2021 Online Physics Olympiad:

Open Contest

Organizers and Writers: Adithya Balachandran, Rohan Bhowmik, Eddie Chen,

Ronald Dobos, Ashmit Dutta, Ethan Hu, Viraj Jayam, Evan Kim, Jacob Nie,
Rishab Parthasarathy, Kushal Thaman, Max Wang, QiLin Xue, Leo Yao

Website Developer: Ben Oommen

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

Instructions

If you wish to request a clarification, please use this form. To see all clarifications, see this document.

• Use g = 9.81 m/s2 in this contest. See the constants sheet on the following page for other constants.

• This test contains 35 short answer questions. Each problem will have three possible attempts.

• The weight of each question depends on our scoring system found here. Put simply, the later
questions are worth more, and the overall amount of points from a certain question decreases with
the number of attempts that you take to solve a problem as well as the number of teams who solve
it. Note: Unlike last year, the time it takes will no longer be a factor.

• Any team member is able to submit an attempt. Choosing to split up the work or doing each
problem together is up to you. Note that after you have submitted an attempt, your teammates
must refresh their page before they are able to see it.

• Answers should contain three significant figures, unless otherwise specified. All answers within the
1% range will be accepted.

• When submitting a response using scientific notation, please use exponential form. In other words,
if your answer to a problem is A × 10B , please type AeB into the submission portal.

• A standard scientific or graphing handheld calculator may be used. Technology and computer
algebra systems like Wolfram Alpha or the one in the TI nSpire will not be needed or allowed.
Attempts to use these tools will be classified as cheating.

• You are allowed to use Wikipedia or books in this exam. Asking for help on online forums or your
teachers will be considered cheating and may result in a possible ban from future competitions.

• Top scorers from this contest will qualify to compete in the Online Physics Olympiad Invitational
Contest, which is an olympiad-style exam. More information will be provided to invitational quali-
fiers after the end of the Open Contest.

• In general, answer in SI units (meter, second, kilogram, watt, etc.) unless otherwise specified. Please
input all angles in degrees unless otherwise specified.

• If the question asks to give your answer as a percent and your answer comes out to be “x%”, please
input the value x into the submission form.

• Do not put units in your answer on the submission portal! If your answer is “x meters”, input only
the value x into the submission portal.

• Do not communicate information to anyone else apart from your team-members before
the exam ends on June 6, 2021 at 11:59 PM UTC.

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

List of Constants
• Proton mass, mp = 1.67 · 10−27 kg • Permittivity of free space,

• Neutron mass, mn = 1.67 · 10−27 kg 0 = 8.85 · 10−12 C2 /(N · m2 )

• Electron mass, me = 9.11 · 10−31 kg
• Coulomb’s law constant,
• Avogadro’s constant, N0 = 6.02 · 1023 mol−1
1
• Universal gas constant, R = 8.31 J/(mol · K) k= = 8.99 · 109 (N · m2 )/C2
4π0
• Boltzmann’s constant, kB = 1.38 · 10−23 J/K
• Permeability of free space,
• Electron charge magnitude, e = 1.60 · 10−19
µ0 = 4π · 10−7 T · m/A
• 1 electron volt, 1 eV = 1.60 · 10−19 J

• Speed of light, c = 3.00 · 108 m/s • Magnetic constant,

µ0
• Universal Gravitational constant, = 1 · 10−7 (T · m)/A
4π
G = 6.67 · 10−11 (N · m2 )/kg2
• 1 atmospheric pressure,
• Acceleration due to gravity, g = 9.81 m/s2
1 atm = 1.01 · 105 N/m2 = 1.01 · 105 Pa
• 1 unified atomic mass unit,
• Wien’s displacement constant, b = 2.9 ·
1 u = 1.66 · 10−27 kg = 931 MeV/c2 10−3 m · K

• Planck’s constant, • Stefan-Boltzmann constant,

h = 6.63 · 10−34 J · s = 4.41 · 10−15 eV · s σ = 5.67 · 10−8 W/m2 /K4

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

Problems
1. Fastest Path A small toy car rolls down three ramps with the same height and horizontal length,
but different shapes, starting from rest. The car stays in contact with the ramp at all times and no energy
is lost. Order the ramps from the fastest to slowest time it takes for the toy car to drop the full 1 m. For
example, if ramp 1 is the fastest and ramp 3 is the slowest, then enter 123 as your answer choice.

1 2 3

30◦

1m 1m 1m
60◦

45◦ 30◦ 60◦

1m 1m 1m

2. Resistor Puzzle What is the smallest number of 1Ω resistors needed such that when arranged in
a certain arrangement involving only series and parallel connections, that the equivalent resistance is 67 Ω?

