Richmond hosts high school Physics Olympics March 24, 2008
Every spring, Richmond's Department of Physics holds the Physics Olympics to stimulate interest in physics among high school students and to provide support for physics teachers in the region.
This daylong event is held in and around the Gottwald Science Center, with 14 teams of seniors and juniors competing from high schools all over Virginia for various prizes. “This event is great because it’s a chance for high schoolers to use physics outside the classroom,” said physics professor Dr. Con Beausang. “We’re hoping that through the Olympics they’ll get a broader view of the physics world and be encouraged to pursue their study to the college level.”
The goal of the Richmond physics department is that the participants enjoy themselves while applying basic ideas from physics to real world situations. The overriding theme of the event is that physics can be fun. Teams also learn new aspects of physics through interacting with members of the physics department faculty, staff and students.
The competition takes the form of a pentathlon, consisting of five 35-minute events. The students compete in teams of four members. Each event is a task or simple experiment, which the students perform as four-member teams. The team with the most accurate result or measurement wins the event. A physics general knowledge quiz (the Fermi quiz) is also held throughout the day.
Similar competitions to this one are held annually at Yale University, the University of Liverpool in the U.K. and University of Western Australia, Perth. The Richmond event is held "simultaneously" with their Connecticut, England and Australian colleagues, making this a truly international event.
The 2008 Richmond Physics Olympics will be held on March 24. Interested teams should contact Dr. Con Beausang.
Check out experiments students completed at the 2007 Richmond Physics Olympics:
Blowin' in the Wind Experiment
Faraday Pickup Experiment
Bungee Madness Experiment
Vector Navigation Experiment
Spotlight Experiment