47th International Physics Olympiad

Switzerland Liechtenstein
Zurich, 1117 July 2016

exams
IPhO 2016 Exam Problems

The exams of the IPhO 2016 consisted of two experimental exams (to be solved in 5 hours)
and 3 theoretical exams (to be solved in 5 hours). This document contains all exam problems
of the IPhO 2016 and their general instructions. For brevity, the answer sheets and solutions
are not included. The complete set of exams, instructions, answer sheets and solutions is
available online at http://www.ipho2016.org/ipho2016/exam-and-program/.

Experimental Exam Problems

General Instructions
E-1: Electrical conductivity in two dimensions (10 points)
by Matthias Hengsberger, Aram Kostanyan, Gnther Palfinger (Idea Wafer)
E-2: Jumping beads - A model for phase transitions and instabilities (10 points)
by Christof Aegerter, Alex Kish

Theoretical Exams Problems

General Instructions
T-1: Two Problems in Mechanics (10 points)
by Christoph Keller, Ben Kilminster, Andreas Schilling, Anton Alekseev, Johan Runeson
T-2: Nonlinear Dynamics in Electric Circuits (10 points)
by Anton Alekseev, Yves Barmaz, Pavel Rodin
T-3: Large Hadron Collider (10 points)
by Fritz Epple, Katharina Mller
 Experiment
English (Ocial) G0-1
General instructions: Experimental Examination (20 points)
July 12, 2016
The experimental examination lasts for 5 hours and is worth a total of 20 points.

Before the exam

You must not open the envelopes containing the problems before the sound signal indicating the
beginning of the competition.
The beginning and end of the examination will be indicated by a sound signal. There will be an-
nouncements every hour indicating the elapsed time, as well as fteen minutes before the end of
the examination (before the nal sound signal).

During the exam

Dedicated answer sheets are provided for writing your answers. Enter the observations into the
appropriate tables, boxes or graphs in the corresponding answer sheet (marked A). For every prob-
lem, there are extra blank work sheets for carrying out detailed work (marked W). Be sure to always
use the work sheets that belong to the problem you are currently working on (check the problem
number in the header). If you have written something on any sheet which you do not want to be
graded, cross it out. Only use to front side of every page.
In your answers, try to be as concise as possible: use equations, logical operators and sketches to
illustrate your thoughts whenever possible. Avoid the use of long sentences.
Explicit error calculation is not required unless explicitly asked for. However, you are asked to give
an appropriate number of signicant digits when stating numbers. Also, you should decide on
the appropriate number of data points or measurement repetitions unless specic instructions are
given.
You may often be able to solve later parts of a problem without having solved the previous ones.
You are not allowed to leave your working place without permission. If you need any assistance
(need to rell your drinking water bottle, broken calculator, need to visit a restroom, etc), please
draw the attention of a team guide by putting one of the three ags into the holder attached to
your cubicle ("Rell my water bottle, please", "I need to go to the toilet, please", or "I need help,
please" in all other cases).

At the end of the exam

At the end of the examination you must stop writing immediately.

For every problem, sort the corresponding sheets in the following order: cover sheet (C), questions
(Q), answer sheets (A), work sheets (W).
Put all the sheets belonging to one problem into the same envelope. Also put the general instruc-
tions (G) into the remaining separate envelope. Make sure your student code is visible in the viewing
window of each envelope. Also hand in empty sheets. You are not allowed to take any sheets of
paper out of the examination area.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) G0-2
Put your writing equipment (2 ball point pens, 1 felt tip pen, 1 pencil, 1 pair of scissors, 1 ruler, 2
pairs of earplugs) as well as the provided calculator and your personal calculator (if applicable) back
into the transparent zip bag.
Wait at your table until your envelopes are collected. Once all envelopes are collected your guide
will escort you out of the examination area. Take your writing equipment bag with you and hand it
in at the exit. Also take your water bottle with you.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) G0-3
Topics

Experiment E-I: Electrical conductivity in two dimensions 10 marks

Experiment E-II: Jumping beads - A model for phase transitions and instabilities 10 marks

Experiments E-I and E-II share some of the same equipment. Among others, the same power supply and
signal generator are used for both experiments, but with different settings.
Attention: when unpacking the box, do not lift the loudspeaker assembly by the plastic cylinder attached
to the membrane.

Material used in both experiments

(1) (6)

(4)

(5) (3) (2)

Figure 1: Common material for both experiments.

1. Battery pack with USB cable

2. Adjustable signal generator powered by the battery pack
3. Small screwdriver
4. Ten cables with crocodile clips
5. Six cables with  NN plugs
6. Two digital multimeters
You may also use any of the supplied stationary items to conduct the practical tasks.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) G0-4
Signal generator

(2)
(1)

(4)
(3)

(5) (6) (8) (7)

Figure 2.

1. USB connector for powering the signal generator

2. Loudspeaker terminals (only used in E-II)
3. Potentiometer for adjusting the constant voltage (only used in E-I)
4. Potentiometer for adjusting the speaker amplitude (only used in E-II)
5. DC voltage output socket (only used in E-I)
6. Monitor output socket for the loudspeaker drive amplitude (only used in E-II)
7. Common ground socket
8. Switch to turn the loudspeaker terminals and monitor output for the loudspeaker amplitude on
/ off
To power the signal generator, plug the battery pack using the USB cable to the USB connector of the
signal generator (1).
Note that several turns of the potentiometer are required to go from one end of the range to the other.

G0-5
The potentiometers do not have mechanical stops at the end of their range.

Digital multimeters Experiment

English (Ocial)
The digital multimeters can be used for current and voltage measurements. Always connect the two
leads to the sockets labeled "7N"" and "(/%" and choose current/voltage and the measurement range
by means of the selector.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-1
Electrical conductivity in two dimensions (10 points)
Please read the general instructions in the separate envelope before you start this problem.

