EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems.

Language: English

T1: A leak T3: Glass ball

A hollow insulated cylinder of The first photo here

height 2H and volume 2V is is taken with a dig-
closed from below by an insu- ital camera and
2 p 2
lating piston. The cylinder is shows a glass ball, r
divided into two initially iden- backlit with diffuse
tical chambers by an insulat- dichromatic light b
ing diaphragm of mass m. The which has only two
diaphragm rests on a circular narrow spectral
ledge and a gasket between lines (red 630 nm 1 1
them provides tight contact. and violet 400 nm).
Both chambers are filled with This diffuse light
gaseous helium at pressure p comes from the
and temperature T . A force is white floor (marked
applied to the piston, so that it with ‘1’ in the figure) and the white walls (marked with
moves upwards slowly. ‘2’), both illuminated with violet and red LED lamps.
The sensor of the camera has only red, blue and green
a. Find the volume of the lower chamber V0 when the sensors so that violet light appears in the photo as blue.
gas starts to leak between the chambers. The photo is taken from a distance much greater than
the radius of the ball. On the back side of the ball, a
b. Find the temperature T1 in the upper chamber when very narrow opaque thread is glued to the glass surface,
the piston touches the diaphragm. forming an arc of a great circle on the ball. In the photo,
c. Find the temperature T2 in the lower chamber im- the thread is obstructed by the ball and cannot be seen
mediately before the piston touches the diaphragm. directly. However, hugely deformed images of a very
short segment of the thread are seen as blue (marked
with ‘b’) and red (‘r’) ellipses. The letter ‘p’ indicates
T2: Thread around a cylinder purple-coloured areas in the photo.
In the first photo, the centre of the ball is marked with
a cross, and the perimeter of the ball is traced with a
One end of a thread is dashed line. You can find a larger version of the first
tied into a loop of length photo on a separate sheet. You may take distance mea-
L > 2πR, and a cylin- surements there. In the larger photo, the boundary be-
der of radius R is put tween the red and purple regions is also traced with a
through the loop. The coef- dashed line.
ficient of friction between
the thread and the cylinder The second photo is
is µ. The free end of the taken while illuminating
thread is being pulled par- with a white LED with
allel to the axis of the cylin- the ball turned so that
der (as shown by arrow in the thread can be seen
the photo) while keeping the cylinder at rest. If the directly.
length of the loop is longer than a critical value, L > L0 ,
a. Explain qualitatively us-
the loop can slide along the cylinder without changing its
ing a ray diagram why a
shape, otherwise the friction “locks” it into a place and
segment of the thread is
increasing the pulling force would eventually just break
seen as a closed loop in
the thread. Find this critical value L0 . The weight of the
the first photo.
thread is to be neglected; the thread will not twist when
being pulled. b. Determine the coefficient of refraction nR for the red
light.
It might be useful to know that
c. Determine the difference of the coefficients of refrac-
∫ √ √ tion ∆n ≡ nV − nR for the red and violet light (with
2 1 + x2 dx = x 1 + x2 + arcsinh x , n denoting the coefficient of refraction for the violet
V

√ light).
( )
where arcsinh x ≡ ln x + 1 + x2 .
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

E1: Hidden wire Description of the simulation software

Experimental setup and tasks The command line program simulates the measurement
of the deflection angle φ after providing the current I
A very long copper wire runs horizontally at unknown and placing the compass at the coordinates x and y on
depth h under a horizontal square surface of side length the surface.
L = 100.0 mm. The sides of the square are oriented West- A typical output of a single simulation cycle of the pro-
East (the x-axis) and South-North (the y-axis), as shown gram looks like:
in the figure. The origin of the coordinate system coin-
Enter I (A) between -5.0 and 5.0: 3.4
cides with the South-West corner of the square.
Enter X (mm) between 0 and 100: 55
Enter Y (mm) between 0 and 100: 31
PHI = -33 degrees
-------------------------------
Enter I (A) between -5.0 and 5.0: _

First, you enter the current I in A (the number be-

tween −5.0 and 5.0), then coordinates x and y in mm (the
numbers between 0 and 100). Each input is confirmed
with the Enter key. The program will output the value
of φ (PHI) in degrees (rounded to 1◦ ) and return to the
initial prompt.
The current input I will be rounded to 0.1 A, the coor-
The wire is connected to an adjustable DC source (not dinate inputs x, y will be rounded to 1 mm before being
shown in the figure), which can provide a current I in used in simulation. (There is no point in trying to input
the range from −5 A to 5 A. The reversal of the sign of more precise numbers).
the current corresponds to a reversal of the polarity of Every time you change the position of a compass, its
the source. A small compass can be placed on the square real position used in simulation differs from the input
surface, (including its circumference) to sense the mag- coordinates with an error about 0.5 mm. (It is a simula-
netic field of the wire through the deflection angle φ be- tion of a limited precision when you place an object).
tween the magnetic needle and the North (y) direction.
Positive φ values correspond to an Eastward deflection, Any time you need to quit the program, press Ctrl+C.
as shown in the figure, while negative φ correspond to a
Westward deflection. You can assume that:
• The magnetic needle is a point-like magnetic dipole,
which can rotate freely around the vertical axis, i.e.
the compass is sensitive to the horizontal component
of the magnetic field only.
• The height of the needle above the surface is negligible
compared to the depth of the wire beneath the surface,
i.e. the needle is situated in the xy-plane.
Design your experiment and make the necessary sim-
ulations to perform the following tasks:

a. Determine the orientation of the wire with respect

to the coordinate system by specifying its equation
in the form: y = ax + b, and estimate the uncertain-
ties of the parameters a and b. Draw the wire po-
sition on a graph and indicate the direction corre-
sponding to a positive current I.
b. Determine the depth h of the wire below the surface
and the horizontal component BE of the Earth’s mag-
netic field. In this task you are not required to calcu-
late the experimental uncertainties explicitly, how-
ever, your final results must be represented with an
appropriate number of significant digits.

The magnetic permeability of free space is

µ0 = 4π × 10−7 T m/A.
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

E2: Hot Cylinder ficient formulae derivations to make it clear what you
have measured, and how you are deriving your results.
Introduction

A uniform metal rod of length L = 30 cm and radius Program interface

r = 1 cm is made of an unknown metal and is kept at
room temperature T0 = 26.9 C = 300 K. The metal rod is Running the simulation program, named rod, allows
weighed to be m = 460 g. Your task is to determine the performing multiple experiments on the rod. The pro-
thermal properties of the unknown metal. The metal rod gram will ask a sequence of prompts regarding the setup
can be heated at one of its ends, and temperature mea- of the experiment. For each prompt, the corresponding
surements can be performed on customizable locations value(s) should be entered, followed by pressing return
along the rod. The heater is located between x = 0 and to go the next prompt. The prompts are as follows:
x = Lh = 3 cm (see fig). The heater can be programmed 1. The heating power of the heater:
by specifying a fixed power (in watts) and the duration Enter P (W), between 0 and 300:
(in seconds) for which the heater is turned on for. Tem- 2. The duration after the start of the experiment for
perature measurements are made by specifying up to which the heater is turned on for (after this time, the
five locations for the sensors along the rod, alongside heater will be turned off):
with the frequency, starting time and the ending time of Enter heating duration (s), between 0 and
the measurements. The simulation will show the tem- 3600s:
perature readings in accelerated ”real time” (running 3. The starting and finishing times (after the start of
around 10 times faster than in the real world). the experiment) for the temperature measurements
made on the rod:
Enter the starting and finishing time
for the measurements (s), separated by
a space. Must be between 0 and 3600s:
4. The time interval between two consecutive measure-
ments that are made with the temperature sensors:
Enter dt (s), between 5 and 3600s and a
multiple of 5s:
5. The locations of the temperature sensors along the
You may assume that all of the heating power goes rod. The coordinates are specified with respect to the
into the rod, and that the rod loses heat to its surround- end with the heater:
ings via heat transfer with air and black body radiation. Enter up to 5 locations for the sensors
Heat transfer with air is linear in temperature of the rod, (in cm), between L=0 and L=30cm, separated
and can be described by a coefficient α such that the by spaces:
heat transfer per unit area per unit time is α(T − T0 ). Note that not entering any numbers simply means
The air is well-ventilated such that α can be assumed not taking any measurements.
to be constant throughout the surface of the rod and 6. The output file name for the temperature readings.
independent of the temperature of the surface. Heat Note that all of the saved readings will also be dis-
loss via black body radiation can be described using the played on the screen:
Stefan-Boltzmann law modified with emissivity β such Enter the output file name:
that the heat loss to radiation per unit area per unit You are advised to only use Latin letters and numbers
time is βσ(T 4 − T04 ) where σ = 5.67 × 10−8 W/(m2 K4 ). for the name. Other characters may or may not be al-
Similar to α, the emissivity can be assumed to be con- lowed in the filename and in case of an invalid file-
stant throughout the rod, and independent of temper- name, the readings will not be saved. The readings
ature. The rod is further characterised by the thermal will be saved in a .txt file with the given name in the
conductivity k (such that the heat flux density along x is same folder as the program.
−kdT /dx) and the specific heat capacity c.
If you enter an invalid input, a clarifying error message
will be sent, and an another opportunity for entering the
Task input will be given.
The program will then prompt to press return to start
The task is to determine the specific heat of the un- the experiment, or typing restart and pressing return
known metal, c (units J/(K kg)), the thermal conductiv- to re-enter all the experimental parameters. After con-
ity k (units W/(m K)), and the heat loss coefficients α tinuing with the simulation, the program will display
(units W/(m2 K)), and β (dimensionless). You should aim a summary of the experimental setup, and then start
to find the values within 10 % of the true value. This printing out the time elapsed since the heater was turned
is because there are various sources of errors, such as on (t(s)), and all the sensor readings in the same order
Gaussian fluctuations in both defining the locations of they were entered in the prompt (Ti(C), where i corre-
the sensors, and the taking the temperature measure- sponds to the i-th sensor).
ments. The sizes of the errors can be found by observing After the simulation ends, a new experiment can be
the fluctuations in the output. started by typing restart and pressing return.
As with all experiments, you must provide clearly la-
belled tables of data, clearly labelled graphs, and suf-
EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems - Solutions English

