High school students compete at the 2016 Yale Physics Olympics

October 16, 2016

Now in its 19th year, the Yale Physics Olympics held on October 15 attracted more than one hundred students from dozens of high schools around Connecticut, Rhode Island, and New York. Some were first-timers; others had trophies locked up in a creaky cabinet somewhere. Yale’s Department of Physics – faculty, grad students, and undergraduates – welcomed them all for a Saturday of challenging, yet accessible, contests. There was a boat race. There was a bungee jump (or at least, students measured the periodicity of a weight dangling from a spring). A gigantic metal barrel even imploded during a demonstration — physics was alive. At the end, some managed to leave with 3D-printed medals for their successes; all, however, walked away as winners in their own right. 

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