Introduction

In the quest to develop next generation devices based on semi-conductor technology like computer chips
or solar cells, researchers are looking for materials which exhibit outstanding transport properties, e.g.
low electrical resistivity. Measurements of these properties are carried out using samples of nite size,
contacts with nite contact resistance and in a special geometry. These effects have to be taken into
account in order to extract the true material properties. Moreover, a thin lm of the material may behave
differently than bulk material.
In this task, we will investigate the measurement of electrical properties. We will use two different de-
nitions:
Resistance : The resistance is the electrical property of a sample or device. It is the quantity which
we actually measure on a specic sample with given dimensions.
Resistivity : The resistivity is the material property which determines the resistance. It depends
on the material itself and on external parameters like the temperature, but it does not depend on
the geometry of the sample.
In particular, we will measure the so-called sheet resistivity. This is the resistivity divided by the thickness
of the very thin sheet.
We will explore the inuence of the following parameters on the measurement of the electrical resistance
of thin layers of material:
the measurement circuitry,
the measurement geometry,
and the sample dimensions.
A sheet of conductive paper and a metal coated silicon wafer will serve as samples.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-2
List of materials

(1)

(2) (4) (3) (5)

Figure 1: Additional equipment for this experiment.

1. Graphite coated conductive paper

2. A silicon wafer coated with a thin chromium lm (stored in a wafer holder)
3. Plexiglas plate with 8 spring-loaded pins
4. An ohmic resistor
5. Color stickers

Important precautions

The silicon wafer provided can easily be broken if dropped or bent. Do not touch or scratch the
shiny metallic surface.

Instructions

In the experiment, the signal generator will be used as a DC voltage source. In this mode, the signal
generator outputs a constant voltage between the voltage socket (5) and the GND socket (7). The
numbers refer to the photograph shown in the general instructions.
The voltage (range: -  7) can be adjusted on the left potentiometer labeled adjust voltage (3) using
the screwdriver.
When performing this experiment, make sure that the loudspeaker drive section of the signal gen-
erator is turned off using the toggle switch (8). This can be checked by measuring the voltage
between the speaker amplitude monitor socket (6) and the GND socket (7). If the loudspeaker drive
section is off, the voltage between these two terminals is zero.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-3
Part A. Four-point-probe (4PP) measurements (1.2 points)
In order to measure the resistivity of a sample precisely, the contacts used for the voltage measurement
and the contacts used for current injection should be separated.
This technique is called four-point-probe technique (4PP). The four contacts are arranged into a symmet-
ric geometry that is as simple as possible: The current ows into the sample through one of the outer
contacts (called source), then on all possible paths through the sample and out of the sample through
the other contact (drain). In between, the voltage is measured over a certain path length on the
sample.
Everything becomes quite simple if we have a symmetric setup, i.e. the same distance between all
contacts and the contacts in the center of the sample as shown in following sketch:

Rcontact
s
I
Battery +
_ V s

s Sample

Rcontact

The curve versus represents the -characteristics of the sample and allows the resistance of
this sample segment to be determined. In the following we will only use the 4PP technique. To start,
we will use the linear equidistant arrangement of four out of the eight probes (contacts) shown in the
photograph.

Figure 2: Acrylic glass plate for 4PP measurements, with the four rubber feet and the eight
contacts or probes.

For the following measurement, use the whole sheet of conducting paper.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-4
Important hints for all following measurements:

The long side of the sheet of paper is the reference side. The four probes should be aligned parallel
to this side.
Be careful to use the coated side (black), not the brown back side of the paper! You may mark the
correct orientation with color stickers.
Check that there are no holes or cuts in the paper.
For these measurements, place the contacts as close to the center of the sample as possible.
Press the contacts with enough force to ensure good contact for each of them. The plastic feet
should just touch the surface.

A.1 Four-point-probe (4PP) measurement: Measure the potential drop over a seg- 0.6pt
ment of length as function of current passing through this segment. Take
in total at least 4 values, make a table and plot the voltage drop versus the
current in Graph A.1.

A.2 Determine the effective electrical resistance 

that you obtained from 0.2pt
Graph A.1.

A.3 Use Graph A.1 to determine the uncertainty on the resistance for the 4PP 0.4pt
measurement.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-5
Part B. Sheet resistivity (0.3 points)
The resistivity represents a material property, by means of which the resistance of a 3D conductor of
given dimensions and geometry is calculated. Here we consider a bar of dimensions length , width ,
and thickness :

t
I

w
The electrical resistance of the upper, thick conductor is given by:

 %  (1)

On the same basis we may dene the resistance of the 2D conductor of thickness and

t
w

 %   (2)

using the sheet resistivity   ("rho box"). Its unit is given in Ohms: < >   .
Important: Eq. 2 is only valid for a homogeneous current density and constant potential in the cross-
sectional plane of the conductor. In the case of point-like contacts on the surface this does not hold.
Instead one can show that the sheet resistivity is related to the resistance in that case by

  (3)
ln 

for .

B.1 Calculate the sheet resistivity  of the paper from the 4PP measurement in 0.3pt
part A. We will call this particular value (and the measured resistance from
part A ) because the sample dimensions of the whole sheet are much larger
than the spacing of the contacts : .
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-6
Part C. Measurements for different sample dimensions (3.2 points)
Up to now, the nite sample dimensions and were not taken into account. If the sample becomes
smaller, it can carry less current if the voltage is kept constant: If we apply a voltage between the two
point contacts (white circles), current will ow on all possible, non-crossing paths through the sample
as visualized by the lines: the longer the line, the smaller the current as indicated by the line thickness.
For a small sample (b) and the same applied voltage, the total current decreases because there are less
possible pathways. Thus, the measured resistance will increase:

(a) (b)

The (sheet) resistivity will not change as function of sample size. Thus, in order to convert the measured
resistance into a resistivity using Eq. 3, we need to introduce a correction factor 
:

   (4)
ln 


For a sample of length the factor only depends on the ratio  and is larger than : 
.
For the sake of simplicity we will focus on the dependence on the width and only ensure that the sample
is long enough for our measurements. We assume that the value approaches the correct result  for
large dimensions:


 
XJUI 
 (5)

C.1 Using the 4PP-method, measure the resistance

for 4 values  within 3.0pt
the range 0.3 to 5.0 and record your results in Table C.1. Ensure that the sample
length is larger than ve times the probe spacing:   and that the length
of the samples is always taken along the same (long) side of the sheet of paper.
For each value of  measure the voltage for 4 different current values and
calculate the average resistance 
out of the 4 measurements. Enter your
results in Table C.1.

