Olympiad

[Nato]

hey guys i was interested in doing the physics olympiad. i was wondering if anyone new what topics are on this exam to focus on.


thanks guys

[Alwin]

hey guys i was interested in doing the physics olympiad. i was wondering if anyone new what topics are on this exam to focus on.


thanks guys

Past exams here: Past Exams - Australian Science Innovations

I've only ever done the 2012 physics and chem ones (had no practise, teacher just randomly told me to go for it) so can't particularly comment on the topics. I will say this though:

If you do get selected into the summer school, don't squander your chance like I did... and then later realise they don't accept year 12s -sigh-

[spectroscopy]

i hope youre doing 3/4 physics and dominating it LOL
i got selected for my school (along with 3-6 others depending on the exam) in year 10
its hard but do able if you actually practice
best advice is to do previous years ones
best of luck
MAKE AUSTRALIA PROUD

[Nato]

i hope youre doing 3/4 physics and dominating it LOL
i got selected for my school (along with 3-6 others depending on the exam) in year 10
its hard but do able if you actually practice
best advice is to do previous years ones
best of luck
MAKE AUSTRALIA PROUD

Past exams here: Past Exams - Australian Science Innovations

I've only ever done the 2012 physics and chem ones (had no practise, teacher just randomly told me to go for it) so can't particularly comment on the topics. I will say this though:

If you do get selected into the summer school, don't squander your chance like I did... and then later realise they don't accept year 12s -sigh-

OMG, i am so sorry for confusing you guys. by 'olympiad', i meant the qualifying exams like the NQE, not the actual thing LOL.

[Alwin]

OMG, i am so sorry for confusing you guys. by 'olympiad', i meant the qualifying exams like the NQE, not the actual thing LOL.

haha, nah we ARE talking about that: Past Exams - Australian Science Innovations

Programs > Australian Science Olympiad Competition > Past Exams

Papers from earlier Australian Science Olympiad Exams (previously called National Qualifying Exams)

The link I posted takes you to the ASO past exams. If you do well in those, then you get selected for the summer schools (hence my comment DON'T squander the chance..). From the summer schools they then choose the national teams

[SocialRhubarb]

Try and get a good handle on vectors, especially dot product and cross product since they come up a lot.

It's also important that you understand integration, since a lot of problems involve you looking at a problem and setting up the integral, so understanding what an integral represents is just as important as evaluating it.

However, those are helpful if you actually get into the summer school. In terms of preparing for the entry paper, it would be more useful to have a look at past papers, and make sure you understand all the basics you learn in physics class, such as conversation of energy, momentum and motion, as well as dimensions and experimental design.

[Nato]

I have been doing practice exams and the multi-choice question are ookayyy, they're manageable, but once i get to the extended section, they are quite crazy!!! is it just me, or are they meant to be this hard. from past experiences does anybody know what an *average* score would be?thanks

[SocialRhubarb]

I don't know anything about scores, because I don't recall ever getting mine back.

Generally speaking, the better people could make a good attempt at all the questions, given enough thought, the biggest constraint within the exam being time. For example, in the 2012 paper, most of the people who I talked to finished at least the first two graphs in the first extended response question and then moved on.

[appianway]

I went to the olympiads (all the way through to IPhO), and my suggestion would be to know mechanics, but also to be able to do a lot of problem solving with the information given. The exams are challenging, but not impossible. In my year, I answered every question at least in part, and I'm pretty sure I got all or most of the multiple choice, and a good chunk of the extended. I know that I qualified very high up in the group of people who were accepted to the summer school, and in my year, I'd estimate that I got anywhere between 60 and 90%. Maybe it was lower; I have no clue. I know that a 40 or 50% is usually enough in chemistry, but chemistry has a lot more rote learning necessary and a lot of students don't do that in year 11.

It's also helpful if you can differentiate and know some basic differential equations and optimization.

[Also, I can't believe I'm actually posting here given how long ago I graduated... guess this is what happens when you have a month of free time in a foreign country with almost no peers in the same city...]