Physics Olympics Set For Feb. 24 At WKU

February 13, 2007

Bowling Green, Ky. - “Pirates of the Bluegrass” is the theme for this year’s Western Kentucky Physics Olympics on Feb. 24.

The WKU Department of Physics and Astronomy is inviting area high schools to send one or more teams of four students for the half-day competition consisting of a pentathlon of challenging problem-solving activities that reward teamwork, creativity, and communication. Registration deadline is Feb. 20.

This year’s event will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Thompson Complex Central Wing on WKU’s campus.

The competition will begin with two activities that involve competitors arriving at the event ready to compete with devices they have designed, constructed and tested. “Sail Ho! – Spyglass to the Horizon” requires each team to design, construct and use a telescope to resolve a distant image. For “Bungee From the Crows Nest,” each team will acquire and test an elastic cord to be able to drop a particular mass from a given height so that it drops as close as possible to the deck of the ship without actually impacting.

This year’s “Calculation/Communication Challenge” will be a test of pulleys and levers to lift a treasure chest out of its hole, requiring two members of the team to make a series of measurements and the other two members to follow the devised plan and actually lift the chest.

The final two events -- the “On-the-Spot Activity,” a mostly hands-on, impromptu challenge, and the “Order-of-Magnitude Quiz,” a brain teaser that asks contestants to quickly estimate answers for extreme situations -- will remain cloaked in secrecy until those events actually begin.

Each of the four contestants on the team with the best score in the overall competition will receive a $500 scholarship to attend WKU. Medals for the team members and a plaque for the school will be awarded to the top three teams in the overall competition. Certificates will be awarded to the top three teams in each event.

Teams can register online at http://physics.wku.edu/olympics/registration.html. Additional information is available online at http://physics.wku.edu/olympics.
               
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For information, contact Richard Gelderman at (270) 745-6203.