FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE February 13, 2002 CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, (515) 271-3119 HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS TO BUILD AND RACE MOUSETRAP-POWERED CARS IN PHYSICS OLYMPICS Building a better mousetrap wouldn't be enough of a challenge for central Iowa's top high school physics students. So, the students are designing and building toy race cars powered with only the force of a mousetrap spring. Approximately 120 students will race their cars in the 24th annual Physics Olympics on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at Drake University. The winning mousetrap-powered car will be selected on the basis of a formula that rewards the greatest distance traveled and the greatest speed in the first 5 meters of the course. The Physics Olympics, which is free and open to the public, will take place from 9 to 11:30 a.m. in Parents Hall at Olmsted Center, 29th Street and University Avenue. The event is sponsored by Drake's School of Education and the Heartland Area Education Agency. Wednesday's competition consists of a series of six events testing the students' ingenuity, their understanding of physics-related principles and their construction skills. In addition to the mousetrap-powered cars, the events are as follows: Falling Mass-Powered Car. Students raise a 1,000-gram mass 50 centimeters above a car, then drop it and try to harness the energy created by the falling mass to power the car. The car that travels the farthest wins. Toothpick Bridges. Students construct a bridge to limited dimensions from toothpicks and Elmer's glue. The bridge that flexes least when stressed with weight wins. Ping-Pong Catapult. Students create and construct a catapult that must move along a marked course, carrying a Ping-Pong ball 2 meters. Then, within the third meter of the course, it must stop and launch the Ping-Pong ball toward a circular target. The device that does not default on the course and that places the ball closest to the center of the target wins. Soda Straw Arm. Each team of two receives 20 jumbo plastic straws and 20 straight pins. The team then has 30 minutes to construct an "arm" that holds a weight while protruding from a table. The winner is the longest device that can hold a suspended 100-gram weight for at least 10 seconds. Student-Powered Water Heater. Each team is given a measured amount of water and has five minutes to raise its temperature using human power only. The team whose technique raises the temperature the most wins this event. Team and individual winners from central Iowa high schools will receive prize ribbons and advance to the state competition, which is set for April 10 at Kirkwood Community College in Cedar Rapids.