The XXIV Physics Olympiad Examinations

NOV 01, 1993

Creating a set of challenging but fair problems for students from over 40 countries who have learned physics in a wide variety of educational systems poses its own challenges.

DOI: 10.1063/1.881369

Anthony P. French

In July of this year, at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the United States hosted for the first time the International Physics Olympiad, an annual competition open to pre‐college students from all over the world. (See the article by Barbara Goss Levi in PHYSICS TODAY, September, page 40, and the accompanying box by Arthur Eisenkraft.) The olympiad is a major cultural and social event, lasting a full week. The examination itself occupies only two half‐days of that time; it is, however, the raison d’être underlying the whole occasion, and the creation of an appropriate test is a considerable challenge, as well as a very interesting experience.

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References

1. G. Möllenstedt, H. Düker, Z. Phys. 145, 377 (1956).https://doi.org/ZEPYAA
2. G. Salinger, Phys. Teach. 7, 288 (1969).https://doi.org/PHTEAH

More about the authors

Anthony P. French, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge.