Physics Bowl

PhysicsBowl is run by the American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT). Founded in 1930, the AAPT is the only US organisation devoted solely to advancing physics education, with 8,000 registered physics teachers — half of them professors at leading American universities. PhysicsBowl problems are written and reviewed by a committee of the association's university physics professors and experienced high school teachers.

It is the most influential US high school physics assessment, attracting over 500 renowned high schools from 11 countries every year. ASDAN China (ASEEDER) first brought PhysicsBowl to China in 2015, and around 5,000 Chinese high school students now take part annually, with participation growing every year. Only one perfect score has been recorded worldwide in the past nine years — high scorers are highly prized by top US universities.

The paper contains 50 questions of which each student answers 40: Division 1 answers questions 1-40 and suits IB Grade 10, A-Level G2 students and strong G1 students; Division 2 answers questions 11-50 at a higher difficulty, suiting IB Grade 11-12 and A-Level students. The contest is 40 multiple-choice questions in 45 minutes, worth 40 points, and is taken online.