T1: A Leak The temperature and the pressure in the lower cham-
ber are related by (2). Substituting (3) we get
Let p1 , V1 , T1 denote the (time dependent) pressure, vol-
 2/5  2/3
ume, and temperature in the upper chamber, and p2 , V2 , p′2
T2 — those in the lower one. Note that V1 ≡ V does not T2′ =T = T 1 + (1 + x)3/5 . (c.)
p
change.
Consider a parcel of volume v below the diaphragm
containing n moles of helium. It is convenient to imag- Preliminary grading scheme
ine it bounded by two fictitious free thin massless pis-
tons. During slow perturbations the parcel undergoes a1 It’s stated (or written as a formula) that the 0.5
an adiabatic process. The pressure and the temperature process is adiabatic
for the parcel are actually the pressure and the temper- a2 Relation between V and p is found in adiabaic 1.0
ature for entire lower chamber p2 and T2 . The energy process
conservation for the parcel is a3 Condition on when the diaphragm leaks 0.5
  a4 Answer for V0 1.0
0 = p2 dv + d
3 5 3
nv RT2 = p2 dv + vdp2 . b1 Energy conservation for the whole system in 1.0
2 2 2 differential form. If conservation law is writ-
ten only for one half but heat transfer is taken
This gives
into account: 0.5 pts.
v 5 p32 = const, (1) b2 Internal energy for a mono-atomic gas 0.5
b3 Usage of V1 = const 0.2
T25 p−2
2 = const . (2)
b3 Usage of p2 − p1 = const 0.3
The leak begins when the pressure below the di- b4 Relation between V2 and p2 1.0
aphragm exceeds that in the upper chamber by ∆p ≡ b5 Equation to find p′2 (or T2′ ) before the end 1.0
p0 − p = mgH/V = px, where b6 Usage of n′ = 2n 0.5
b7 Answer for T1′ 0.5
mgH c1 Relation between T1′ and T2′ 1.0
x= . (a., b., c.)
pV c2 Answer for T2′ 1.0
Arithmetic or typo errors gives half of point (rounded
a. We may let v = V2 before that.
up to 0.1) for the item and is not considered as a mistake
V 5 p3 = V05 (p + ∆p)3 = V05 p3 (1 + x)3 afterwards.

