
Be Part of a Science-Education Excellence Initiative
Join the 5th U.S. Physics Olympiad
for Middle-School Students
OLYMPIAD INFORMATION
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Olympiad Day: Thursday, April 24, 2025
Format: Virtual Competition
Who Can Participate? Middle school students (grades 6, 7, and 8) and their dedicated teachers
Registration Deadline: April 22, 2025
Application Fee: None
Estimated Time to Complete Application: 15 minutes (see instructions below)
Eligible Applicants: School leadership, teachers, and school coaches are invited to apply on behalf of middle-school students.
Announcement of Winners & Prize Distribution: May 8, 2025
Event host
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Physical Science Research Associates (Physcira) – the nation’s leading company dedicated to making physics a distinct discipline in U.S. middle schools – is committed to making physics education engaging for students and teachers alike. Physcira aims to strengthen America’s position as a global leader in science and technology.
The Olympiad is proudly supported by leading American firms, national laboratories, and government organizations.
Background
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The tradition of hosting national and international Physics Olympiads for middle- and high-school students began in 1967 among Eastern European nations, later expanding to other European and Asian countries. The United States introduced its own national physics competition for high school students in 1986, with the American Association of Physics Teachers and the American Institute of Physics sponsoring a U.S. team in the prestigious International Physics Olympiad ever since.
Until recently, a nationwide physics competition for U.S. middle-school students did not exist. This changed in 2021 when Physcira organized the Inaugural Middle School Physics Olympiad on April 29, attracting 1,012 participants from nearly every state. The event consisted of two challenging sessions, testing students’ knowledge through curriculum-based physics problems.
- 2nd Olympiad: March 31, 2022
- 3rd Olympiad: March 9, 2023
- 4th Olympiad: March 28, 2024
On April 24, 2025, Physcira will host the 5th U.S. Physics Olympiad for Middle-School Students, further solidifying its role as a pioneer in physics education.
Physcira has earned both national and international recognition for its innovative approach to physics education, including its widely successful Physics in a Box program, now used in schools nationwide. With a vision to elevate U.S. science education to world-class levels, Physcira continues to provide extensive support to educators and school leadership teams.
Beyond rewarding excellence, the Olympiad aims to raise awareness about the critical need for physics education in middle and junior-high schools, provide valuable networking opportunities for science teachers, and encourage and prepare students for national and international competitions in high school.
Event Details
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The 5th U.S. Physics Olympiad for Middle-School Students is a one-day virtual competition. Students will tackle problems in mechanics, optics, and electricity & magnetism, demonstrating their understanding and analytical skills.
Competition Structure:
- Morning Round: 25 multiple-choice questions (90 minutes)
- Questions will be sent electronically to the coaches of registered participants at 8:00 AM local time on April 24, 2025.
- Coaches are responsible for supervising students, scanning responses, and submitting them by 12:00 PM (local time) for evaluation.
- Afternoon Round: 6 open-response, pre-algebra-based physics problems (90 minutes)
- The session begins at 1:00 PM local time, with all responses due by 5:00 PM local time.
The competition will be overseen and judged by a distinguished panel of internationally renowned scientists and educators, led by Dr. Anatoliy Glushchenko, Professor and Chair of the Physics Department at the University of Colorado.
Results will be announced on May 8, 2025.
All participants will receive certificates recognizing their academic excellence and participation in this prestigious event.
Top performers will be awarded special certificates, ideally presented during school-wide award ceremonies.
Preparation for the Physics Olympiad
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With the Olympiad fast approaching, we encourage schools, teachers, and school coaches to register their students and help them prepare.
For any questions or additional details, please contact us at: Olympiad@physcira.com
We look forward to receiving your applications and welcoming you to an exciting event that celebrates young scientific talent!
Note: If you are applying for a student(s) and are not the parent/guardian, prior consent of the prospective participant(s) and their parent(s)/guardian(s) should be secured for your records.
Frequently Asked Questions
Will students be competing individually or as a team?
Students will compete as individuals. When the results are announced, each participant and the participant’s coach will be recognized. If multiple students from the same school are interested in participating, each needs to be registered individually. The same coach may register any number of interested students.
In addition to the information in the original announcement, are there any additional rules that students and coaches should be aware of?
No. To keep the rules and the registration process as simple as possible, all relevant details are in the original announcement.
Here are the simple rules:
- The Olympiad is a one-day, virtual event. The two-part competition will comprise morning and afternoon sessions on April 24, 2025.
- The competition will ask students to answer questions and solve problems in the fields of mechanics, optics, and electricity & magnetism. The list of topics is provided below.
