If you want general information about the Victorian Young Physicists’ Tournament, click here.

Problems, Registration, Competition

Problems

  1. Rolling can: A can partially filled with water rolls down an inclined plane. Investigate its motion.
  2. Energy Converter: A body of mass 1 kg falls from a height of 1 m. Convert as much as possible of the released potential energy into electrical energy and use that to charge a capacitor of 100 µF.
  3. Pin-hole Camera: Study the characteristics of a pin-hole camera and find the conditions for the camera to achieve optimum image quality.
  4. Black spoon: Blacken a spoon using a candle flame. If you immerse the spoon in water it appears glossy. Investigate the phenomenon and determine the optical properties of such a “mirror.”

The team of three students need to do three of the 4 topics listed above.

Resources for 2012 Topics 42.5 kB

Articles, websites and starting questions for each of the topics for 2012.

Registration

Teachers do not need to officially register school teams until the first day of term 4. Registration will be free. Schools need to provide the following to the AIP with an email subject heading, ‘Registration: VYPT’.

  • School’s Name.
  • Teacher’s name and full contact details.
  • The name of each school team and the names of the students in each team.

The powerpoint files below were prepared by the winning team from the 2011 event.

Astroblaster Powerpoint 6.35 MB

Powerpoint for the topic ‘Astroblaster’ prepared by the team of Matthew Lam, Charling Li, Jasjit Manpotra from Melbourne High School as part of 2011 VYPT.

Polariser Powerpoint 4.68 MB

Powerpoint for the topic ‘Polariser’ prepared by the team of Matthew Lam, Charling Li, Jasjit Manpotra from Melbourne High School as part of 2011 VYPT.

Competition

The competition was held on Thursday 6th December. The venue was Quantum Victoria, on the corner of Kingsbury Drive and Waiora Rd in Macleod. A round robin was held during the morning to identify the best four teams. Following lunch the four teams will played off in two semifinals, followed by a grand final.

Format: In the morning, each team competed in four 30 minute contests, two as a reporter and two as an opponent. In the semi-finals and finals the two teams both reported and opposed on different topics.

Prizes: There was a trophy for the school of the winning team. Members of teams in the finals receive a book and a cash prize. All other participants receive cash prizes.

  • 1st Prize:The Cherry Ripes Team from MacRobertson Girls’ High School: Umang Randev, Yasmin Shvarts and Joyce Guo
  • 2nd Prize: The Chatelet Team from PLC: Stephanie Dwyer, Neha Wadha and Fiona Bathie
  • 3rd Prize *: The team from Wodonga Senior Secondary College: Joshua Thomson-Gray, Jackson Hunter and Jesse Bartlett
  • 3rd Prize *: The Athena Team from MacRobertson Girls’ High School: Joanna Yang, Karishma Masanam and Briana Barker

Each of the students received a copy of Jearl Walker’s book ‘Flying Circus of Physics’ and a cheque.

* The two losing teams from the semifinals.

Other teams that participated were: the Hypatia team from Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC), one team from each of Kew High School, Nossal High School and The Knox School and two teams from Melbourne High School, with team members each receiving a cheque.