Physics olympiad

tango1

does anyone know anything about the british physics olympiad and how i can get involved?

Reply 1

RobbieC

Ask a teacher. Its generally for those AS students expected to get an A, or those A2 who already have an A..

Reply 2

jcd

Do they have a chemistry olympiad?

Reply 3

RobbieC

Indeed they do, though Ive never been asked to take it.

Reply 4

tango1

So, anyone who did physics olympiad, how did you do?

Reply 5

Hoofbeat

jcd

Do they have a chemistry olympiad?

Speak to Oxymoron on here (PM him) as he represented Britain at the International Chem Olympiad, so he's certainly the best person to ask.

If I remember correctly the Physics Olympiad is a 3hour long paper with a section of compulsory short questions and then you chose 3 further questions from a selection of about 5. Your school have to enter you and usually you take a 'test' paper which is only about an hour I think and you have to get at least 60% usually for your school to consider entering you. Then you take the first round paper where you can be awarded Bronze, Silver or Gold (I got bronze in 2003) and the highest scorers are invited for the next round etc etc with the ultimate aim being to be chosen to represent your country at the International Olympiad. It's certainly worth doing if you're going to get an A at A-Level or equivalent and you enjoy your subject. The questions are far more off-the-wall and more likely something you will see on an AEA paper.

Reply 6

dvs

Physics olympiad questions are very challenging because very often they're not as straightforward as you'd like, so if you want to participate and get far, you should get used to thinking out of the box AND relying on the fundamentals. The ideal way to do this is to do past questions (there are plenty lying around on the internet).

Here's an interesting question from the 1999 USPhO:
A car accelerates uniformly from rest. Initially, its door is slightly ajar. Calculate how far the car travels before the door slams shut. Assume the door has a frictionless hinge, a uniform mass distribution, and a length L from front to back.