Physics Olympics SWHS Physics

What is it? You will compete in 7 events (4 in the Fall, 3 in the Spring) over the year. Your competition is all students enrolled in Physics. Most events involve you and your partner building a simple device that accomplishes a task.

Who’s my partner? At every new PO intro, you will be assigned a new partner.

Scoring? Each event is worth 100 points. Your overall score will be determined both by your ranking and your work in your Engineering Handbook. Physics Olympics constitutes 15% of your overall grade each semester.

Bonus (Carrot!) Individual scores will be compiled over the year - the Top 3 people per class in June will be exempt from taking our Final exam.

Event #1 is...

The Clock Project

Rules You and your partner will make, from scratch, a timekeeping device. Your clock must be able to consistently trigger an event twice - somewhere between 10 and 30 seconds. There must be at least one moving part. You must start your clock yourself, but the clock must stop itself at the chosen time. The end point must be the flinging, cutting, or the “destretching” of a rubber band (we will provide).

Your clock can not contain any part of a manufactured clock Your clock must fit into a 45cm x 34cm x 32 cm box. Your working clock must fit beneath the box prior to testing! You are encouraged to spent $0 on this project. You will work with your current table partner for this project. All clocks (and their parts) must have your group name on them written in permanent ink Your clock can not contain any part of a manufactured clock

Due Date? You will be given some time today to do some planning. You will mainly build outside of class for this particular project Clocks are due on Wednesday. 9/28 by 3:00. Impound. Testing day is Friday 9/30

Your grade: Teams to be ranked First by Tier, then by lowest percent error. Percent error will be the average of both trials.    

Tiers: Tier 1: All rules followed, two good trials Tier 2: Rules OK (right size, no touch), 1 good trial Tier 3: One or more rules violation (touch, size) 2 two good trials. Tier 4: 2 bad trials

A version if this is available on my website.

Today: With your table partner, draw your initial design. Make a materials list. Evaluate the materials list