2nd Hong Kong Young Physicists'​Tournament

In this second year of Hong Kong Young Physicists' Tournament (HKYPT), SISHK and PLKCKY continued to form strong bonding and co-organise this competition regionally. We were proud to see how HKYPT strived by having more schools participating, including WIS, ISHK and DBS. It was also our honor to enlarge our jury team to 8 physics professors, coming from CUHK, HKU, EdUHK and CityU. The competition was held on 14 January 2023 at Singapore International School (Hong Kong).

HKYPT is based on the rules and problems set by the international committees (IYPT).

Each team must choose one out of the selected 17 problems, investigate experimentally and present the findings with physics concepts. The opponent team would then take the floor to discuss follow-up questions with the reporting team. It is a very unique competition format that offers opportunities of performing formal scientific research to the secondary school students.

These were the problems investigated by the participating teams.

2. Oscillating Sphere

A light sphere with a conducting surface is suspended from a thin wire. When the sphere is rotated about its vertical axis (thereby twisting the wire) and then released, it starts to oscillate. Investigate how the presence of a magnetic field affects the motion.

4. Coloured Line

When a compact disc or DVD is illuminated with light coming from a filament lamp in such a way that only rays with large angles of incidence are selected, a clear green line can be observed. The colour varies upon slightly changing the angle of the disc. Explain and investigate this phenomenon.

10. Upstream Flow

Sprinkle light particles on a water surface. Then allow a water stream to be incident on the surface from a small height. Under certain conditions, the particles may begin to move up the stream. Investigate and explain this phenomenon.

11. Ball on Ferrite Rod

A ferrite rod is placed at the bottom end of a vertical tube. Apply an ac voltage, of a frequency of the same order as the natural frequency of the rod, to a fine wire coil wrapped around its lower end. When a ball is placed on top of the rod, it will start to bounce. Explain and investigate this phenomenon.

12. Rice Kettlebells

Take a vessel and pour some granular material into it, for example, rice. If you dip e.g. a spoon into it, then at a certain depth of immersion, you can lift the vessel and contents by holding the spoon. Explain this phenomenon and explore the relevant parameters of the system.

17. Arrester Bed

A sand-filled lane results in the dissipation of the kinetic energy of a moving vehicle. What length is necessary for such an arrester bed to entirely stop a passively moving object (e.g. a ball)? What parameters does the length depend on?

Being as the organiser and a physics educator, it was satisfying to witness how engaged the participants were. The participants from different schools did not stop their "physics fight" just because the official game was ended. They took the short break to discuss the problem further! Very heart-warming to find how physics was bringing our students together spontaneously.

Going forward, we are planning to take our Hong Kong students to a whole new level this year. The winning teams shall each send a representative to form a team representing Hong Kong collectively in the next OYPT. This will be our first attempt prior to joining IYPT.

I am very grateful to all the jurors, supervising teachers, students, spectators, SISHK and, last but not least, my YPT partner Mr TK Leong for making this possible.

More information can be found on our websites HKYPT: https://bit.ly/hkypt and IYPT: https://www.iypt.org/