# Physics Bowl

PhysicsBowl is a national physics competition coordinated by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). The test is taken during the first half of April each year by approximately 10,000 physics students. Competitors must attempt 40 physics-related multiple choice questions in a 45 minute long time period. First-year physics students take the Division I test, while second-year physics students take the Division II test. The test can be administered physically on paper, but it is now also offered digitally by the online instructional application WebAssign.

## History

Originally based on the American Chemical Society's general chemistry test, PhysicsBowl was used as an external benchmark for physics teachers to assess student performance starting in 1983. The contest was first administered nationally in 1985 as the "Metrologic Exam," named after its original sponsor, and was renamed to "Physics Bowl" in 1990. In 2002, the test expanded to include a second division. Division I students complete questions 1 through 40, while Division II students complete questions 11–50. The Division 2 contest contains more difficult questions and is made for students with advanced conceptual understanding of physics. Students participating in the Division 2 contest usually take more than a year of physics while students who participate in the Division 1 contest usually take a year or less of physics. Thus the whole test is 50 questions long, but each student must only complete 40, and the middle 30 questions overlap between divisions.

## 2017 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 1

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 38 | LIU, PATRICK Y | SpringLight Education Institute | CA |
| 2 | 36 | WANG, LU | Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou | Jiangsu |
| 3 | 36 | LIU, JASON | Stamford Polytechnic at Beacon | CT |
| 4 | 36 | BIAN, VINCENT W | Poolesville High School l | MD |
| 5 | 36 | ZHAO, TONGYU | Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou | Jiangsu |
| 6 | 36 | ZHU, YIFAN | Shanghai Foreign Language School | Shanghai |
| 7 | 35 | YANG, HAICHUAN | The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China | Beijing |
| 8 | 35 | ZHU, JUNZHE | Shanghai Starriver Bilingual School | Shanghai |
| 9 | 34 | CHEN, YAO | Jiangsu Provincial Liangfeng Senior Middle School International Department | Jiangsu |
| 10 | 34 | GONG, KEYUAN | Jiangsu Provincial Liangfeng Senior Middle School International Department | Jiangsu |

## 2017 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 2

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 40 | HUANG, JONATHAN J | University HS - Irvine | CA |
| 2 | 36 | NASH, WILLIAM K | King And Low-Heywood Thomas School | CT |
| 3 | 34 | XIE, CHENGXI | Pomona College | CA |
| 4 | 34 | XU, JACK Y | Ivy Path School | ON |
| 5 | 34 | WANG, YANZHEN | Chengdu Foreign Languages School | Sichuan |
| 6 | 33 | ZHAO, MINGXUAN | Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou | Jiangsu |
| 7 | 32 | YI, JOO SUNG | Taft School | CT |
| 8 | 32 | ZHANG, NANQING | Beijing New Oriental Foreign Language School at Yangzhou | Jiangsu |
| 9 | 31 | YE, MING YANG | Bayview Secondary School | ON |
| 10 | 31 | MO, GEORGE B | Bayview Secondary School | ON |

## 2016 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 1

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 37 | LIU, YANWEI | Wuhan Foreign Language School | Hubei |
| 2 | 36 | YAN, YANG | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 3 | 36 | CHEN, PHIL H | University HS | CA |
| 4 | 36 | XU, YUHENG | Olympiads School | ON |
| 5 | 35 | ARRIETA, ANDREW J | Palos Verdes Peninsula High School | CA |
| 6 | 35 | VITTALA, AADITH S | Thomas Jefferson HS for Science and Tech | VA |
| 7 | 35 | ZENGXU, ZHAOQIU | High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University | Jiangsu |
| 8 | 35 | MANSOUR, OMAR B | Mentor HS | OH |
| 9 | 34 | MERCHANT, SOPHIE E | Hutchison School | TN |
| 10 | 34 | HANG, YUXIAO | Shandong Experimental High School | Shandong |

