Exam Procedure for Selection of the U.S. Physics Team
Should spent two 30 minutes sections
http://www.aapt.org/olympiad2009/
Again this year there are THREE exams. In earlier versions of this contest, the preliminary exam contained a section of free response questions as well as a section of multiple-choice questions. However, we are now separating that exam into two separate exams: a preliminary exam and a new quarterfinal exam.
Preliminary Exam: The Fnet = ma contest. Multiple-choice only, focusing on mechanics. Exam time: 75 minutes (allow 90 minutes total to administer the exam). Administer the exam between January 19 and February 2. Deadline for AAPT Grader to receive scantron forms back is February 3. Again, we strongly encourage you to have your physics students participate in this part of the contest and are certain that they will benefit from participating in an international educational forum.
Quarterfinal Exam: Top 400 students based on preliminary exam score will be invited to take this free response exam with Mechanics and Electrostatics. Exam time: 60 minutes (allow 75 minutes total to administer the exam). Administer the exam between February 23 and March 4. Exam papers must be received back at AAPT by March 5.
Semifinal Exam: Top 200 students based on the combined score on the preliminary and quarterfinal exams will be invited to take this exam. Also, free response exam. However it covers all topics in introductory physics: Mechanics, E&M, Thermodynamics and Fluids, Relativity, Nuclear and Atomic Physics, and Waves and Optics. Part A: 4 problems, 90 minutes. Part B: 2 problems, 90 minutes. Allow 3.5 hours to administer the exam. Administer the exam between March 12 and 19. Exam papers must be received back at AAPT by March 20.