C.2 Compute 
for each of these measurements. 0.2pt

Part D. Geometrical correction factor: scaling law (1.9 points)

You have seen in part C that the measured resistivity scales with the ratio of width to probe distance .
Starting from the data acquired in part C we choose the following generic function to describe the data
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-7
in the range of the measurements:

Generic t function: 
   (6)

Note that for very large , 

must be .

D.1 In order to t a model curve using Eq. 6 and the data 

, taken in part C, 1.0pt
choose the most appropriate graph paper (linear Graph D.1a, semi-logarithmic
Graph D.1b, or double-logarithmic Graph D1.c) to plot the data.

D.2 Deduce the parameters and from your t. 0.9pt

 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-8
Part E. The silicon wafer and the van der Pauw-method (3.4 points)
In the semi-conductor industry, knowledge of the electrical (sheet) resistance of semi-conductors and
thin metal layers is very important because it determines the properties of devices. In the following you
will work with the silicon wafer. The semi-conducting wafer is coated with a very thin layer of chromium
metal (on the shiny side).
Open the wafer container (rotate in the sense of the arrow RELEASE) and take the wafer out. Be careful
not to drop or to break it nor to scratch or touch the shiny surface. For the measurements place it on the
table with the shiny side point up towards you.

E.1 Use the same 4PP setup as previously to measure the voltage as function of 0.4pt
current .
Write down the reference number of your wafer in the Answer Sheet. You nd
this number on the plastic wafer holder.

E.2 Plot the data in Graph E.2 and determine the resistance 11 . 0.4pt

E.3 In order to determine the correction for a circular sample like the wafer, we will 0.2pt
approximate the effective width of the sample by the diameter   NN of
the wafer. Under this assumption calculate the ratio . Use the t function in
Eqn. 6 and your parameters and to determine the correction factor 

for the wafer measurement.

E.4 Calculate the sheet resistivity  of the chromium layer using Eq. 4. 0.1pt

In order to measure the sheet resistivity precisely without need for geometrical corrections, Philips en-
gineer L.J. van der Pauw developed a simple measurement scheme: The four probes are mounted at
the circumference of a sample of arbitrary shape as shown in the gure (numbered 1 through 4). The
current ows through two adjacent probes, e.g. probes 1 and 2, and the voltage is measured between
probes 3 and 4. This yields a resistance value  .

I 21
+
Battery _ 1 2

Sample

4 3

V34

For symmetry reasons  and  . Van der Pauw showed that for an arbitrary but
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q1-9
simply connected shape (no holes) of the sample and point-like contacts the following equation holds:

    (7)

Figure 3: 4PP device on the metal coated silicon wafer. Note the cut on the right-hand-side of
the circular wafer. This cut is called at.

Connect the four spring contacts such that the measurement probes form a square. Connect two adja-
cent contacts to the current source with the amperemeter, and connect the two remaining spring con-
tacts with the voltmeter. Rotate the square until one of its edges is parallel to the at of the wafer.

E.5 Sketch the orientation of the current carrying contacts and the orientation of 0.6pt
the at of the wafer. Measure the voltage for at least in total 6 different
values of current , roughly equally spaced. Enter the results into Table E.5.

E.6 Repeat the procedure arranging the current carrying contacts perpendicular to 0.6pt
those used in the rst step. Enter the results into Table E.6.

E.7 Plot all the data together in a single graph Graph E.7 using different colors 0.5pt
and/or symbols. Determine the mean value from the two curves.

E.8 Replacing all resistances by , solve Eqn. 7 for  and calculate the 0.4pt
sheet resistivity  of the chromium layer.

E.9 Compare the result of the measurement taken with the linear arrangement (E.4) 0.1pt
and the result of the van der Pauw method (E.8). Give the difference of the two
measurements as relative error in percent.

E.10 The chromium (Cr) layers have a nominal thickness of  ON. Use this value and 0.1pt
the nal results of the van der Pauw method to calculate the resistivity of Cr
using Eqns. 1 and 2.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q2-1
Jumping beads - A model for phase transitions and instabili-
ties (10 points)
Please read the general instructions in the separate envelope before you start this problem.

Introduction

Phase transitions are well known from every day life, e.g. water takes different states like solid, liquid
and gaseous. These different states are separated by phase transitions, where the collective behaviour
of the molecules in the material changes. Such a phase transition is always associated with a transition
temperature, where the state changes, i.e. the freezing and boiling temperatures of water in the above
examples.
Phase transitions are however even more wide-spread and also occur in other systems, such as mag-
nets or superconductors, where below a transition temperature the macroscopic state changes from a
paramagnet to a ferromagnet and a normal conductor to a superconductor, respectively.
All of these transitions can be described in a common framework when introducing a so-called order-
parameter. For instance, in magnetism the order parameter is associated with the alignment of the
magnetic moments of the atoms with a macroscopic magnetisation.
In the so-called continuous phase transitions, the order parameter will always be zero above the critical
temperature and then grow continuously below it, as shown in the schematic for a magnet in gure 1
below. The transition temperature of a continuous phase transition is called the critical temperature.
The gure also contains a schematic representation of the microscopic order or disorder in the case
of a magnet, where the individual magnetic moments align in the ferromagnetic state to give rise to a
macroscopic magnetization, whereas they are randomly oriented in the paramagnetic phase yielding a
macroscopic magnetization of zero.

