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 2013 Western Kentucky Physics
Olympics. This year’s event will be held Saturday, February 23 from 8:30 a.m. until about 2:00 p.m. in the Thompson Center, Central Wing on WKU’s Bowling Green campus.
The 2013 Physics Olympics competition will commence with two activities that involve competitors arriving at the event ready to compete with things the teams have designed, constructed, and tested. The competition entitled Bouncing Polymers requires each team to use household ingredients to create a bouncing ball that bounces to the greatest height when dropped from a fixed height. For Carbonated Geysers each team will construct a system such that a Mentos powered geyser of diet soda pop spews to the greatest height and can be aimed to fill a distant bucket as efficiently as possible. This year’s “Calculation/ Communication Challenge” is entitled Molecular Isomers and will require each team to divide into pairs and cooperatively transform one deadly molecule into an innocuous isomer form. The "On-the-Spot Activity” and "Order-of-Magnitude Quiz" will remain cloaked in secrecy until the day of the event.
Registration
Teams must register online at
http://physics.wku.edu/olympics/registration.html.
The registration deadline is 4:00 p.m. Friday, February 15.
Prizes
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
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.