V0 = V (1 + x)−3/5 (a.)
b. The energy conservation for the whole system:
T2: Thread on cylinder
   
3 3 Fig. 1 shows the cylinder and the loop from three differ-
0 = p1 dV1 + d n1 RT1 + p2 dV2 + d n2 RT2 = ent angles; P denotes the pulled point of the loop, while
2 2
5 3 O is the top point of the thread.
(p1 dV1 + p2 dV2 ) + (V1 dp1 + V2 dp2 ) =
2 2
5 3
p2 d(V + V2 ) + (V + V2 )dp2 ,
2 2
since the pressure above the diaphragm remains lower
than that below by the same margin ∆p during the later
process and dV2 = d(V + V2 ). Similarly to (1), we get
(V + V2 )5 p32 = const .
The pressure p′2 in the lower chamber when the piston
touches the diaphragm is found from the equation
 5
1
V 5 p′3
2 = (V + V 0 )5 3
p0 = V 5
1 + p3 (1 + x)3 ,
(1 + x)3/5
 5/3
p′2 = p 1 + (1 + x)3/5 . (3)
The pressure in the upper chamber at this moment is
 5/3 
′ ′
p1 = p2 − ∆p = p 1 + (1 + x)3/5
−x . Fig. 1

The temperature in the upper chamber is found from the Imagine that the side of the cylinder is cut along the
equations of state pV = nRT and p′ V = (2n)RT ′ generatrix AB passing through point P , and then the
  side (including the loop) is unfolded as shown in Fig. 2.
′ T  5/3
T1 = 1 + (1 + x) 3/5
−x . (b.) In this figure points A and A′ , B and B ′ , P and P ′ are
2
EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems - Solutions English

equivalent, respectively. Let us introduce a Cartesian The thread needs to span over the entire cylinder, so
coordinate system on this unfolded plane so that point its length can be calculated as
O is the origin, axis z is parallel with the axis of cylin- s
der and directed downwards, axis x is perpendicular to Z πR p Z πR  2
dz
z (i.e. horizontal). L0 = dx + dz = 2
2 2 1+ dx .
−πR 0 dx

Substituting the z(x) function we get:

Z πR r  µx 2   Z πµ p
R
L0 = 2 1+ dx = 2 1 + ξ 2 dξ ,
0 R µ 0

where we introduced the notation ξ = µx/R. Using the

Fig. 2
Consider the forces acting on a small piece of the
thread (with horizontal projection ∆x) indicated with
red line in both figures. These are the tensions at both
ends of the small piece exerted by neighbouring parts of
the thread, the normal force ∆N and the friction force
∆f exerted by the cylinder. On the verge of slipping, the
direction of ∆f is parallel to the z-axis. Since the small
piece of thread is in equilibrium, the x-component of the
tension is the same everywhere:
Tx = const.
The normal force ∆N can be determined by looking
at the top view of the loop in Fig. 1. The polar angle
corresponding to small piece of thread is ∆φ = ∆x/R, so
the force balance in the radial direction can be written
as
∆φ ∆x
2Tx sin −∆N = 0 −→ ∆N = Tx . (4)
| {z 2 } R
≈∆φ/2
The frictional force on the verge of slipping is given by
∆f = µ∆N . (5)
Thus, the force balance on the small piece of thread in
the z direction (see Fig. 2):
integral given in the text of the problem:
p R
L0 = πR 1 + (πµ)2 + arcsinh(πµ) .
µ
If the length of the thread is shorter than the length
calculated here, then there is no solution satisfying the
thread length constraint, i.e. the thread cannot slip.
Note. In the limit µ → 0 the loop slips even if L = 2πR, which
should be reproduced by our final formula. Using the relation
for the inverse hyperbolic function given in the problem text,
then expanding the logarithm in Taylor series in linear order
around 0 we get:
( )
√
arcsinh x ≡ ln x + 1 + x2 ≈ ln (x + 1) ≈ x ,
so for small values of µ we get
R
L0 ≈ πR + (πµ) = 2πR .
µ
Grading scheme: T2
2-i. A figure or figures reflecting the 0.5 p + 0.5 p
correct geometry such as: the loop
is a non-planar curve in all figures
(0.5 p), existence of exactly one cusp
(0.5 p, if the „back” is hidden, 0 p).
2-ii. Realizing that on the verge of 0.5 p
slipping the frictional force is paral-
lel with the axis of the cylinder for
every small piece of the thread and
∆f = µ∆N . (If any of the two is
missing, then 0.2 p)
  2-iii. Correct equation for the force 0.5 p
dz  dz  balance in z direction involving
Tx − Tx − ∆f = 0 , (6)
dx x+∆x dx x frictional force or the load (which
is pulling down the loop) and the z
where we expressed the z-component of the tension components of the tension.
forces with Tx and the tangent dz/dx. Using the three 2-iv. Tx = const. + correct explana- 0.5 p + 1.5 p
equations above and taking the limit ∆x → 0, we get the tion based on the balance in x direc-
differential equation tion. If the physics is incompatible
with the geometrical assumptions
d2 z µ (e.g. planar curve for the loop and
= ,
dx 2 R the existence of a frictional force
where we used the fact that Tx ̸= 0. By direct integration acting on small pieces), no points
and taking into account the boundary conditions z(0) = 0 are given
and z ′ (0) = 0 we get 2-v. Expressing the normal force 2.0 p
∆N acting on a small segment with
µ 2 Tx and dx (or dϕ). If the relation
z(x) = x ,
2R x = Rφ or dx = Rdφ is not used here
so the shape of the thread on the unfolded side surface or anywhere else, 1.5 p is given. If
(Fig. 2) can be described by a parabola. the expression is wrong but ∆N is
proportional to the curvature (1/R),
1.0 p is given.
EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems - Solutions English