Tcrit T
Figure 1: Schematic representation of the temperature dependence of an order parameter
at a phase transition. Below the critical temperature DSJU , the order parameter grows and is
non-zero, whereas it is equal to zero at temperatures above DSJU .

For continuous phase transitions, one generally nds that the order parameter close to a transition fol-
lows a power-law, e.g. in magnetism the magnetization below the critical temperature, DSJU , is given
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q2-2
by:

DSJU
 DSJU
(1)
   DSJU

where is temperature. What is even more stunning is that this behaviour is universal: the exponent of
this power-law is the same for many different kinds of phase transition.

Task

We will study a simple example where some of the features of continuous phase transitions can be in-
vestigated, such as how an instability leads to the collective behaviour of the particles and thus to the
phase transition as well as how the macroscopic change depends on an excitation of the particles.
In common phase transitions this excitation is usually driven by temperature. In our example, the ex-
citation consists of the kinetic energy of the particles accelerated by the loudspeaker. The macroscopic
change corresponding to the phase transition that we study here consists of the sorting of beads into
one half of a cylinder, which is separated by a small wall.
Increasing the amplitude from where particles have sorted into one half of the cylinder, you will nd that
eventually the particles distribute equally between the two halves. This corresponds to having heated
past the critical temperature.
Your objective is to determine the critical exponent for the model phase transition studied here.

List of material

(1)

(3)

(2)

(4)
Figure 2: Additional equipment for this experiment.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q2-3
1. Loudspeaker assembly with plastic cylinder mounted on top
2. About 100 poppy seeds (in a plastic container)
3. A glove
4. Sticky tape

Important precautions

Do not apply an excessive lateral force to the plastic cylinder mounted on the loudspeaker. Note
that no replacements will be provided in case of torn loudspeaker membranes or torn off plastic
cylinder.
Turn off the loudspeaker assembly whenever not in use, in order to avoid unnecessary drain of the
battery.
In this experiment, a  )[ saw-tooth signal is output on the loudspeaker terminals located at the
side of the signal generator.
The amplitude of the saw-tooth signal can be adjusted using the right potentiometer labeled
speaker amplitude (4). A DC voltage proportional to the signal amplitude is output on the speaker
amplitude monitor socket (6) (with respect to the GND socket (7)). The numbers refer to the
photograph (Figure 2) shown in the general instructions.
The speaker membrane is delicate. Make sure that you do not apply unnecessary pressure on it by
any means either vertically or laterally.
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q2-4
Part A. Critical excitation amplitude (3.3 points)
Before you start the actual tasks of this problem, wire up the loudspeaker to the terminals on the side
of the signal generator (make sure you use the correct polarity). Put some (e.g. ) poppy seeds into the
cylinder mounted on the loudspeaker and use a piece cut from the glove provided to close the cylinder at
the top in order to keep the poppy seeds in the cylinder. Switch on the excitation using the toggle switch
and adjust the amplitude by turning the right potentiometer labeled speaker amplitude (4) by means of
the screwdriver provided. Observe the sorting of the beads by testing different amplitudes.
The rst task is to determine the critical excitation amplitude of this transition. In order to do this, you
have to determine the number of beads and in the two compartments (choosing the compartment
labels such that ) as a function of the displayed amplitude , which is the voltage measured at
the speaker amplitude socket (6). This voltage is proportional to the amplitude of the saw-tooth waveform
driving the loudspeaker. Make at least 5 measurements per voltage.
Hint:
In order to always have a motion in the particles you study, only investigate amplitudes correspond-
ing to speaker amplitude voltages exceeding  7. Start with watching the behaviour of the system
just by varying the voltage slowly without any counting of he beads. It can be that some of the
beads stick to the ground due to electrostatic reasons. Don't count these beads.

A.1 Record your measurements of the number of particles and in each half 1.2pt
of the container for various amplitudes in Table A.1.

A.2 Calculate the standard deviation of your measurements of and and list 1.1pt
your results in Table A.1. Plot and as a function of the displayed ampli-
tude in Graph A.2, including their uncertainties.

A.3 Based on your graph, determine the critical displayed amplitude DSJU at which 1pt
 , after waiting until a stationary state is reached.

Part B. Calibration (3.2 points)

The displayed amplitude , corresponds to a voltage applied to the loudspeaker. However, the physi-
cally interesting quantity is the maximum displacement of the oscillation of the loudspeaker, since this
relates to how strongly the beads are excited. Therefore, you need to calibrate the displayed amplitude.
For this purpose, you can use any of the provided material and tools.

B.1 Sketch the setup you use to measure the excitation amplitude, i.e. the maxi- 0.5pt
mum travel distance (in NN) of the loudspeaker in one period of oscillation.

B.2 Determine the amplitude in NN for a suitable number of points, i.e. record 0.8pt
the amplitude as a function of displayed amplitude in Table B.2 and indi-
cate the uncertainties of your measurements.

B.3 Plot your data in Graph B.3, including the uncertainties. 1.0pt
 Experiment
English (Ocial) Q2-5
B.4 Determine the parameters of the resulting curve, using an appropriate t to 0.8pt
determine the calibration function
.

B.5 Determine the critical excitation amplitude DSJU of the poppy seeds. 0.1pt

Part C. Critical exponent (3.5 points)

In our system, the temperature corresponds to the input kinetic energy of the excitation. This energy is
proportional to the speed squared of the loudspeaker, i.e. to  , where is the frequency of the
oscillation. We will now test this dependence and determine the exponent of the power-law governing
the behavior of the order parameter (see Eq. 1).