3. Derby Race In a typical derby race, cars start at the top of a ramp, accelerate downwards, and
race on a flat track, and are always set-up in the configuration shown below.

10 cm

1m

45◦

1m 20 m

A common technique is to change the location of the center of mass of the car to gain an advantage. Alice
ensures the center of mass of her car is at the rear and Bob puts the center of mass of his car at the very
front. Otherwise, their cars are exactly the same. At the competition, Alice’s car beat Bob’s. What is
the ratio of Bob’s car’s time and Alice’s car’s time?

Assume that the wheels are small and light compared to the car body, neglect air resistance, and the
height of the cars are small compared to the height of the ramp. Express your answer as a decimal greater
than 1.

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

4. Crane A simple crane is shown in the below diagram, consisted of light rods with length 1 m and
√
2 m. The end of the crane is supporting a 5 kN object. Point B is known as a “pin.” It is attached to
the main body and can exert both a vertical and horizontal force. Point A is known as a “roller” and can
only exert vertical forces. Rods can only be in pure compression or pure tension.

5 kN
D

A B

In kN, what is the force experienced by the rod CD? Express a positive number if the member is in
tension and a negative number if it is in compression.
5. Coaxial Cable A coaxial cable is cylindrically symmetric and consists of an inner cylinder of radius
a = 2 cm and an outer cylindrical shell of inner radius b = 5 cm and outer radius c = 7 cm. A uniformly
distributed current of total magnitude I = 5 A is flowing in the inner cylinder and a uniformly distributed
current of the same magnitude but opposite direction flows in the outer shell. Find the magnitude B(r)
of
R ∞the magnetic field B as a function of distance r from the axis of the cable. As the final result, submit
0 B(r)dr. In case this is infinite, submit 42.
6. Magnetic Block A small block of mass m and charge Q is placed on an inclined plane with a
slope α = 40◦ . The coefficient of friction between them is µ = 0.3. A homogenous magnetic field of
magnitude B0 is applied perpendicular to the slope. The speed of the block after a very long time is given
mg
by v = β QB 0
. Determine β. Do not neglect the effects of gravity.

µ
y

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

7. Thermal Train A train of length 100 m and mass 105 kg is travelling at 20 m/s along a straight
track. The driver engages the brakes and the train starts deccelerating at a constant rate, coming to a
stop after travelling a distance d = 2000 m. As the train decelerates, energy released as heat from the
brakes goes into the tracks, which have a linear heat capacity of 5000J m−1 K−1 . Assume the rate of heat
generation and transfer is constant across the length of the train at any given moment.

If the tracks start at an ambient temperature of 20°C, there is a function T (x) that describes the tem-
perature (in Celsius) of the tracks at each point x, where the rear of where the train starts is at x = 0.
Assume (unrealistically) that 100% of the original kinetic energy of the train is transferred to the tracks
(the train does not absorb any energy), that there is no conduction of heat along the tracks, and that
heat transfer between the tracks and the surroundings is negligible.

Compute T (20) + T (500) + T (2021) in degrees celsius.

8. Fountain A sprinkler fountain is in the shape of a semi-sphere that spews out water from all angles
at a uniform speed v such that without the presence of wind, the wetted region around the fountain forms
a circle in the XY plane with the fountain centered on it.

Now suppose there is a constant wind blowing in a direction parallel to the ground such that the force
acting on each water molecule is proportional to their weight. The wetted region forms the shape below
where the fountain is placed at (0, 0). Determine the exit speed of water v in meters per second. Round
to two significant digits. All dimensions are in meters.

0.75

0.50

0.25

0.00

−0.25

−0.50

−0.75

−1.25 −1.00 −0.75 −0.50 −0.25 0.00 0.25 0.50

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

9. Escaping Nieons Consider a gas of mysterious particles called nieons that all travel at the same
speed, v. They are enclosed in a cubical box, and there are ρ nieons per unit volume. A very small hole
of area A is punched in the side of the box. The number of nieons that escape the box per unit time is
given by
αv β Aγ ρδ (1)
where α, β, γ, and δ are all dimensionless constants. Calculate α + β + γ + δ.
10. Pico-Pico 1 Poncho is a very good player of the legendary carnival game known as Pico-Pico. Its
setup consists of a steel ball, represented by a point mass, of negligible radius and a frictionless vertical
track. The goal of Pico-Pico is to flick the ball from the beginning of the track (point A) such that it
is able to traverse through the track while never leaving the track, successfully reaching the end (point
B). The most famous track design is one of parabolic shape; specifically, the giant track is of the shape
h(x) = 5 − 2x2 in meters. The starting and ending points of the tracks are where the two points where
the track intersects y = 0. If (va , vb ] is the range of the ball’s initial velocity v0 that satisfies the winning
condition of Pico-Pico, help Poncho find va − vb . This part is depicted below:

