoam nose cone and
cardboard fins.
4. All parts of the rocket must remain together
during flight (even the nose cone). No
metal parts are to be on the part of the rocket that leaves the ground.
5. Participants are required to wear safety
goggles and stay 10 feet away from the rocket during pressurization.
6. Each team must build their own rocket and
launch mechanism prior to the competition and bring these materials (goggles,
water, etc.) with them. Teams may not
share rocket parts, launch mechanisms, or pumps. SFA will only provide the timing
systems.
7. Water must be in the rocket before the rocket is
pressurized with air. Water cannot be
added to the rocket after or during the time at which air pressure is added to
the rocket. Air must go directly from
the pump to the rocket. There can be no
air storage tanks.
8. We suggest that you use extreme care when building
and testing your rocket. It is not worth
injuring yourself or someone else for this event.
9. Any mechanism or rocket that is deemed unsafe
by the safety committee will be disqualified.
10. No practice
launches will be allowed on the day of the Physics Olympics so be sure to test
your rockets and equipment in advance.
Scoring: Scoring
will be based upon the time aloft, the time from when
the rocket is launched to the time it strikes the ground. You might want to consider a good parachute!