C.1 The imbalance is a good candidate for an order parameter for our sys-

1.1pt
tem in that it is zero above the critical amplitude and equal to  at low excitation.
Determine this order parameter as a function of the amplitude . Record your
results in the Table C.1.

C.2 Plot the imbalance DSJU , in Graph C.2, where both

as a function of

1pt
axes have logarithmic scales (double-logarithmic plot). You can use the Table
C.1 for your calculations. The points on the plot may seem not to obey a linear
relation, but a linear regression should be made nevertheless, to match the
critical exponent formula.

C.3 Determine the exponent and estimate the error. 1.4pt

 Theory
English (Ocial) G0-1
General instructions: Theoretical Examination (30 points)
July 14, 2016
The theoretical examination lasts for 5 hours and is worth a total of 30 points.

Before the exam

You must not open the envelopes containing the problems before the sound signal indicating the
beginning of the examination.
The beginning and end of the examination will be indicated by a sound signal. There will be an-
nouncements every hour indicating the elapsed time, as well as fteen minutes before the end of
the examination (before the nal sound signal).

During the exam

Dedicated answer sheets are provided for writing your answers. Enter the nal answers into the
appropriate boxes in the corresponding answer sheet (marked A). For every problem, there are
extra blank work sheets for carrying out detailed work (marked W). Always use the work sheets that
belong to the problem you are currently working on (check the problem number in the header). If
you have written something on any sheet which you do not want to be graded, cross it out. Only
use the front side of every page.
In your answers, try to be as concise as possible: use equations, logical operators and sketches to
illustrate your thoughts whenever possible. Avoid the use of long sentences.
Please give an appropriate number of signicant digits when stating numbers.
You may often be able to solve later parts of a problem without having solved the previous ones.
A list of physical constants is given on the next page.
You are not allowed to leave your working place without permission. If you need any assistance
(need to rell your drinking water bottle, broken calculator, need to visit a restroom, etc), please
draw the attention of a team guide by putting one of the three ags into the holder attached to
your cubicle ("Rell my water bottle, please", "I need to go to the toilet, please", or "I need help,
please" in all other cases).

At the end of the exam

At the end of the examination you must stop writing immediately.

For every problem, sort the corresponding sheets in the following order: cover sheet (C), questions
(Q), answer sheets (A), work sheets (W).
Put all the sheets belonging to one problem into the same envelope. Also put the general instruc-
tions (G) into the remaining separate envelope. Make sure your student code is visible in the viewing
window of each envelope. Also hand in empty sheets. You are not allowed to take any sheets of
paper out of the examination area.
Leave the blue calculator provided by the organizers on the table.
 Theory
English (Ocial) G0-2
Take the writing equipment (2 ball point pens, 1 felt tip pen, 1 pencil, 1 pair of scissors, 1 ruler,
2 pairs of earplugs) as well your personal calculator (if applicable) with you. Also take your water
bottle with you.
Wait at your table until your envelopes are collected. Once all envelopes are collected your guide
will escort you out of the examination area.
 Theory
English (Ocial) G0-3
General Data Sheet

Speed of light in vacuum     N T

Vacuum permeability (magnetic constant)    LH N " T
Vacuum permittivity (electrical constant)      " T LH N
Elementary charge      
 " T
Mass of the electron F     
 LH
.F7
     
D
Mass of the proton Q     

LH
.F7
    
D
Mass of the neutron O     
 LH
.F7
    
D
Unied atomic mass unit     
 LH
Rydberg constant      
N
Universal constant of gravitation    
 N LH T
Acceleration due to gravity (in Zurich)   N T
Plancks constant     
 LH N T
Avogadro number "     
 NPM
Molar gas constant    
LH N T NPM ,
Molar mass constant u    LH NPM
Boltzmann constant #     
 LH N T ,
Stefan-Boltzmann constant    
 LH T ,
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q1-1
Two Problems in Mechanics (10 points)
Please read the general instructions in the separate envelope before you start this problem.

Part A. The Hidden Disk (3.5 points)

We consider a solid wooden cylinder of radius and thickness . Somewhere inside the wooden cylin-
der, the wood has been replaced by a metal disk of radius and thickness . The metal disk is placed
in such a way that its symmetry axis is parallel to the symmetry axis of the wooden cylinder, and
is placed at the same distance from the top and bottom face of the wooden cylinder. We denote the
distance between and by . The density of wood is , the density of the metal is  . The total
mass of the wooden cylinder and the metal disk inside is .
In this task, we place the wooden cylinder on the ground so that it can freely roll to the left and right.
See Fig. 1 for a side view and a view from the top of the setup.
The goal of this task is to determine the size and the position of the metal disk.
In what follows, when asked to express the result in terms of known quantities, you may always assume
that the following are known:

 (1)

The goal is to determine and , through indirect measurements.

a) b) S B
r1 r2

S h1 h2
d r2
r1
B

Figure 1: a) side view b) view from above

We denote as the distance between the centre of mass of the whole system and the symmetry axis
of the wooden cylinder. In order to determine this distance, we design the following experiment: We
place the wooden cylinder on a horizontal base in such a way that it is in a stable equilibrium. Let us now
slowly incline the base by an angle (see Fig. 2). As a result of the static friction, the wooden cylinder
can roll freely without sliding. It will roll down the incline a little bit, but then come to rest in a stable
equilibrium after rotating by an angle which we measure.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q1-2
S

Figure 2: Cylinder on an inclined base.

A.1 Find an expression for as a function of the quantities (1), the angle and the 0.8pt
tilting angle of the base.

From now on, we can assume that the value of is known.

Figure 3: Suspended system.

Next we want to measure the moment of inertia of the system with respect to the symmetry axis .
To this end, we suspend the wooden cylinder at its symmetry axis from a rigid rod. We then turn it away
from its equilibrium position by a small angle , and let it go. See gure 3 for the setup. We nd that
describes a periodic motion with period .
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q1-3
A.2 Find the equation of motion for . Express the moment of inertia of the 0.5pt
system around its symmetry axis in terms of , and the known quantities
(1). You may assume that we are only disturbing the equilibrium position by a
small amount so that is always very small.