2-vi. Deriving the correct differ- 1.5 p

O
ential equation for z(x) (if the diff.
equation is wrong due to any rea- P
son, 0 p)
2-vii. Solving the diff. equation for 1.0 p
z(x) correctly (including boundary Q
conditions). If only one integral is
evaluated correctly, 0.3 p are given. A
For stating only the boundary con- Q
ditions (both z(0) and z ′ (0)) 0.2 p.
2-viii. Writing down the length of 0.5 p Now it becomes clear that the place where images Q1
the thread in terms of an integral and Q2 merge into a single image Q0 is the key to finding
of z(x), i.e. writing down the length the coefficient of refraction. Indeed, the point Q0 can be
constraint found in the photo as the point where the blue ellipse
2-ix. Evaluating the integral cor- 1.0 p (the images of a segment of the stripe in red light as the
rectly (factor mistake in calculation blue shadow is where the red light is missing) is touch-
0.5 p, wrong units 0.2 p) ing a radius of the ball, see the figure below (we need to
Total T2: 10.0 p find tangent point with the radius because we need to
consider plane QOA which projects into a line through
the ball’s centre). There is no difference between tak-
General guidelines for marking: ing the tangent to the outer edge of the elliptical stripe
• Granularity for marks is 0.1 p. and taking the tangent to the inner edge of it (point Q′0
• A simple numerical error resulting from a typo is pun- in the photo below). Then, sin β0 = n sin α0 can be deter-
ished by 0.2 p unless the grading scheme explicitly says mined from the photo as the ratio of the lengths h and
otherwise. R, h/R ≈ 0.765, where h denotes the distance of the ball’s
• Errors which cause dimensionally wrong results are centre O from the line Q0 A, measurable in the photo as
punished by at least 50 % of the marks unless the grad- the length OQ0 (when looking from the distant point A,
ing scheme explicitly says otherwise. we can see only the perpendicular-to-OA component of
• Propagating errors are not punished repeatedly un- the segment OQ0 , and R is the ball’s radius.
less they either lead to considerable simplifications or Since we look for an extremum of γ, upon taking dif-
wrong results whose validity can easily be checked ferentials from Eqns. (7,8), we obtain
later.
2dα = dβ
n cos αdα = cos βdβ
T3: Glass ball
from where
To begin with, let us notice that if a ray coming from a
point P on the stripe is refracted at point Q at the surface n cos α = 2 cos β. (9)
of the ball towards a very distant point A (which denotes
the aperture of the camera lens), the ray will remain in
the plane P QO where O is the centre of the sphere. This q q
means that those rays which arrive from P to A must n = sin β + 4 cos β = 4 − 3 sin β ≈ 1.498 ≈ 1.50.
2 2 2

