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AppendixtotheStatutesoftheInternationalPhysicsOlympiads
General
[Link](differentiationandintegration)andtheuseofcomplexnumbersor
solvingdifferentialequationsshouldnotberequiredtosolvethetheoreticalandpracticalproblems.
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mustbegiveninthequestionssothatcandidateswithoutpreviousknowledgeofthesetopicswouldnotbe
atadisadvantage.
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Ifsuchdevicesareusedthencarefulinstructionsmustbegiventothecandidates.
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Thefirstcolumncontainsthemainentrieswhilethesecondcolumncontainscommentsandremarksif
necessary.
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a)Foundationofkinematicsofapointmass
Vectordescriptionofthepositionofthepointmass,
velocityandaccelerationasvectors
b)Newton'slaws,inertialsystems
Problemsmaybesetonchangingmass
c)Closedandopensystems,momentumandenergy,
work,power
d)Conservationofenergy,conservationoflinear
momentum,impulse
e)Elasticforces,frictionalforces,thelawof
gravitation,potentialenergyandworkina
gravitationalfield
Hooke'slaw,coefficientoffriction(F/R=const),
frictionalforces,staticandkinetic,choiceofzeroof
potentialenergy
f)Centripetalacceleration,Kepler'slaws
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a)Statics,centerofmass,torque
Couples,conditionsofequilibriumofbodies
b)Motionofrigidbodies,translation,rotation,
Conservationofangularmomentumaboutfixedaxis
angularvelocity,angularacceleration,conservationof only
angularmomentum
c)Externalandinternalforces,equationofmotionof
arigidbodyaroundthefixedaxis,momentofinertia,
kineticenergyofarotatingbody
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Parallelaxestheorem(Steiner'stheorem),additivity
ofthemomentofinertia
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d)Acceleratedreferencesystems,inertialforces
KnowledgeoftheCoriolisforceformulaisnot
required
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Nospecificquestionswillbesetonthisbutstudentswouldbeexpectedtoknowtheelementaryconceptsof
pressure,buoyancyandthecontinuitylaw.
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a)Internalenergy,workandheat,firstandsecond
lawsofthermodynamics
Thermalequilibrium,quantitiesdependingonstate
andquantitiesdependingonprocess
b)Modelofaperfectgas,pressureandmolecular
kineticenergy,Avogadro'snumber,equationofstate
ofaperfectgas,absolutetemperature
Alsomolecularapproachtosuchsimplephenomena
inliquidsandsolidsasboiling,meltingetc.
c)Workdonebyanexpandinggaslimitedto
isothermalandadiabaticprocesses
Proofoftheequationoftheadiabaticprocessisnot
required
d)TheCarnotcycle,thermodynamicefficiency,
reversibleandirreversibleprocesses,entropy
(statisticalapproach),Boltzmannfactor
Entropyasapathindependentfunction,entropy
changesandreversibility,quasistaticprocesses
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a)Harmonicoscillations,equationofharmonic
oscillation
Solutionoftheequationforharmonicmotion,
attenuationandresonancequalitatively
b)Harmonicwaves,propagationofwaves,transverse
andlongitudinalwaves,linearpolarization,the
classicalDopplereffect,soundwaves
Displacementinaprogressivewaveand
understandingofgraphicalrepresentationofthe
wave,measurementsofvelocityofsoundandlight,
Dopplereffectinonedimensiononly,propagationof
wavesinhomogeneousandisotropicmedia,
reflectionandrefraction,Fermat'sprinciple
c)Superpositionofharmonicwaves,coherentwaves,
interference,beats,standingwaves
Realizationthatintensityofwaveisproportionalto
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requiredbutcandidatesshouldhavesome
understandingthatcomplexwavescanbemadefrom
additionofsimplesinusoidalwavesofdifferent
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simplesystems(finalformulaearenotrequired),
superpositionofwavesfromsecondarysources
(diffraction)
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a)Conservationofcharge,Coulomb'slaw
b)Electricfield,potential,Gauss'law
Gauss'lawconfinedtosimplesymmetricsystemslike
sphere,cylinder,plateetc.,electricdipolemoment
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c)Capacitors,capacitance,dielectricconstant,energy
densityofelectricfield
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a)Current,resistance,internalresistanceofsource,
Ohm'slaw,Kirchhoff'slaws,workandpowerof
directandalternatingcurrents,Joule'slaw
Simplecasesofcircuitscontainingnonohmic
deviceswithknownVIcharacteristics
b)Magneticfield(B)ofacurrent,currentina
magneticfield,Lorentzforce
Particlesinamagneticfield,simpleapplicationslike
cyclotron,magneticdipolemoment
c)Ampere'slaw
Magneticfieldofsimplesymmetricsystemslike
straightwire,circularloopandlongsolenoid
d)Lawofelectromagneticinduction,magneticflux,
Lenz'slaw,selfinduction,inductance,permeability,
energydensityofmagneticfield
e)Alternatingcurrent,resistors,inductorsand
SimpleACcircuits,timeconstants,finalformulaefor
capacitorsinACcircuits,voltageandcurrent(parallel parametersofconcreteresonancecircuitsarenot
andseries)resonances
required
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a)Oscillatorycircuit,frequencyofoscillations,
generationbyfeedbackandresonance
b)Waveoptics,diffractionfromoneandtwoslits,
diffractiongrating,resolvingpowerofagrating,
Braggreflection,
c)Dispersionanddiffractionspectra,linespectraof
gases
d)Electromagneticwavesastransversewaves,
polarizationbyreflection,polarizers
Superpositionofpolarizedwaves
e)Resolvingpowerofimagingsystems
f)Blackbody,StefanBoltzmannslaw
Planck'sformulaisnotrequired
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a)Photoelectriceffect,energyandimpulseofthe
photon
Einstein'sformulaisrequired
b)DeBrogliewavelength,Heisenberg'suncertainty
principle
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a)Principleofrelativity,additionofvelocities,
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relativisticDopplereffect
b)Relativisticequationofmotion,momentum,
energy,relationbetweenenergyandmass,
conservationofenergyandmomentum
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a)SimpleapplicationsoftheBraggequation
b)Energylevelsofatomsandmolecules
(qualitatively),emission,absorption,spectrumof
hydrogenlikeatoms
c)Energylevelsofnuclei(qualitatively),alpha,beta
andgammadecays,absorptionofradiation,halflife
andexponentialdecay,componentsofnuclei,mass
defect,nuclearreactions
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problemsgivenintheexperimentalcontestshouldcontainmeasurements.
Additionalrequirements:
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PartA.
[Link],thermometers,
simplevolt,ohmandammeters,potentiometers,diodes,transistors,simpleopticaldevicesandsoon.
[Link],withthehelpofproperinstruction,somesophisticatedinstrumentsanddevicessuchas
doublebeamoscilloscope,counter,ratemeter,signalandfunctiongenerators,analogtodigitalconverter
connectedtoacomputer,amplifier,integrator,differentiator,powersupply,universal(analoganddigital)
volt,ohmandammeters.
[Link](s).
[Link],accuracyofmeasuringinstruments,errorofasinglemeasurement,errorofa
seriesofmeasurements,errorofaquantitygivenasafunctionofmeasuredquantities.
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linetoexperimentalpoints.
[Link](forexamplepolarandlogarithmicpapers).
[Link](s)anderror(s)withcorrectnumberofsignificant
digits.
[Link].(Nevertheless,iftheexperimentalsetupcontainsany
safetyhazardstheappropriatewarningsshouldbeincludedintothetextoftheproblem.)
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