v0

A B

11. Pico-Pico 2 Now, Poncho has encountered a different Pico-Pico game that uses the same shaped
track, but lays it horizontally on a table with friction and coefficient of friction µ = 0.8. In addition, the
ball is placed on the other side of the track as the ball in part 1. Finally, a buzzer on the other side of the
track requires the mass to hit with at least velocity vf = 2 m/s in order to trigger the buzzer and win the
game. Find the minimum velocity v0 required for the ball to reach the end of the track with a velocity of
at least vf . The initial velocity must be directed along the track.
12. Golden Apple Anyone who’s had an apple may know that pieces of an apple stick together, when
picking up one piece a second piece may also come with the first piece. The same idea is tried on a golden
apple. Consider two uniform hemispheres with radius r = 4 cm made of gold of density ρg = 19300kg m−3 .
The top half is nailed to a support and the space between is filled with water.

Given that the surface tension of water is γ = 0.072N m−1 and that the contact angle between gold and
water is θ = 10◦ , what is the maximum distance between the two hemispheres so that the bottom half
doesn’t fall? Answer in millimeters.

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

The following information applies to the next 2 problems. In the following two problems we will
look at shooting a basketball. Model the basketball as an elastic hollow sphere with radius 0.1 meters.
Model the net and basket as shown below, dimensions marked. Neglect friction between the backboard
and basketball, and assume all collisions are perfectly elastic.

15cm 50 cm

3m

2m

4m

13. Free Throw For this problem, you launch the basketball from the point that is 2 meters above the
ground and 4 meters from the backboard as shown. You attempt to make a shot by hitting the basketball
off the backboard as depicted above. What is the minimum initial speed required for the ball to make
this shot?

Note: For this problem, you may assume that the size of the ball is negligible.

14. Layup You now wish to practice closer shots. You walk up until you’re 1 m away from the backboard
(the 4 m changes to a 1 m). You jump 1 m in the air. What is the minimum initial speed for you to
score off of the backboard if you release it at the top of your jump? Do not consider cases where the ball
bounces off of the rim or the protrusion. That’s just luck and you want a consistent strategy.

Hint: Neglecting the size of the ball may no longer be possible.

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

15. Right Triangle Potentials Let ABC be a solid right triangle (AB = 5s, AC = 12s, and
BC = 13s) with charge density σ. Let D be the midpoint of BC. We denote the electric potential of
0 where k is a
a point P by φ(P ). The electric potential at infinity is 0. If φ(B) + φ(C) + φ(D) = kσs
dimensionless constant, determine k.

16. Toilet Paper Roll Consider a toilet paper roll with some length of it hanging off as shown. The
toilet paper roll rests on a cylindrical pole of radius r = 1 cm and the coefficient of static friction between
the role and the pole is µ = 0.3.

Ri
Ro

The length of the paper hanging off has length ` = 30 cm and the inner radius of the roll is Ri = 2 cm.
The toilet paper has thickness s = 0.1 mm and mass per unit length λ = 5 g/m. What is the minimum
outer radius Ro such that the toilet paper roll remains static? Answer in centimeters.

17. Maximum Voltage In the circuit shown below, a capacitor C = 4F, inductor L = 5H, and
resistors R1 = 3Ω and R2 = 2Ω are placed in a diamond shape and are then fed an alternating current
with peak voltage V0 = 1V of unknown frequency. Determine the magnitude of the maximum output
voltage shown in the diagram.
R2
L

output
R1

V0
∼

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

18. Suspended Rod - 1 A uniform bar of length l and mass m is connected to a very long thread
of negligible mass suspended from a ceiling. It is then rotated such that it is vertically upside down and
then released. Initially, the rod is in unstable equilibrium. As it falls down, the minimum tension acting
on the thread over the rod’s entire motion is given by αmg. Determine α.

19. Suspended Rod - 2 A uniform bar of length l and mass m is connected to a thread of length 2l
of negligible mass and is suspended from the ceiling at equilibrium. The rod is then slightly
q nudged at a
point on its body. The largest stable frequency of oscillations of the system is given by β gl . Determine
β.