lay in the plane P OA, and the rays can be conveniently

depicted in the P OA-plane. In order to find ∆n, we could find in a similar way nV
The angle γ = γ(α) between vectors P O and QA is (|OQ′′0 | ≈ 0.755R, n ≈ 1.513 ≈ 1.51), but the result would
given by have a huge relative uncertainty as |OQ0 | and |OQ′′0 | have
very similar lengths. A much more precise result will
γ ≡ 2α − β (7) be obtained if we base our calculations on the segment
n sin α = sin β (8) length |ST |, see the figure below. Q′′0 is where the blue
rays have an extremum for γ while Q′0 and Q′′0 are two
and is a non-monotonous function of α which achieves red rays originating from the same point on the stripe.
its maximum γ0 by a certain α0 . This means that for a From the photo we can measure |ST | ≈ 0.20R, hence we
fixed P and A, if ̸ OP A < γ0 , there are two such angles can use the small parameter SQ′′0 /R ≈ 0.10.
α and, hence, two such positions Q1 and Q2 for the point Rays from S, T , and Q′′0 arrive to the lens aperture, so
Q that the ray P QA will reach the point A (here we have all these rays (which originate from the same point P on
assumed that the point A is at a very big distance). So, the stripe) have the same value of γ. So, we have a set of
when viewed from the point A, the image of the point P equations
is split into two points Q1 and Q2 . On the other hand, if
̸ OP A > γ0 , rays from P cannot reach A, and such points γ ≡ 2αR − βR = 2αV − βV (10)
on the stripe cannot be seen in the photo. If ̸ OP A = nV sin αV = sin βV (11)
γ0 , the two images Q1 and Q2 merge into a single point
(nV − ∆n) sin αR = sin βR (12)
bridging the two images of a piece of stripe into a closed
loop. n V cos αV = 2 cos β V , (13)
EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems - Solutions English

and we would like to get an expression relating ∆n to B-v Finding extremum and hence, the final expression
sin βV 1 − sin βV 2 , where the indices 1 and 2 relate to the of n as a function of β or h: 1pt. If an incorrect
two different solutions. Expressing αR = αV + δ we ob- expression is obtained from reasonable physics be-
tain from Eq. (10) that βR = βV + 2δ. Now, if we expand cause of mistakes in algebraic manipulation: 0.5 pts
Eq. (12) into Taylor series, neglect the smallest term with
∆nδ, and keep in mind Eq. (11), we obtain B-vi If the numerical answer is correct within ±0.03 and
is found using reasonable physics: 0.5 pts. Else if
2 sin αV the numerical answer is correct within ±0.1 and is
nV δ cos αV − nV δ − ∆n sin αV = 2δ cos βV − 2δ sin βV .
2
2 found using reasonable physics: 0.3 pts. No point if
the answer is guessed or is found using completely
Here the two linear-in-δ terms cancel out due to Eq. (13)
wrong or irrelevant physics.
so that with sin βV = nV sin αV we obtain
C-i The idea of using the width or length of the blue el-
∆n = 3nV δ 2 /2. (14) lipse: 1 pt (red ellipse cannot be used as we don’t
On the other hand, |ST |/R = sin βR1 − sin βR2 ≈ sin(βV + know if the center of the red ellipse corresponds to
2δ) − sin(β − 2δ) = 4δ cos β , hence the edge of the thread, or to a point at its middle)
V V
 2 C-ii Obtaining Eq (14) or something equivalent based on
3nV |ST | 3nV |ST |2
∆n = = ≈ 0.0132 ≈ 0.013. considering neighbouring red and violet rays: 1 pt.
2 4R cos βV 32 R2 − h2 If an incorrect expression is obtained from reason-
(15) able physics because of mistakes in algebraic manip-
ulation: 0.5 pts
C-iii Expressing ∆n correctly in terms of measurable
quantities: 0.5 pts
R Q0
Q’0T C-iv Finding numerical answer correct within ±0.003:
0.5 pts. (0 pts if this answer is obtained without con-
h Q’’0 sidering the width or height of the blue ellipse.)
S
Solution 2
O
One may alternatively prefer to consider a plane, per-
pendicular to the thread and containing the ball centre
O and the camera A. This is the plane of symmetry for
Grading scheme the system and corresponds to the maximum width of
the ovals. The same arguments as in the first Solution
A-i lead to
• Proving that we can see a loop because for a range
of points on the thread, a single point of thread cre- sin β h h
γ = β − 2 arcsin = arcsin − 2 arcsin .
ates two images: 0.7 pts n R nR
• The endpoints of that thread create one image For n < 2 this function is not monotonous and may give
forming thereby a closed loop: 0.3 pts the same result for two different values of h (that is why
Else if only the fact that rays coming to A must be in the mapping of an arc is a closed oval).
the PQO plane is stated: 0.3 pts
A-ii Drawing a ray diagram where we can see that two
rays originating from a single point arrive both to
the lens while crossing the ball’s surface at different
points and following the Snell’s law: 1.0 pt
Else if such idea is demonstrated by words or by a
rough sketch (which does not obey Snell’s law): 0.5
pts
B-i Relating angle β to the measurable distance h in the
photo (any point on the blue or red ellipse will earn
the mark): 1pt
B-ii Measuring ratio of h to R: 0.5 pts
B-iii The idea of using point Q0 : 1 pt (using Q′0 will earn
only 0.5 pts as this corresponds to the violet light)
To get the refraction index for red we solve the equa-
B-iv Obtaining a correct expression of γ as a function of tion
α (or equivalent calculations in different parametri-
h1 h1 h4 h4
sation): 1 pt arcsin − 2 arcsin = arcsin − 2 arcsin ,
R nR R R nR R
EuPhO-2021 Theoretical Problems - Solutions English