From the measurements in questions A.1 and A.2, we now want to determine the geometry and the
position of the metal disk inside the wooden cylinder.

A.3 Find an expression for the distance as a function of and the quantities (1). 0.4pt
You may also include and as variables in your expression, as they will be
calculated in subtask A.5.

A.4 Find an expression for the moment of inertia in terms of and the known 0.7pt
quantities (1). You may also include and as variables in your expression,
as they will be calculated in subtask A.5.

A.5 Using all the above results, write down an expression for and in terms of 1.1pt
, and the known quantities (1). You may express as a function of .

Part B. Rotating Space Station (6.5 points)

Alice is an astronaut living on a space station. The space station is a gigantic wheel of radius rotating
around its axis, thereby providing articial gravity for the astronauts. The astronauts live on the inner
side of the rim of the wheel. The gravitational attraction of the space station and the curvature of the
oor can be ignored.

B.1 At what angular frequency does the space station rotate so that the astro- 0.5pt
nauts experience the same gravity as on the Earth's surface?

Alice and her astronaut friend Bob have an argument. Bob does not believe that they are in fact living
in a space station and claims that they are on Earth. Alice wants to prove to Bob that they are living on
a rotating space station by using physics. To this end, she attaches a mass to a spring with spring
constant and lets it oscillate. The mass oscillates only in the vertical direction, and cannot move in the
horizontal direction.

B.2 Assuming that on Earth gravity is constant with acceleration , what would be 0.2pt
the angular oscillation frequency that a person on Earth would measure?

B.3 What angular oscillation frequency does Alice measure on the space station? 0.6pt

Alice is convinced that her experiment proves that they are on a rotating space station. Bob remains
sceptical. He claims that when taking into account the change in gravity above the surface of the Earth,
one nds a similar effect. In the following tasks we investigate whether Bob is right.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q1-4
ss
R

Figure 4: Space station

B.4 Derive an expression of the gravity

for small heights above the surface 0.8pt
of the Earth and compute the oscillation frequency of the oscillating mass
(linear approximation is enough). Denote the radius of the Earth by . Neglect
the rotation of Earth.

Indeed, for this space station, Alice does nd that the spring pendulum oscillates with the frequency that
Bob predicted.

B.5 For what radius of the space station does the oscillation frequency match 0.3pt
the oscillation frequency on the Earth? Express your answer in terms of .

Exasperated with Bob's stubbornness, Alice comes up with an experiment to prove her point. To this end
she climbs on a tower of height over the oor of the space station and drops a mass. This experiment
can be understood in the rotating reference frame as well as in an inertial reference frame.
In a uniformly rotating reference frame, the astronauts perceive a ctitious force called the Coriolis
force. The force acting on an object of mass moving at velocity in a rotating frame with constant
angular frequency is given by

   (2)

In terms of the scalar quantities you may use

  sin (3)

where is the angle between the velocity and the axis of rotation. The force is perpendicular to both the
velocity and the axis of rotation. The sign of the force can be determined from the right-hand rule, but
in what follows you may choose it freely.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q1-5
B.6 Calculate the horizontal velocity and the horizontal displacement (relative 1.1pt
to the base of the tower, in the direction perpendicular to the tower) of the
mass at the moment it hits the oor. You may assume that the height of
the tower is small, so that the acceleration as measured by the astronauts is
constant during the fall. Also, you may assume that .

To get a good result, Alice decides to conduct this experiment from a much taller tower than before. To
her surprise, the mass hits the oor at the base of the tower, so that  .

B.7 Find a lower bound for the height of the tower for which it can happen that 1.3pt
 .

Alice is willing to make one last attempt at convincing Bob. She wants to use her spring oscillator to show
the effect of the Coriolis force. To this end she changes the original setup: She attaches her spring to
a ring which can slide freely on a horizontal rod in the direction without any friction. The spring itself
oscillates in the direction. The rod is parallel to the oor and perpendicular to the axis of rotation of
the space station. The plane is thus perpendicular to the axis of rotation, with the direction pointing
straight towards the center of rotation of the station.

y=0

Figure 5: Setup.

B.8 Alice pulls the mass a distance downwards from the equilibrium point  , 1.7pt
 , and then lets it go (see gure 5).

Q1-6
Give an algebraic expression of
and
. You may assume that is
small, and neglect the Coriolis force for motion along the -axis.
Theory
Sketch the trajectory

, marking all important features such as

amplitude. English (Ocial)

Alice and Bob continue to argue.

 Theory
English (Ocial) Q2-1
Nonlinear Dynamics in Electric Circuits (10 points)
Please read the general instructions in the separate envelope before you start this problem.

Introduction

Bistable non-linear semiconducting elements (e.g. thyristors) are widely used in electronics as switches
and generators of electromagnetic oscillations. The primary eld of applications of thyristors is con-
trolling alternating currents in power electronics, for instance rectication of AC current to DC at the
megawatt scale. Bistable elements may also serve as model systems for self-organization phenomena
in physics (this topic is covered in part B of the problem), biology (see part C) and other elds of modern
nonlinear science.

Goals

To study instabilities and nontrivial dynamics of circuits including elements with non-linear charac-
teristics. To discover possible applications of such circuits in engineering and in modeling of biological
systems.

Part A. Stationary states and instabilities (3 points)

Fig. 1 shows the so-called S-shaped characteristics of a non-linear element . In the voltage
range between I   7 (the holding voltage) and UI   7 (the threshold voltage) this
characteristics is multivalued. For simplicity, the graph on Fig. 1 is chosen to be piece-wise linear (each
branch is a segment of a straight line). In particular, the line in the upper branch touches the origin if it
is extended. This approximation gives a good description of real thyristors.