20. One Ladder A straight ladder AB of mass m = 1 kg is positioned almost vertically such that
point B is in contact with the ground with a coefficient of friction µ = 0.15. It is given an infinitesimal
kick at the point A so that the ladder begins rotating about point B. Find the value φm of angle φ of the
ladder with the vertical at which the lower end B starts slipping on the ground.

21. Two Ladders Two straight ladders AB and CD, each with length 1 m, are symmetrically placed
on smooth ground, leaning on each other, such that they are touching with their ends B and C, ends A
and D are touching the floor. The friction at any two surfaces is negligible. Initially both ladders are
almost parallel and vertical. Find the distance AD when the points B and C lose contact.

22. Colliding Conducting Slab A thin conducting square slab with side length s = 5 cm, initial
charge q = 0.1 µC, and mass m = 100 g is given a kick and sent bouncing between two infinite conducting
plates separated by a distance d = 0.5 cm  s and with surface charge density ±σ = ±50 µC/m2 . After a
long time it is observed exactly in the middle of the two plates to be traveling with velocity of magnitude
v = 3 m/s and direction θ = 30◦ with respect to the vertical. How many collisions occur after it has
traveled a distance L = 15 m horizontally from when it was last observed? Assume that all collisions are
elastic, and neglect induced charges. Note that the setup is horizontal so gravity does not need to be
accounted for.

+σ
v
d
s
−σ

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

23. Evil Gamma Photon An evil gamma photon of energy Eγ1 = 200 keV is heading towards a
spaceship. The commander’s only choice is shooting another photon in the direction of the gamma photon
such that they ‘collide’ head on and produce an electron-positron pair (both have mass me ). Find the
lower bound on the energy Eγ2 of the photon as imposed by the principles of special relativity such that
this occurs. Answer in keV.

24. Spinning Cylinder Adithya has a solid cylinder of mass M = 10 kg, radius R = 0.08 m, and
height H = 0.20 m. He is running a test in a chamber on Earth over a distance of d = 200 m as shown
below. Assume that the physical length of the chamber is much greater than d (i.e. the chamber extends
far to the left and right of the testing area). The chamber is filled with an ideal fluid with uniform density
ρ = 700 kg/m3 . Adithya’s cylinder is launched with linear velocity v = 10 m/s and spins counterclockwise
with angular velocity ω. Adithya notices that the cylinder continues on a horizontal path until the end
of the chamber. Find the angular velocity ω. Do not neglect forces due to fluid pressure differences.

ω
10 m/s

200 m

Assume the following about the setup and the ideal fluid:

• fluid flow is steady in the frame of the center of mass of the cylinder
• the ideal fluid is incompressible, irrotational, and has zero viscosity
• the angular velocity of the cylinder is approximately constant during its subsequent motion

Hint: For a uniform cylinder of radius R rotating counterclockwise at angular velocity ω situated in an
ideal fluid with flow velocity u to the right far away from the cylinder, the velocity potential Φ is given
by
R2 Γθ
Φ(r, θ) = ur cos θ + u cos θ +
r 2π
where (r, θ) is the polar coordinate system with origin at the center of the cylinder. Γ is the circulation
and is equal to 2πR2 ω. The fluid velocity is given by
∂Φ 1 ∂Φ
v = ∇Φ = r̂ + θ̂.
∂r r ∂θ
25. Optimal Launch Adithya is launching a package from New York City (40◦ 430 N and 73◦ 560 W)
to Guam (13◦ 270 N and 144◦ 480 E). Find the minimal launch velocity v0 from New York City to Guam.
Ignore the rotation of the earth, effects due to the atmosphere, and the gravitational force from the
sun. Additionally, assume the Earth is a perfect sphere with radius R⊕ = 6.37 × 106 m and mass
M⊕ = 5.97 × 1024 kg.

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26. Drag on the Plate Consider a container filled with argon, with molar mass 39.9g mol−1 whose
pressure is much smaller than that of atmospheric pressure. Suppose there is a plate of area A = 10mm2
moving with a speed v perpendicular to its plane. If the gas has density ρ = 4.8 × 10−7 g cm−3 , and
temperature T = 100K, find an approximate value for the drag force acting on the plate. Suppose that
the speed of the plate is v = 100m s−1 .

27. Superconducting Loop Consider a rectangular loop made of superconducting material with
length ` = 200 cm and width w = 2 cm. The radius of this particular wire is r = 0.5 mm. This
superconducting rectangular loop initially has a current I1 = 5A in the counterclockwise direction as
shown in the figure below. This rectangular loop is situated a distance d = 1 cm above an infinitely long
wire that initially contains no current. Suppose that the current in the infinitely long wire is increased to
some current I2 such that there is an attractive force F between the rectangular loop and the long wire.
Find the maximum possible value of F . Write your answer in newtons.

