Physics Food Races Rules

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Race to support the Food Bank!

May 12th, 2012

Bring a cylindrical, non-perishable food item to the Physics Department at Science Rendezvous!

The Race:

Every physical object has mass and inertia. When you rotate them, you will find that the way mass is distributed within these objects affect how they move! Two objects with identical overall mass and size can roll down a ramp at very different speeds.

Your food items (cans, jars, or any other sealed, cylindrical, non-perishable food item) will be placed and released by a judge at the top of a 185cm long, 30cm wide wooden plank that is propped up at an angle of 5 degrees to the horizontal. Your food item must start rolling from rest, and reach the end of the ramp without aid from any mechanical or chemical contraptions save for a single rubber band, which is permitted for the sole purpose of levelling the rolling edges of your food item. (So that your canned foods will roll straight).

A set of timing gates is set up 20cm and 120cm away from the leading edge of your food item at the starting position, and are positioned approximately 2cm above the ramp. Your food item must remain entirely over the plank between these timing gates during the race.

The time that it takes your food items to travel between the timing gates will be recorded, after which your food items will be donated to the Daily Bread Food Bank!

There will be prizes (plus bragging rights) for the donor of the:

Fastest food

Slowest food (Food must make it to the end of the ramp unassisted!)

Most creative food (decision is entirely up to judges!)

Qualifying Food dimensions:

	Minimum	Maximum
Diameter	5cm	30cm
Length	3cm	30cm
Weight	50g	5kg

There is no limit to the number of food items you enter! In the event of multiple entries clocking the same time, the donor of the earliest entry wins. A pdf copy of the rules is available for download here.

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