10

I [A] 6

3
Uh
2
Uth
1

0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
U [V]

Figure 1: characteristics of the non-linear element .

 Theory
English (Ocial) Q2-2
A.1 Using the graph, determine the resistance PO of the element on the upper 0.4pt
branch of the characteristics, and PGG on the lower branch, respectively.
The middle branch is described by the equation

  (1)
JOU
Find the values of the parameters and JOU .

The element is connected in series (see Fig.2) with a resistor , an inductor and an ideal voltage
source . One says that the circuit is in a stationary state if the current is constant in time,
 DPOTU.

R L

Figure 2: Circuit with element , resistor , inductor and voltage source .

A.2 What are the possible numbers of stationary states that the circuit of Fig. 2 may 1pt
have for a xed value of and for   ? How does the answer change for
  ?

A.3 Let     ) and   7 in the circuit shown in Fig. 2. 0.6pt
Determine the values of the current TUBUJPOBSZ and the voltage TUBUJPOBSZ on the
non-linear element in the stationary state.

The circuit in Fig. 2 is in the stationary state with

 TUBUJPOBSZ . This stationary state is said to be
stable if after a small displacement (increase or decrease in the current), the current returns towards the
stationary state. And if the system keeps moving away from the stationary state, it is said to be unstable.

A.4 Use numerical values of the question A.3 and study the stability of the stationary 1pt
state with
 TUBUJPOBSZ . Is it stable or unstable?

Part B. Bistable non-linear elements in physics: radio transmitter (5 points)

We now investigate a new circuit conguration (see Fig. 3). This time, the non-linear element is con-
nected in parallel to a capacitor of capacitance   '. This block is then connected in series to a
resistor of resistance   and an ideal constant voltage source of voltage   7. It turns out
that this circuit undergoes oscillations with the non-linear element jumping from one branch of the
characteristics to another over the course of one cycle.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q2-3
R

Figure 3: Circuit with element , capacitor , resistor and voltage source .

B.1 Draw the oscillation cycle on the graph, including its direction (clockwise 1.8pt
or anticlockwise). Justify your answer with equations and sketches.

B.2 Find expressions for the times and that the system spends on each branch 1.9pt
of the graph during the oscillation cycle. Determine their numerical val-
ues. Find the numerical value of the oscillation period assuming that the time
needed for jumps between the branches of the graph is negligible.

B.3 Estimate the average power dissipated by the non-linear element over the 0.7pt
course of one oscillation. An order of magnitude is sucient.

The circuit in Fig. 3 is used to build a radio transmitter. For this purpose, the element is attached to
one end of a linear antenna (a long straight wire) of length . The other end of the wire is free. In the
antenna, an electromagnetic standing wave is formed. The speed of electromagnetic waves along the
antenna is the same as in vacuum. The transmitter is using the main harmonic of the system, which has
period of question B.2.

B.4 What is the optimal value of assuming that it cannot exceed  LN? 0.6pt

Part C. Bistable non-linear elements in biology: neuristor (2 points)

In this part of the problem, we consider an application of bistable non-linear elements to modeling of
biological processes. A neuron in a human brain has the following property: when excited by an external
signal, it makes one single oscillation and then returns to its initial state. This feature is called excitability.
Due to this property, pulses can propagate in the network of coupled neurons constituting the nerve
systems. A semiconductor chip designed to mimic excitability and pulse propagation is called a neuristor
(from neuron and transistor).
We attempt to model a simple neuristor using a circuit that includes the non-linear element that we
investigated previously. To this end, the voltage in the circuit of Fig. 3 is decreased to the value 
 7. The oscillations stop, and the system reaches its stationary state. Then, the voltage is rapidly
increased back to the value   7, and after a period of time (with  ) is set again to the value
(see Fig. 4). It turns out that there is a certain critical value DSJU , and the system shows qualitatively
different behavior for  DSJU and for  DSJU .
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q2-4
16

15

[V] 14

13

12
t0 t0 +
11
t
Figure 4: Voltage of the voltage source as a function of time.

C.1 Sketch the graphs of the time dependence of the current

on the non-linear 1.2pt
element for  DSJU and for  DSJU .

C.2 Find the expression and the numerical value of the critical time DSJU for which 0.6pt
the scenario switches.

C.3 Is the circuit with    T a neuristor? 0.2pt

 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-1
Large Hadron Collider (10 points)
Please read the general instructions in the separate envelope before you start this problem.
In this task, the physics of the particle accelerator LHC (Large Hadron Collider) at CERN is discussed. CERN
is the world's largest particle physics laboratory. Its main goal is to get insight into the fundamental laws
of nature. Two beams of particles are accelerated to high energies, guided around the accelerator ring by
a strong magnetic eld and then made to collide with each other. The protons are not spread uniformly
around the circumference of the accelerator, but they are clustered in so-called bunches. The resulting
particles generated by collisions are observed with large detectors. Some parameters of the LHC can be
found in table 1.

LHC ring
Circumference of ring  N
Number of bunches per proton beam 
Number of protons per bunch  
Proton beams
Energy of protons  5F7
Centre of mass energy  5F7

Table 1: Typical numerical values of relevant LHC parameters.

Particle physicists use convenient units for the energy, momentum and mass: The energy is measured
in electron volts [F7]. By denition,  F7 is the amount of energy gained by a particle with elementary
charge, e, moved through a potential difference of one volt ( F7    LH N T ).
The momentum is measured in units of F7 and the mass in units of F7 , where is the speed of light in
vacuum. Since  F7 is a very small quantity of energy, particle physicists often use .F7 ( .F7   F7),
(F7 ( (F7   F7) or 5F7 ( 5F7   F7).
Part A deals with the acceleration of protons or electrons. Part B is concerned with the identication of
particles produced in the collisions at CERN.

