Results

The winner of the 2012 Tournament was Rye Country Day School. The second place winner was Woodberry Forest School. The tournament was hosted at Oak Ridge Associated Universities. The Swartz Trophy went to Oak Ridge High School.

Problems

Astroblaster: When a large ball is dropped, with a smaller one stacked on top of it, onto a hard surface, the smaller ball will often rise much higher than it would if dropped onto the same surface by itself. Investigate this phenomenon and design a multiple-ball system, using up to 4 balls that will reach the greatest elevation for the top ball.

Pinhole Camera: Study the characteristics of a pinhole camera and find the conditions for the camera to achieve optimum image quality.

Candle Brightness: Why do most candles have about the same brightness?

Energy Converter: Build an apparatus that charges a 1 farad capacitor as completely as possible by utilizing the energy "released" by a 1 kg mass that falls from a height of 2 meters. You must develop two different methods for converting the energy of fall to an electrical potential. Evaluate the efficiencies of your converters.