Hint: You may neglect the magnetic field produced by the vertical segments in the rectangular loop.

I1 w

28. Cantor Interference Consider a 1 cm long slit with negligible height. First, we divide the slit
into thirds and cover the middle third. Then, we perform the same steps on the two shorter slits. Again,
we perform the same steps on the four even shorter slits and continue for a very long time.

Then, we shine a monochromatic, coherent light source of wavelength 500 nm on our slits, which creates
an interference pattern on a wall meters away. On the wall, what is the distance between the central
maximum and the first side maximum? Assume the distance to the wall is much greater than the width
of the slit. Answer in millimeters.

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

The following information applies to the next 2 problems. A certain planet with radius R =
3 × 104 km is made of a liquid with constant density ρ = 1.5 g/cm3 with the exception of a homogeneous
solid core of radius r = 10 km and mass m = 2.4 × 1016 kg. Normally, the core is situated at the geometric
center of the planet. However, a small disturbance has moved the center of the core x = 1 km away
from the geometric center of the planet. The core is released from rest, and the fluid is inviscid and
incompressible.

29. Solid Core - 1 Calculate the magnitude of the force due to gravity that now acts on the core.
Work under the assumption that R  r.

30. Solid Core - 2 Calculate the magnitude of the force due to the pressure that now acts on the
core.

31. Solenoids A scientist is doing an experiment with a setup consisting of 2 ideal solenoids that
share the same axis. The lengths of the solenoids are both `, the radii of the solenoids are r and 2r,
and the smaller solenoid is completely inside the larger one. Suppose that the solenoids share the same
(constant) current I, but the inner solenoid has 4N loops while the outer one has N , and they have
opposite polarities.

Model the Earth’s magnetic field as one produced by a magnetic dipole centered in the Earth’s core. Let F
be the total magnetic force the whole setup feels due to Earth’s magnetic field. Now the scientist replaces
the setup with a similar one: the only differences are that the the radii of the solenoids are 2r (inner) and
3r (outer), the length of each solenoid is 7`, and the number of loops each solenoid is 27N (inner) and
12N (outer). The scientist now drives a constant current 2I through the setup (the solenoids still have
opposite polarities), and the whole setup feels a force F 0 due to the Earth’s magnetic field. Assuming the
new setup was in the same location on Earth and had the same orientation as the old one, find F 0 /F .

Assume the dimensions of the solenoids are much smaller than the radius of the Earth.

The following information applies to the next 2 problems. Adithya is in a rocket with proper
acceleration a0 = 3.00 × 108 m/s2 to the right, and Eddie is in a rocket with proper acceleration a20 to
the left. Let the frame of Adithya’s rocket be S1 , and the frame of Eddie’s rocket be S2 . Initially, both
rockets are at rest with respect to each other, and Adithya’s clock and Eddie’s clock are both set to 0.

32. Accelerating Rockets - 1 At the moment Adithya’s clock reaches 0.75 s in S2 , what is the
velocity of Adithya’s rocket in S2 ?

33. Accelerating Rockets - 2 At the moment Adithya’s clock reaches 0.75 s in S2 , what is the
acceleration of Adithya’s rocket in S2 ?

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June 4 - 6, 2021 Online Physics Olympiad 2021 - Open Round

The following information applies to the next 2 problems. Suppose a ping pong ball of radius R,
thickness t, made out of a material with density ρb , and Young’s modulus Y , is hit so that it resonates
in mid-air with small amplitude oscillations. Assume t  R. The density of air around (and inside) the
3
ball is ρa , and the air pressure is p, where ρa  ρb Rt and p  Y Rt 3 .

34. Ping Pong - 1 An estimate for the resonance frequency is ω ∼ Ra tb ρcb Y d . Find the value of
4a2 + 3b2 + 2c2 + d2 .

Hint: The surface of the ball will oscillate by “bending” instead of “stretching”, since the former takes
much less energy than the latter.

35. Ping Pong - 2 Assuming that the ball loses mechanical energy only through the surrounding air,
find an estimate of the characteristic time τ it takes for the ball to stop resonating (or to lose half its
mechanical energy), that is τ ∼ Rα tβ ρκb Y δ ρζa pγ . Find the value of 6α2 + 5β 2 + 4κ2 + 3δ 2 + 2ζ 2 + γ 2 . (Note
that in reality, the ball also loses mechanical energy to heat, but we will neglect that for simplicity.)

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