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Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: February 23rd, 2015, 4:26 pm
by boomvroomshroom
fishman100 wrote:Aside from buoyancy force, simple wave equations (v = (f)(lambda), etc) and some kinematics, what other equations are you guys putting on your sheet?

Also, I've been to 2 invitationals and both tests were vastly different. One was very representative of the "problem solving" approach outlined in the rules, and we had to make graphs, extrapolate data, calculate continental drift, etc. The other was mostly recall, with a few simple buoyancy force problems thrown in at the end. Like a lot of people here, I'm stuck trying to decide if I want to focus on math/problem solving or recall. Any tips?
Depends on which you're worse at, I guess. Personally, I think you can get away with ditching more of the math because it's something you can figure out (scioly test writers are not supposed to make the math super complicated - they're more concerned with your reasoning skills). But you want to know the information because that's a little harder to BS.

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 2nd, 2015, 6:09 pm
by BSchiffer
What formulas should we know for buoyancy? What types of problems could they possibly ask? I am having trouble finding example problems on the practice tests...

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 2nd, 2015, 9:02 pm
by boomvroomshroom
BSchiffer wrote:What formulas should we know for buoyancy? What types of problems could they possibly ask? I am having trouble finding example problems on the practice tests...
You should be able to derive everything from density=mass/volume. Buoyant force is just the difference between the volume of fluid displaced and gravitational force. Anything else you should be able to find from dimensional analysis.

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 4th, 2015, 6:14 pm
by BSchiffer
Alright, thanks! Also, does anyone know whether we should know about El nino/La nina for division C Dynamic Planet? It doesn't seem to be in the list of topics, but I feel like it is an important part of oceanography.

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 5th, 2015, 4:05 am
by John Richardsim
BSchiffer wrote:Alright, thanks! Also, does anyone know whether we should know about El nino/La nina for division C Dynamic Planet? It doesn't seem to be in the list of topics, but I feel like it is an important part of oceanography.
Yeah, although its not listed, its an important phenomenon in physical oceanography. I know I'm going to put in the time to grab information on it.

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 12th, 2015, 10:12 am
by mandjef1
Does anybody know of some good practice tests other than the ones on this website?

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 19th, 2015, 10:13 am
by SOnerd
Hi guys, are we going to have to know how to calculate specific heat? If so, what's the formula?

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 19th, 2015, 1:01 pm
by jkr_pw
So my regionals was last week (western Long Island) and my partner and I were really surprised when we got the test- 90 questions of multiple choice, and 10 short answer questions that required no more than 5 word responses. We were expecting something station-based with more application involved, like the rules specified. What format were other regional tests done in? What can we expect at states?

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 19th, 2015, 1:53 pm
by azuritemalachite
jkr_pw wrote:So my regionals was last week (western Long Island) and my partner and I were really surprised when we got the test- 90 questions of multiple choice, and 10 short answer questions that required no more than 5 word responses. We were expecting something station-based with more application involved, like the rules specified. What format were other regional tests done in? What can we expect at states?
All the competitions I've been to this year did not have stations. I think it is hard to create stations when it is pretty pointless. At States there will probably be more of an attempt, but not perfectly executed.
SOnerd wrote:Hi guys, are we going to have to know how to calculate specific heat? If so, what's the formula?
I don't think we'll have to. Focus on buoyancy, wave calculations, etc.

Re: Dynamic Planet B/C

Posted: March 19th, 2015, 9:46 pm
by tinywings
jkr_pw wrote:So my regionals was last week (western Long Island) and my partner and I were really surprised when we got the test- 90 questions of multiple choice, and 10 short answer questions that required no more than 5 word responses. We were expecting something station-based with more application involved, like the rules specified. What format were other regional tests done in? What can we expect at states?
My regionals had stations, all application. It was incredibly chaotic and poorly organized by the event supervisors. We were only given 5 minutes per station, which is a ridiculously small amount of time, considering some stations asked a lot, for example, one station required a graph with 23 plot points and questions to answer about the graph. I personally believe and hope that they will not attempt stations at States. It's just too messy and chaotic, IMO.