The 2008 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics
Rescheduled for Saturday, April 5th

The Science of Wizardry is the theme for the 2008 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics, a half-day competition hosted by the WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy. This year’s pentathlon of challenging problem-solving activities that reward teamwork, creativity, and communication will be held Saturday, April 5 from 8:30 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. in the Thompson Center, Central Wing on WKU’s Bowling Green campus.

Each high school in the region is invited to send one or more teams of four students to compete in the 2008 Western Kentucky Physics Olympics. This year’s event will commence with the Dematerialization contest, requiring each team to perform for the judges a demonstration of making a pencil disappear, as well as to present a report that identifies the science behind their act of dematerialization. For the next event, Electromagnetic Locomotion, each team will design, construct and use an electromagnetic device to, without any visible mechanism, turn a coil of wire and lift an object.

This year’s Calculation/Communication Challenge, Transfiguration, requires two members of the team to carefully observe and devise a plan to transform a three dimensional shape into another shape, and the other two members to use those instructions to recreate the desired result. The final two events -- the "On-the-Spot Activity", a mostly hands-on, impromptu challenge, and the "Order-of-Magnitude Quiz", a brain teaser which asks contestants to quickly estimate answers for extreme situations -- will remain cloaked in secrecy until those events actually begin.

Registration

Teams must register online at http://physics.wku.edu/olympics/registration.html.  The new registration deadline is March 27, 2008.

Prizes

Overall winners:
Each of the four contestants on the team with the best score in the overall competition will receive a $500 scholarship to attend Western Kentucky University. The scholarship is to be used during the freshman year and is awarded above and beyond any other scholarships the student might otherwise earn.

Medals for the team members and a plaque for the school will be awarded to the top 3 teams in the overall competition.

Certificates will be awarded to the top three teams in each event.

Schedule of Events

Time	Activity	Location
8:00	Mandatory check-in for all teams	TCCW 251
8:30	Dematerialization judging begins	TCCW 205
9:15	Electromagnetic Locomotion competition begins	TCCW 208
11:00	Order-of-Magnitude Quiz begins	TCCW 201
11:30	Lunch	TCCW 238/239
12:15	Calculation/Communication Challenge begins	TCCW 201
1:10	On-the-Spot Activity begins	TBA
1:45	Awards Ceremony	TCCW 201

Snow Date

In case of cancellation due to inclement weather, Physics Olympics will be rescheduled for the same times on an alternate Saturday to be announced.

  WKU Physics Olympics Overview  |  Event Descriptions  |  Online Registration  |  Directions to WKU
  Frequently Asked Questions  |  Physics Olympics Archive  |  WKU Physics Homepage 

 Send questions or comments about this site to webmaster@physics.wku.edu. 
 Last modified on February 12, 2010.

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