What is the Physics Bowl?
The Physics Bowl is a competition for high school students and schools. Held annually in April, students and schools participate by answering 40 multiple-choice questions on high school physics topics.
What kind of questions will appear on this exam?
The questions on the Physics Bowl are taken from high school physics. It's a broad range of topics, as high school students will cover everything from conceptual physics to AP Physics, B/C, and even modern physics. Since this is a competition, it's not expected that any single individual/school will cover all the topics tested.
When is the competition held?
Traditionally, the Physics Bowl is held in April. To get results while schools are still in session, the dates have been moved earlier in the month. Additionally, since schools typically have spring break in April, there's a range of dates available to participate. However, there is a deadline for receiving the answer sheets, and the competition usually begins 6 days after that deadline.
Who can take this exam?
Any high school student can participate, but anyone in K-12 is eligible.
What is a “team” competition?
Team competitions are organized by schools. The team score is calculated by adding the scores of the top 5 schools in a specific region/group. All schools within a region/group are compared, and prizes are awarded to the top 2 teams with the highest scores. A school can compete in teams with fewer than 5 students (although this reduces their chances of winning), and a school can compete against teams from Division 01 and Division 02.
What are the awards related to the competition?
The awards change annually, but each year awards are given to the top 2 students and the top 2 schools in each region/group.
How do I register my student for this competition?
The application form can be accessed via the following link: Registration Information
We have more than one teacher participating in the competition; do we need more than one teacher code?
No… In fact, there will be a change this year: only one teacher code is needed for school competitions, so each school can only use one teacher code.
What are my options for participating in the competition?
Currently, PhysicsBowl offers one of two options:
PDF 5 copies $25.00 ($5 per student)
You can order a PDF file of the exam. Here, the cost for 5 students is $25.00 (including shipping and handling fees), which includes answer sheets. You will need to make a copy for each student once you receive the password to download the exam.
WebAssign ($5 per student)
The cost here is $5.00 per student. You don't need to use WebAssign with your course to use this option. The exam is 100% online (along with equations and constant tables).
I'm using WebAssign to manage the competition...where is the exam password?
The password will be emailed to the teacher/proctor on the day of the exam.
What's the difference between the two groups?
Division 01
Division 01 is specifically for students taking their first physics course.
The first physics course can be very varied; anything from conceptual physics to AP Physics can be a student's first exposure.
In this competition, some topics will come from AP courses, while others may come from concept courses not covered in AP courses (e.g., lunar phases).
Students who have completed a year of physics but did not take a second physics course (e.g., a junior who took honors physics and then a senior who did not take physics) are eligible to participate in Division 01.
Division 02 is for students taking a second (or more) physics course or anyone looking for a challenge. Due to the depth and breadth, the questions in this section are generally more difficult than those in Division 01.
Which region is my student registered in?
Some major news in 2015 involved a significant reshuffling of regions.
Part of the reason was the new arrangement with ASDAN China, which led to an influx of many new competing schools.
Another reason was the imbalance in the number of competing schools per region due to the expansion of regions. In 2018, we added a new region for Test Preparation Centers and Educational Services. Please note: Test Preparation Centers and Educational Services will compete in their respective regions and are only eligible for student prizes.
Can our school compete in both Divisions?
Yes, a school can participate in both Division 01 and 02 in the same year.
I have limited time and many students, what are my options?
The best model for hosting the PhysicsBowl is to have all students participate simultaneously. If possible, please do so. In many cases, this may not be feasible (not enough computers, not enough time for all students to meet). Therefore, let the teachers manage the competition in the best way they can, but it should be given in a class on one school day. Exam security is always an issue for the competition, so remember to collect all materials from students after they finish the exam until the official solutions are posted on the website.
This is a competition…
Please remember that this is a competition, and the average score is expected to be between 40-50%. Remind your students that some questions may be beyond their scope, which may be helpful to your students, but guessing will not be penalized!
What are the rules?
45 minutes
40 questions – no penalty for wrong answers
Calculators are allowed, as long as they are non-programmable or all programs have been removed before the competition. A table of equations and constants are provided.
Break the tie by starting from the end of the exam and moving forward, so there will be a reward for correctly answering the more difficult questions.
I hosted the competition, what now?
After the exam, please collect all student materials immediately until the solutions are posted on this website. For those who took the exam using answer sheets, please check that all information is filled in correctly.
This means that the region, department, name, teacher code, teacher name, and CEEB code have all been entered correctly. Incorrectly entered codes will result in the student's score being disqualified. After all answer sheets have been collected, send the answer sheets to the address provided in the instructions (to EAT, Inc.) before the required date. Please mail them in a flat envelope; a creased envelope will make the answer sheets uneven and difficult for the machine to grade correctly.
I'm not sure about one of the questions. Can I challenge it?
We try our best to ensure that all questions are clear and unambiguous, but sometimes what is clear to one reader may be very different to another. Therefore, we should indeed welcome questions to be challenged. For example, when the word "CURRENT" appeared a few years ago, it was pointed out that some states taught both conventional and electronic currents, making the issue confusing. That said, please wait until a week after the official competition concludes and the official solution is released before raising any questions. Please send your questions to janderson@aapt.org.
How do I access my results?
Since 2010, all results have been made available to teachers through the AAPT website. This should improve the speed at which teachers receive results (some emails were sent weeks ago but no results were received), increase communication with teachers, and increase the chances of finding errors/mistakes. When results are available, an email will be sent with instructions on how to access your results.
Additionally, you can check this website to find the overall results.
Why am I missing student grades?
Student grades are missing because when large amounts of data are analyzed, students who filled out forms incorrectly will not have their school's data displayed. The most common reasons are incorrect CEEB codes, teacher codes, regions, or groups. Incorrect answer sheets (or online completion) will result in disqualification for individual and/or team awards. Similarly, due to the massive amount of data, some zero scores appearing in school reports may be due to improper partitioning or region settings. In such cases, the software will automatically set the student's score to zero.