Results
The winner of the 2017 Tournament was Rye Country Day School. The second place winner was RDFZ Beijing. The tournament was hosted at University of the Sciences. The Swartz Trophy went to Vanke Meisha Academy.
Problems
Build an apparatus that performs the following procedure: a rectangular container is placed on a vibrating base. The container is split into two equal parts by a vertical wall that is shorter than the outer walls of the container. An equal number of beads are placed in both containers at a level slightly less than half the height of the middle wall. As the base oscillates up and down at a constant frequency the beads jump above the middle wall from side to side; eventually they will all be in one side of the container. Explain this phenomenon and estimate how long the process takes for your apparatus.
Blowpipe: Investigate the motion of a projectile inside a blowpipe. Determine the conditions for maximum exit velocity when blown by the mouth.
Geyser 3: Support a long, vertical tube containing water. Heat the tube directly from the bottom and you will observe that the water erupts. Arrange for the water to drain back into the tube to allow repeated eruptions. Investigate the parameters that determine the eruption frequency.
Planck's Constant: Use LEDs to measure Planck’s constant, and explain the theoretical basis for your experiment. Measure the wavelength of the LED light directly, without relying on the manufacturer's data. Describe the precision of your experiment and discuss if your margin of error covers the currently accepted value of the constant. You must build the experiment yourself from standard electronic parts, without relying on a commercially available Planck's constant apparatus.