British Physics Olympiad - Intellectual Masochism?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the British Physics Olympiad, specifically the challenges and peculiarities of the exam questions. Participants share their experiences and reactions to the difficulty and humor of the questions posed in the competition.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes a particularly bizarre question involving a mongoose and asks for clarification on its meaning and expected response.
  • Another participant expresses disbelief at the oddity of the question, suggesting it would be more humorous than serious in a competition setting.
  • Some participants reflect on their past experiences with the Olympiad, noting a decline in their performance over time despite increased education.
  • There are comments about the nature of the questions, with some participants questioning the seriousness of the problems presented.
  • One participant humorously notes the geographical implausibility of the scenario in the question, highlighting the absurdity of the premise.
  • There are references to the existence of lesser spotted mongooses, with some participants joking about the validity of the question's content.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants generally agree on the oddity and humor of the questions, but there is no consensus on the seriousness of the problems or the expectations of the competition. Some express frustration while others find amusement.

Contextual Notes

Participants mention the difficulty of the questions and the subjective nature of humor in the context of a physics competition. There are also references to the historical context of philosophical figures, which may not directly relate to the physics discussion.

Just some guy
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Has anybody here done one of these? I just did the paper 2 and I feel like my brain's going to dribble out of my nose.


Question 1: If a lesser spotted yellow mongoose is thrown from Sidcup with velocity equal to the number of holes in your left sock at an angle theta to the not-quite horizontal, where theta is the relative permittivity of a fillet mignon, and the mongoose hits a small monk sitting on a wall in Bejing, what is the angular momentum of the wonky left wheel of the rickshaw next to the now de-walled monk?

ok, so the questions weren't quite that hard, but it was still evil (still, considering a gold is something like 50% - 60% so I don't suppose I did badly compared to everybody else).

Cheers,
Just some guy
 
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i'm thinking of trying to get in the college team next year, can you give me an example of a real question if you can remember? cos i can't find anything on the internet
 
Well you probably aren't looking very hard because they're on the British Physics Olympiad's home page :-p http://www.le.ac.uk/physics/BPhO/support.html they have a couple of past paper 2's along with the answers.
 
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Question 1: If a lesser spotted yellow mongoose is thrown from Sidcup with velocity equal to the number of holes in your left sock at an angle theta to the not-quite horizontal, where theta is the relative permittivity of a fillet mignon, and the mongoose hits a small monk sitting on a wall in Bejing, what is the angular momentum of the wonky left wheel of the rickshaw next to the now de-walled monk?

...Wha? :confused: That is quite the odd question. I'm reading over it and it still doesn't make sense to me. It reminds me of something I would make up, but to find it in an actual competition? I'd be bursting out laughing rather than being able to calm my nerves down to actually solve it.
 
motai said:
...Wha? :confused: That is quite the odd question. I'm reading over it and it still doesn't make sense to me. It reminds me of something I would make up, but to find it in an actual competition? I'd be bursting out laughing rather than being able to calm my nerves down to actually solve it.
*adjusts motai's joke detector* Okay, that should do it...better now? :biggrin:
 
What were the questions like on it? Can you remember any? Is there one in france also?
 
Moonbear said:
*adjusts motai's joke detector* Okay, that should do it...better now? :biggrin:


No really that problem is so bad, its just not even funny.

I assume they want you to come up with a formula for the angular momentum base d on that? If they expect you to answer in terms like the question however, well screw that. I've got better things to do.
 
wow, franznietzsche, I didn't even read the problem, I wasn't even online, I wasn't even awake, but I knew it was a joke.
 
Dumbasses. I did a few of the maths ones of these back in school. Strangely, I started off getting gold awards, then as I got older (and supposedly more educated) I started getting silvers, then bronzes. By the time I was in 6th form I didn't even bother!
 
  • #10
peaked when you 10 huh, I can see that.
 
  • #11
franznietzsche said:
No really that problem is so bad, its just not even funny.
I assume they want you to come up with a formula for the angular momentum base d on that? If they expect you to answer in terms like the question however, well screw that. I've got better things to do.

my god, even if you didn't find it funny I would have thought people would realize it was an attempt at a joke. Besides, Sidcup is in Britain and Bejing is in China so unless your left sock is some sort of menger sponge the mongoose isn't going to have anything like the velocity required to get to Bejing.


...oh, and lesser spotted mongooses don't exist, but I guess that's a minor aside :rolleyes:
 
  • #12
tribdog said:
wow, franznietzsche, I didn't even read the problem, I wasn't even online, I wasn't even awake, but I knew it was a joke.

let's just say I'm really slow today and leave it at that.
 
  • #13
oh I suppose you think all spotted mongooses are equal. They are individuals too.

edit: that was too just some guy not franz. I always get scared when franz is around and don't want to offend. I think its the zsche, always makes me think gas chambers
 
  • #14
tribdog said:
oh I suppose you think all spotted mongooses are equal. They are individuals too.

edit: that was too just some guy not franz. I always get scared when franz is around and don't want to offend. I think its the zsche, always makes me think gas chambers
:cry: :cry:

That hurts...

Well not really. But I'm sure nietzsche is plenty insulted in his grave.
 
  • #15
nietzsche's dead? my god when? howd it happen

edit: I hate z's,
 
  • #16
tribdog said:
nietzsche's dead? my god when? howd it happen

edit: I hate z's,

He died in 1900.
 

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