Event
Pringle
Crunch
The Olympic Events
#Participants
5
Prior
Construction yes
Materials
Available
Before games
Day
Points
1st
Points
2nd
Points
3rd
Points
4th
Points
5th
1 5 4 3 2 1
Hit the Wall 5 no At games 1 5 4 3 2 1
Give Me a
Lift
5 no At games 1 6 5 4 3 2
Galilean
Decoder
5 no At games 1 6 5 4 3 2
Weigh Station
Whirl and
Hurl
5
5 no yes
At games
At games
1
2
6
5
5
4
4
3
3
2
Human
Curling
Alpine Ascent
Slow
Bike Race
Fermi
Questions
Olympic
Video
Olympic
Theme Song
5
5
2
5
5
5 yes yes no no yes yes
At games
At games
At games
At games
Before games
Before games
2
2
2
2
1
1
6
6
5
6
4
3
5
5
4
5
3
2
4
4
3
4
2
1
3
3
2
3
* Video and theme song are optional events which, if produced, must be presented to the
Olympic Committee by 3:00 PM on Wednesday, February 17, in room 215 or 217.
2
1
2
2
1
2

Specific Event Descriptions and Rules
I. Pringle Crunch: Mail a single Pringle potato chip through the U.S. Mail and have it arrive in one whole piece.
Materials Provided: One Pringle potato chip
Time Limit: Five minutes to unpackage chip
Description: A rectangular package must be designed with minimum dimensions of 9.0 cm x 13 cm x 1.0 cm. Packages under the minimum dimensions will be disqualified. A single Pringle may be obtained from the Olympic committee or any other source, provided it is a standard, original style/flavor Pringle. The Pringle may not be altered in any way to increase its strength. To prevent the addition of foreign materials, chips will be weighed by judges and eaten by team members after unpackaging.
The package may not be marked “fragile” or “hand cancel.” It must be mailed through the
U.S. Postal Service using First Class Mail. It must arrive at DAHS no later than
Monday, February 22, 2016 (be sure to mail the package early enough to arrive on time).
It must be mailed to the following address:
Physics Olympics Committee
Dallastown Area High School
700 New School Lane
Dallastown, PA 17313
The return address on the package must include the team name.
On the first day of the Olympics, teams will have five minutes to open their packages and remove the chip. If the chip is unbroken, it will be weighed and then eaten by a team member. Teams with broken chips, teams who refuse to eat their chips, and teams with chips of altered mass will be disqualified.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the qualifying teams having the five lowest scores as determined by the following formula:
Score

 mass of package
 volume of package

Physics Connection: Impulse and Momentum
Planning: Practice building packages and mailing chips

II. Hit the Wall: Predict the impact location of a projectile fired at a wall.
Materials Provided: Projectile launcher, ball, ramrod, protractor, tape measure, target
Time Limit: Five minutes
Description: A spring-loaded projectile launcher will be elevated above the floor at a predetermined height and predetermined horizontal distance from a wall. Given the fact that the ball will be launched horizontally at a known initial velocity (as it leaves the launcher) and by measuring other distances, teams will calculate the point of impact where the ball will strike the wall. They will mark this position with the target. Judges will then fire the projectile towards the wall, and record its point of impact on carbon paper.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five smallest v ertical distances between the predicted target location and the actual point of impact.
Physics Connection: projectile motion, free-fall, two-dimensional kinematics
Planning: Practice projectile motion problems and launches.

III: Give Me a Lift: Attach a load to a helium-filled balloon so that it requires the greatest amount of time to reach the ceiling.
Materials Provided: Helium-filled balloon with attached paper clip, ballast material (of known area-density), metric tape measure, digital balance
Time Limit: Five minutes
Description: Students will be given a helium-filled balloon with a volume of approximately 7000 cm³. The mass of the balloon will be approximately 3 g, and the mass of the attached paper clip will be approximately 1 g (students may use the tape measure and balance to determine dimensions more exactly.) Students will also be given the area density of aluminum foil, which will be used as the ballast material (load) for the balloon.
By calculating the buoyant force on the balloon, students will determine how much additional mass can be attached to it while still maintaining upward motion. Knowing this and the area density of the foil, they will determine the area of foil to be attached to the balloon’s paper clip (they will have 4 minutes to do this, but may not attach the foil until instructed to do so ). After attaching the foil, judges will release the balloon from a fixed height above the floor (no practice releases will be allowed).
The time required from release until the balloon first contacts the ceiling will be measured.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five highest times for the balloon to reach the ceiling. If a balloon does not reach the ceiling within 3 minutes of the time release, that team will be disqualified from this event.
Physics Connection:
Archimedes’s principle, buoyant force
Planning : Experiment with your own materials.

IV. Galilean Decoder: Using two provided converging lenses to create a “telescope,” read a message located a given distance away.
Materials Provided: Two converging lenses (focal lengths provided), optical bench (for mounting lenses), tape measure, “secret” message
Time Limit: Five minutes
Description: A “secret” message will be located 10.0 m from a system of two lenses. The message will be inverted (upside down), and too small to be deciphered with the naked eye. A converging lens having a focal length of +20.0 cm will be fixed at a distance of
10.0 m from the message. A second converging lens, having a focal length of +10.0 cm, will be covered with an opaque material. Teams must position this lens at the correct location on the optical bench to provide a magnification of +20 for this lens. The opaque covering will be removed after the lens is positioned, and teams will look into the +10.0 cm focal length lens, as shown below. After this occurs, the lens position may not be altered.
10.0 m eye
Secret
Message f = + 10.0 cm f = + 20.0 cm
The clock will be started after the judge shows the team the apparatus, gives them the covered lens, and directs them to begin. Timing will be stopped after the message has been read correctly in its entirety by the team. Any team that is unable to read all or part of the message will be disqualified. Multiple team members may attempt to read the message, but the lenses may not be moved from their original positions.
The distance between the two lenses will be measured and compared to the correctly calculated distance for the given information. The absolute value of the difference between these two values will be used along with the measured time in the following score formula, where t = time and D = difference:
Score


D

0 .
1
 t
No other optical devices (other than standard, properly worn, vision correcting lenses) may be used.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five lowest team scores as described above.
Physics Connection: Optics
Planning : Research thin lens equations and systems of multiple lenses.

V. Weigh Station: Determine the unknown mass of a loaded air track glider using only the materials provided.
Materials Provided: Level air track with attached air supply, air track glider of known mass, photogates, timing software, tape measure, stopwatch, motion detector, elastic and inelastic cart bumpers
Time Limit: Five minutes
Description: Using the glider of known mass, air track, and other provided materials, develop a strategy to determine the unknown mass of the loaded glider. The glider’s load may not be removed or otherwise altered. No additional materials of any kind may be used. Teams may perform as many measurements and trials as desired during the fiveminute time period, but they must report a single mass measurement to the judge.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five smallest differences between the predicted and actual mass of the loaded glider.
Physics Connection: Conservation of momentum, collisions
Planning: Determine strategy for finding unknown mass and practice using lab materials.

VI. Whirl and Hurl: Two students will toss a ball back and forth the greatest consecutive number of times, during a time allotted, while seated in a rotating frame of reference.
Materials Provided: turntable with attached wooden plank, racquetball
Time Limit: 1 minute
Description: Two team members will sit at opposite ends of a wooden plank (behind a specified line) that has been fastened to a turntable. After equalizing torques to balance the plank, one team member will be given the ball. The judges will then set the turntable into motion and start the clock. The two team members must toss the racquetball back and forth to each other successively while the turntable is rotating while remaining behind the line at all times. Judges will count each time the ball is successfully caught during the oneminute period. No gloves or other catching devices may be used (only standard streetattire will be permitted). If the ball is dropped, the other team members (who must stay behind a designated circle) may recover it and toss it to one of the rotating members.
When this occurs, the count will return to zero and be incremented when the next successful catch occurs. At no time may the turntable’s rotation be slowed or stopped by any means other than normal friction and air-resistance. Any team member who touches the floor, falls off the plank, or otherwise lowers the rotation rate will result in the count being reset to zero. If the speed of the turntable drops significantly due to any external forces, the judges will provide additional torque at their discretion.
Judging: The highest consecutive number of catches at any time during the one-minute period will be the team’s score. First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five highest scores. All teams with tying scores for place positions will engage in
30 s rounds to determine the top five places.
Physics Connection: inertia, relative motion, circular motion
Planning: Practice using your own materials.

VII. Human Curling: Give a human-loaded cart the correct initial velocity to travel a pre-determined distance before coming to rest.
Materials Provided: Human dynamics cart, motion detector, velocity measuring software, laptop computer, course marked with pre-determined distance, coefficient of rolling friction
Time Limit: 1 minute
Description: One team member will sit on the human dynamics cart (located approximately 10.0 m from the starting line). A motion detector on the front of the cart will be aimed towards a large cardboard box located at the starting line. A laptop computer sitting on the cart will measure the speed of the cart relative to the stationary box. After determining the necessary initial speed to travel the predetermined distance from the starting line, a second team member will accelerate the cart while viewing the displayed speed on the laptop. All contact with the cart by the second team member must cease before the front wheels of the cart reach the starting line. A third team member must remove the cardboard box from the line before the front wheels of the cart reach the line.
The team member riding the cart must remain stationary after the front wheels of the cart cross the starting line. The cart must be permitted to roll freely to its final resting point.
Judges will measured the shortest distance between the front-center of the cart and the finish line. Each team will be given one attempt.
The coefficient of rolling friction for the cart varies somewhat with the mass of the rider and can be determined from the following formula, where

= the coefficient of friction and w
= the rider’s weight, in pounds: 𝜇 = (5𝐸 − 5)𝑤 + 0.016
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five shortest distances between the front-center of the cart and the finish line.
Physics Connection:
Newton’s laws of motion, friction, work-energy theorem
.
Planning: Practice using your own materials.