## 2016 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 2

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 40 | LU, JASON | Adlai Stevenson High School | IL |
| 2 | 39 | ZHENG, GUO | Olympiads School | ON |
| 3 | 38 | HUANG, JONATHAN J | University HS | CA |
| 4 | 38 | SHANG, JIAXUAN | Yali High School | Hunan |
| 5 | 38 | ZHANG, SHUANGYI | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 6 | 38 | LI, GONGQI | Shenzhen Middle School | Guangdong |
| 7 | 38 | OUYANG, XIAOYI | The First Middle School of Jiujiang Jiangxi Province | Jiangxi |
| 8 | 37 | CHEN, PANYU | High School Affiliated To Nanjing Normal University | Jiangsu |
| 9 | 37 | ZHAI, GAN | Shanghai High School | Shanghai |
| 10 | 37 | LIU, YIRAN | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |

## 2015 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 1

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 33* | ZHANG, XIAOXUAN | Wuhan Foreign Language School | Hubei |
| 2 | 33* | LIU, XIAOLING | The Experimental High School Attached To Beijing Normal University | Beijing |
| 3 | 33 | ZHANG, SHUANGYI | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 4 | 32* | LUO, JINXUAN | Xi'an Gaoxin NO.1 High School | Shaanxi |
| 5 | 32 | XIE, BRIAN B | Mission San Jose High School | CA |
| 6 | 31* | FENG, SIQIN | Hainan Middle School | Hainan |
| 7 | 31* | LIU, YIRAN | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 8 | 31* | GE, LE | The High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China | Beijing |
| 9 | 31* | REN, TIANSHU | Xi'an Gaoxin NO.1 High School | Shaanxi |
| 10 | 31* | ZHENG, GEOFFREY | Lincoln Park Academy | FL |

## 2015 Physics Bowl Winners: Division 2

| Rank | Score | Student | School | State |
| 1 | 38 | SAMINENI, ANEESH V | The King's Academy | CA |
| 2 | 30* | LU, JASON | Stevenson HS | IL |
| 3 | 30* | WINER, MIKE H | Montgomery Blair HS | MD |
| 4 | 30 | WANGA, YUANHAO | International Department of the Affiliated High School of SCNU | Guangdong |
| 5 | 29* | AN, SEUNG HWAN | Olympiad Academia | NY |
| 6 | 29* | SHI, WENZE | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 7 | 29 | YU, SIQIN | High School Affiliated to Nanjing Normal University | Jiangsu |
| 8 | 28* | LI, YIMING | Nanjing Foreign Language School | Jiangsu |
| 9 | 28 | QINN, GUANGHUI | The Affiliated High School of Shanxi University | Shanxi |
| 10 | 27* | GAO, JERRY | Troy High School | MI |
* After calculating scores, question difficulty was used as a tie-breaker to determine ranks for students with same scores.

## Scoring

The top ten overall students from each division, as well as the first and second place students in each of 14 geographic regions, are reported each year once the tests are all scored (note that all advanced, magnet, or other special science schools are placed in region one, and therefore do not compete in their geographic regions). The top school team scores are also calculated and reported as the sum of the scores of the top five competing students from that school. The average score, out of 40 points, for the 2014 exam was 17.5 points (43.8%) for Division I and 15.7 points (39.3%) for Division II.
Regions for PhysicsBowl as of the 2014 Contest :
| Region | Geographic Area |
| 01 | Specialized Schools of Science, Mathematics, and Technology |
| 02 | Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Vermont |
| 03 | New York, Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia |
| 04 | New Jersey, Pennsylvania |
| 05 | Delaware, District of Columbia, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia |
| 06 | Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands |
| 07 | Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio |
| 08 | Illinois, Iowa, Wisconsin |
| 09 | Arizona, Minnesota, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming |
| 10 | Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma, Tennessee |
| 11 | Texas |
| 12 | California with zip codes <= 92500 |
| 13 | California with zip codes >= 92500 |
| 14 | Alaska, Alberta, British Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Manitoba, Mexico, Montana, Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Saskatchewan, Oregon, Washington, Asia, Europe, and Others |