- The first part of the competition will give students 90 minutes to answer 25 multiple-choice questions. They will be delivered electronically to the coaches of registered participants at 8 a.m. (local time for each participant) on April 24. Coaches will be responsible for supervising students, scanning their answers and returning all responses for evaluation by noon (participants’ local time).
- The second part of the competition consists of six, open-response, pre-algebra-based physics problems to be completed within 90 minutes. These problems will be delivered electronically to the coaches of registered participants at 1 p.m. (local time for each participant), with all answers to be submitted by 5 p.m. of April 24, 2025.
Which students are eligible to participate?
All interested students are highly encouraged to participate. Many questions and problems will be conceptual and “life based,” allowing students to apply critical thinking and general life knowledge.
We encourage participation by students in every middle-school grade. Both younger and older students can benefit from their participation. They not only can take pride in their participation (which will be recognized when results are announced), they will gain an understanding of what is required for future competitions.
What complexity level can students expect?
In creating the Middle-School Physics Olympiad, Physcira analyzed the main academic standards for middle-school physical-science classes nationwide, including those provided by a number of State Departments of Education. Most importantly, we evaluated and analyzed the breadth and depth of the knowledge provided to students in a cross-section of public, charter and private middle schools in different states.
Based on our evaluation, and taking into account that this is only the third nation-wide competition for middle schoolers, the Olympiad will present students with challenges on a “middle level” so all participants have a fair chance. All participants will be recognized when the results are announced, and awards will be made in a variety of categories.
As we see it, the willingness to be challenged in this event speaks volumes about the high caliber and commitment to excellence of every participating school, student, coach and leadership team.
On what mathematical level is the Olympiad based?
All questions and problems will be either conceptual or pre-algebra-based (with elements of geometry), with simple measurement and graphing elements.
For example, problems may involve solving for a variable in a linear equation; calculating areas of common shapes (rectangle, triangle); and determining volumes of regular solids: cube, rectangular prism (parallelepiped), cylinder and sphere.
What tools are students allowed to use?
Students may use a pen/pencil, paper, eraser, calculator, protractor, compass and a ruler.
On what topics will the competition be based?
Here are the topics on which Olympiad questions will be based:
- Mechanics
- Metric system: meter, kilogram, second, degrees of Celsius.
- Unit transformations: millimeters, centimeters and meters, units for area and units for volume.
- Density of solids and liquids.
- Mechanical motion: speed, velocity and acceleration.
- Collisions and momentum. The law of conservation of linear momentum.
- Free fall and free fall acceleration.
- Forces. Gravitational force, weight, friction force, elastic force and Archimedes’ force.
- Newton’s laws.
- Potential and kinetic energy. The law of conservation of mechanical energy.
- Simple machines: levers, pulleys and inclines.
- Waves and sound.
2. Optics
- Reflection of light and the law of reflection of light.
- Refraction of light and the law of refraction of light.
- Lenses. Converging and diverging lenses.
- Lens equation.
3) Electricity and Magnetism
- Positive and negative charges.
- Current and its carriers (electrons).
- Voltage, current and resistance as main characteristics of an electrical circuit.
- Ohm’s law.
- Resistors in series and parallel circuits.
- Magnets.
- Magnetic and electric fields.
Is there a fee for the Olympiad?
There is no fee for the competition. The event is being sponsored entirely by private donors and organizations that share Physcira’s deep commitment to advancing physics education in our nation’s middle- and junior-high schools.
How should coaches oversee their students’ performance during the Olympiad?
On the day of the Olympiad, coaches will receive the competition problems from the Olympiad Committee by email and will be responsible for distributing them to their students. Since students who are participating are expected to be on site at their schools, the problems can simply be printed out. Students will not be allowed to participate remotely barring a drastic change in the environment (e.g., a significant pandemic resurgence). In such cases, a change to remote participation will be announced prior to the Olympiad. All answers should be collected by coaches, scanned and returned to the Olympiad Committee by the stated deadline.
If remote participation is approved by the Olympiad Committee, how can coaches properly supervise their students who participate remotely?
If this change occurs, it can best be addressed with frank communication between coaches and their students well before the event. Students should be made aware that, given the unique circumstances leading to their remote participation, the competition must be held under an honor system that assumes every student will uphold the highest standards of honesty and integrity. Students should understand that they will be part of an event that will attract national attention and, we hope, lead to increased support for middle- and junior-high school physics education. They are not just participating for themselves, their coaches and their schools; they are helping future students and serving as role models for their peers.
We remain open to and grateful for your suggestions and questions. Please keep sharing your ideas! As we see it, the Olympiad is a great start to what we hope will be an ongoing dialogue – and continuing opportunities to work together – as advocates for physics education in our nation’s middle- and junior-high schools.
Should you have any questions about the Olympiad that were not answered here, please feel free to send them to us at: Olympiad@physcira.com