Part A. LHC accelerator (6 points)

Acceleration:

Assume that the protons have been accelerated by a voltage such that their velocity is very close to
the speed of light and neglect any energy loss due to radiation or collisions with other particles.

A.1 Find the exact expression for the nal velocity of the protons as a function of 0.7pt
the accelerating voltage , and physical constants.

A design for a future experiment at CERN plans to use the protons from the LHC and to collide them with
electrons which have an energy of  (F7.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-2
A.2 For particles with high energy and low mass the relative deviation 
 0.8pt
of the nal velocity from the speed of light is very small. Find a rst order ap-
proximation for and calculate for electrons with an energy of  (F7using
the accelerating voltage and physical constants.

We now return to the protons in the LHC. Assume that the beam pipe has a circular shape.

A.3 Derive an expression for the uniform magnetic ux density necessary to keep 1.0pt
the proton beam on a circular track. The expression should only contain the en-
ergy of the protons , the circumference , fundamental constants and num-
bers. You may use suitable approximations if their effect is smaller than preci-
sion given by the least number of signicant digits.
Calculate the magnetic ux density for a proton energy of   5F7,
neglecting interactions between the protons.

Radiated Power:

An accelerated charged particle radiates energy in the form of electromagnetic waves. The radiated
power SBE of a charged particle that circulates with a constant angular velocity depends only on its
acceleration , its charge , the speed of light and the permittivity of free space .

A.4 Use dimensional analysis to nd an expression for the radiated power SBE . 1.0pt

The real formula for the radiated power contains a factor  

; moreover, a full relativistic derivation
gives an additional multiplicative factor , with   


A.5 Calculate UPU , the total radiated power of the LHC, for a proton energy of  1.0pt
 5F7 (Note table 1). You may use suitable approximations.

Linear Acceleration:

At CERN, protons at rest are accelerated by a linear accelerator of length   N through a potential
difference of   .7. Assume that the electrical eld is homogeneous. A linear accelerator consists
of two plates as sketched in Figure 1.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-3
A.6 Determine the time that the protons take to pass through this eld. 1.5pt

+ -

Figure 1: Sketch of an accelerator module.

 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-4
Part B. Particle Identication (4 points)

Time of ight:

It is important to identify the high energy particles that are generated in the collision in order to interpret
the interaction process. A simple method is to measure the time () that a particle with known momentum
needs to pass a length in a so-called Time-of-Flight (ToF) detector. Typical particles which are identied
in the detector, together with their masses, are listed in table 2.

Particle Mass <MeVc2 >

Deuteron 
Proton 
charged Kaon 
charged Pion 
Electron 

Table 2: Particles and their masses.

mass m
momentum p

x time t1 length l time t2

Figure 2: Schematic view of a time-of-ight detector.

B.1 Express the particle mass in terms of of the momentum , the ight length 0.8pt
and the ight time , assuming that particles have elementary charge and
travel with velocity close to on straight tracks in the ToF detector and that
they travel perpendicular to the two detection planes (see gure 2).
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-5
B.2 Calculate the minimal length of a ToF detector that allows to safely distinguish 0.7pt
a charged kaon from a charged pion, given both their momenta are measured
to be  (F7D. For a good separation it is required that the difference in the
time-of-ight is larger than three times the time resolution of the detector. The
typical resolution of a ToF detector is  QT  QT   T
.

In the following, particles produced in a typical LHC detector are identied in a two stage detector con-
sisting of a tracking detector and a ToF detector. Figure 3 shows the setup in the plane transverse and
longitudinal to the proton beams. Both detectors are tubes surrounding the interaction region with the
beam passing in the middle of the tubes. The tracking detector measures the trajectory of a charged
particle which passes through a magnetic eld whose direction is parallel to the proton beams. The ra-
dius of the trajectory allows one to determine the transverse momentum Q5 of the particle. Since the
collision time is known the ToF detector only needs one tube to measure the ight time (time between
the collision and the detection in the ToF tube). This ToF tube is situated just outside the tracking cham-
ber. For this task you may assume that all particles created by the collision travel perpendicular to the
proton beams, which means that the created particles have no momentum along the direction of the
proton beams.
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-6
y y (2)
(2) (1)
x z

(4)

R
(5) (3) (5)
(3)
(4)
(4)
(1)

(1)
transverse plane cross section of the
longitudinal view at the center
of the tube along the beamline

(1) - ToF tube

(2) - track
(3) - collision point
(4) - tracking tube
(5) - proton beams
- magnetic eld

Figure 3 : Experimental setup for particle identication with a tracking chamber and a ToF
detector. Both detectors are tubes surrounding the collision point in the middle. Left : trans-
verse view perpendicular to the beamline. Right : longitudinal view parallel to the beam line.
The particle is travelling perpendicular to the beam line.

B.3 Express the particle mass in terms of the magnetic ux density , the radius 1.7pt
of the ToF tube, fundamental constants and the measured quantities: radius
of the track and time-of-ight .

We detected four particles and want to identify them. The magnetic ux density in the tracking detector
was   5. The radius of the ToF tube was  N. Here are the measurements ( OT   T):

Particle Radius of the trajectory <N> Time of ight <OT>

A  
B  
C  
D  
 Theory
English (Ocial) Q3-7
B.4 Identify the four particles by calculating their mass. 0.8pt
Imprint

Editorial Team
Thomas Uehlinger
Marco Gerber

Exam Authors
Christof Aegerter
Anton Alekseev
Yves Barmaz
Fritz Epple
Matthias Hengsberger
Christoph Keller
Ben Kilminster
Alex Kish
Aram Kostanyan
Katharina Mller
Gnther Palfinger
Pavel Rodin
Johan Runeson
Andreas Schilling

Graphic Design and Layout (Cover)

Stephanie Lippert
MELS, University of Zurich

Printing House
Mattenbach AG

University of Zurich 2016

International Physics Olympiad 2016

www.ipho2016.org
[email protected]
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