The University Physics Competition began on Friday, November 1, 2024, at 6pm MDT (Mountain Daylight Time), which is 8pm EDT, when the contest problems were posted here.

Problem A: Space Station Air Evacuation Time

A space station is approximately shaped like a cylinder with an interior length of 50 meters, and a diameter of 4 meters. The air inside the space station is at a temperature of 20 C and a pressure of 1 atmosphere (101.3 kPa). A micrometeorite makes a hole 1 cm in diameter in the center of one end of the space station. How much time would it take until the air pressure in the space station was only 0.3 atmosphere? How would this time be different for holes of different diameters?

Problem B: Mars Electrical Power

A base on Mars will require a power system that can continuously provide 150 KW for at least 2 Earth years. We need to design this power system with the smallest amount of mass to minimize the cost of sending this to Mars. What is the minimum mass that such a power system could have? Assume that the crew of the base can do work for assembly and maintenance of the power system.

Full results announcement and complete listing of all medals in the 2024 University Physics Competition

We are very pleased to announce the results of the fifteenth annual University Physics Competition. The University Physics Competition is an international contest for undergraduate students, who worked in teams of up to three students at their home colleges and universities all over the world, and spent 48 hours during the weekend of November 1, 2, & 3, 2024, analyzing a scenario using the principles of physics, and writing a formal paper describing their work.

In this year’s competition 681 teams submitted papers for judging. 534 teams selected “Problem A – Space Station Air Evaculation Time” and 147 teams selected “Problem B – Mars Electrical Power.”

For Problem A, the Gold Medal Winning Teams were:

Team 380: Kenneth Luo, Samuel Ho, Simon Shen

Institution: University of Toronto

Faculty Sponsor: Patrick McGraw

Team 422: Hongyi Jiang, Haoyang Luan, Zhicong Hong

Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

Faculty Sponsor: Zijie Qu

Team 427: Xu Ruan, Zhengwei Gong, Jincheng Ye

Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

Faculty Sponsor: Zijie Qu

Team 494: Muhammad Arif Hussain, Md. Badhan Mridha, Emon Hossain

Institution: University of Dhaka

Faculty Sponsor: Md. Tareq Mahmud

Team 520: Wenxin Chen, Mingye Lu, Runzhe Zhang

Institution: Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute

Faculty Sponsor: Zijie Qu

Team 541: Lei Xu

Institution: Tongji University

Faculty Sponsor: Fang Kai

Team 568: Hou Huaxuan, Lin Junjie, Liu Yuxing

Institution: Tongji University

Faculty Sponsor: Zhang Jianwei

Team 646: Yaoxing Lu, Zhengyang Li, Xinyi He

Institution: ShanghaiTech University

Faculty Sponsor: Kangning Wang

Team 660: Wu Honghan, Liu Hongtao, Li Zijie

Institution: National University of Defense Technology

Faculty Sponsor: Xu Xinrong

Team 662: Ma Zilin, Ma Xinyu, Xu Weifeng

Institution: National University of Defense Technology

Faculty Sponsor: Liu Yonglu

Team 674: Chen Qianhui, Liu Yiming, Chen Siyu

Institution: National University of Defense Technology

Faculty Sponsor: Peng Gang

Team 824: Tanmay Gupta, Angelina Zhang, Seth Brunner

Institution: Georgia Institute of Technology

Faculty Sponsor: Edwin Greco

For problem B, the Gold Medal Winning Teams were:

Team 128: Kan Linjie, Liu Yuxuan, Zhu Jiayi

Institution: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Faculty Sponsor: Kan Caixia

Team 367: JiaTao Hu, ZiKuan Luo, QianFa Tang

Institution: Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Faculty Sponsor: XingZhong Zhu

Team 659: Tang Yao, Ding Hongen, Qin Yanglin

Institution: National University of Defense Technology

Faculty Sponsor: Liu Yonglu

Of the 681 papers submitted in this year’s University Physics Competition, 15 teams (2.2%) were ranked as Gold Medal Winners, 118 teams (17%) were ranked as Silver Medal Winners, 201 teams (30%) were ranked as Bronze Medal Winners, and 347 teams (51%) were ranked as Accomplished Competitors.

We extend our sincerest congratulations to each of the competing teams for their excellent work and their enthusiasm for physics!

Kelly S. Cline

Carroll College; Helena, Montana, United States

Director of the University Physics Competition

www.uphysicsc.com