VIII. Alpine Ascent: Design a vehicle to travel the greatest distance upward along an inclined string.
Materials Provided: Inclined string (30 lb. Dacron fishing line) stretched between points located approximately 12 meters apart
Time Limit: One minute to prepare vehicle for launch
Description: Each team must design a vehicle that is capable of traversing up a string inclined at approximately 5 degrees with the horizontal. The maximum dimension in any one direction for the vehicle at any time during the launch may not exceed 50 cm.
Propulsion must be provided only by balloons, mousetraps, and/or rubber bands. Teams should be aware of the fact that the string will sag somewhat during the launch, depending upon the vehicle’s weight. Teams must devise a way to attach the vehicle to the suspended string without untying the string. The vehicle must remain attached to the string at all times during the launch. The distance along the stretched string from the vehicle’s front point of attachment at the beginning of the launch to the front point of attachment at the maximum distance traveled up the incline will be measured. If the vehicle travels the entire length of the string, the time required to do so will also be recorded. Each team will be given one attempt.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five highest measured distances along the stretched string. In the event that several teams travel the entire length of the string, the lowest time to do so will determine the winner.
Physics Connection:
Newton’s laws of motion, conservation of energy, fluid dynamics
Planning: Design, build, and test vehicle using your own materials.

IX. Slow Bike Race: Ride a bicycle over a fixed course in the longest interval of time.
Materials Provided: One bicycle.
Time Limit: None
Description: The course will be 15 m long and 0.75 m wide. The course will not be sloped, and will be clearly marked. No part of the competitor's body (or anything touching the competitor’s body, other than the bicycle itself) may touch the floor at any time during the race. The bicycle must maintain forward motion and stay completely within course boundaries at all times. Each team will be given two attempts to complete the course
(same or different riders), with the longest time being recorded. Additional apparatus may be added to the rider, but not to the bicycle.
Judging: First through fifth place awards will be given to teams with the longest times.
Physics Connection: Conservation of angular momentum, stability, and center of gravity
Planning: Practice using your own bicycle. Experiment with modifying the rider in some manner.
X. Fermi Questions: Estimate the order of magnitude of a quantity which is difficult or impossible to measure.
Materials Provided: List of Fermi questions
Time Limit: 15 minutes
Description: Each team will be provided with a list of Fermi questions. A single sheet of answers will be submitted by each team. All answers must be recorded in order of magnitude format (e.g., 10
4
, not 3 x 10
4
). No calculators or reference materials may be used.
Judging: Ten points will be awarded for each correct answer and one point will be deducted for each order of magnitude the answer differs from the accepted. The minimum score per question is zero. First through fifth place awards will be given to the teams with the five highest scores on the test.
Physics Connection: Estimation, orders of magnitude
Planning: Example question: "How many drops of water are there in Lake Erie?" Team would need to estimate the volume of one drop and, knowing the approximate dimensions of Lake Erie, estimate its volume. Divide volume of lake by volume of one drop (use the factor-label method), make sure units are consistent, and round answer to the nearest order of magnitude. Practice multiplying and dividing orders of magnitude without the use of a calculator.

XI. Olympic Video: Produce a five-minute video which teaches some physics concept/application at the high school level.
Materials Provided: Physics apparatus as requested and available
Time Limit: 5 minutes
Description: This is an optional event, which will provide the top video teams with additional team points, as outlined in “The Olympic Events” table. Videos must be turned into the committee (room 215 or 217) by Wednesday, February 17. Please submit a video file (not convert to DVD). Videos will be judged prior to the games and shown to any interested students during the day 1 events. To aide the judges, each video lesson should begin with at statement of the lesson objective(s). Students may choose to teach any topic/application of physics which would be appropriate for physics classes at Dallastown
High School. They may use any method/style of presentation to accomplish this goal (e.g., traditional lecture, demonstration, experiment, drama, etc.). Videos containing or implying profanity of any type or inappropriate dress will be disqualified.
Judging: Videos will be judged based upon the following criteria:
 technical quality (quality of props, audio/video clarity, acting ability):
 entertainment value (holds viewers attention, fun to watch):
 educational value (quantity/quality of material taught, teaching techniques): 25 pts.
 physics value (depth and correctness of the physics):
25 pts.
25 pts.
25 pts.
First through third place awards will be given to the teams with the top three scores for their videos.
Physics Connection: Any physics topic!
Planning: Be watching (videos, classroom, etc.) for creative ways to teach physics!

XII. Olympic Theme Song: Compose and produce a musical recording that promotes the study of physics and/or the physics Olympics.
Materials Provided: None
Time Limit: None
Description: This is an optional event, which will provide the top teams with additional team points, as outlined in “The Olympic Events” table. Songs must be between one and three minutes in length and recorded as a CD audio file. A written transcript of the song lyrics must also be provided. All songs must be turned into the committee (room 215 or
217) by Wednesday, February 17. They will be judged prior to the games and played as deemed appropriate by the Olympic committee. They may use any artistic style of presentation to accomplish the goal of promoting the study of physics. Songs containing or implying profanity will be disqualified.
Judging: Songs will be judged based upon the following criteria:
 promotional value of lyrics:
 musical/recording quality:

Creativity:
25 pts.
25 pts.
25 pts.
First through third place awards will be given to the teams with the top three scores for their song.
Physics Connection: Promote the study of physics.
Planning: Design and create song.