which gives nR ≈ 1.51.

One could repeat the previous argument to find nV .
One could also compare the images of the same thread
elements in different colours. This gives 4 equations

h1,4 h1,4 h2,3 h2,3

arcsin − 2 arcsin = arcsin − 2 arcsin ,
R nR R R nV R

where h1,4 means we can replace it with the value of h1

or h4 . Similar rule applies for h2,3 . From each equation,
we can solve for one value of nV and then take their av-
erage. This results in nV − nR ≈ 0.0145.

Grading scheme

A-i
• Proving that we can see a loop because for a range
of points on the thread, a single point of thread cre-
ates two images: 0.7 pts
• The endpoints of that thread create one image
forming thereby a closed loop: 0.3 pts
Else if only the fact that rays coming to A must be in
the PQO plane is stated: 0.3 pts
A-ii Drawing a ray diagram where we can see that two
rays originating from a single point arrive both to
the lens while crossing the ball’s surface at different
points and following the Snell’s law: 1.0 pt
Else if such idea is demonstrated by words or by a
rough sketch (which does not obey Snell’s law): 0.5
pts
B-i Relating angle β to the measurable distance h in the
photo (any point on the blue or red ellipse will earn
the mark): 1pt
B-ii Measuring ratio of h to R: 0.5 pts
B-iii The idea of using points on the blue ellipse lying on
the same radius of the sphere: 1 pt

B-iv Obtaining the correct equation to solve for nR nu-

merically: 2 pts. If an incorrect equation is obtained
from reasonable physics because of mistakes in al-
gebraic manipulation: 1 pt
B-v If the numerical answer is correct within ±0.03 and
is found using reasonable physics: 0.5 pts. Else if
the numerical answer is correct within ±0.1 and is
found using reasonable physics: 0.3 pts. No point if
the answer is guessed or is found using completely
wrong or irrelevant physics.

C-i The idea of using points on the red (or both) ellipse(s)
lying on the same radius of the sphere: 1 pt
C-ii Obtaining at least one correct equation to solve for
nV numerically: 1.5 pts. If an incorrect equation is
obtained from reasonable physics because of mis-
takes in algebraic manipulation: 1 pt

C-iii Finding numerical answer correct within ±0.003:

0.5 pts.
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

E1: Hidden wire

Table 1: Points, where |φ| reaches a maximum of 143◦ at
Theoretical background a current I = +5 A.
x (mm) y (mm)
As shown in Fig. 1, the horizontal projection B ⃗ h of the 0 75
20 64
magnetic induction B ⃗ w of the wire has the same direc-
40 52
tion and is perpendicular to the wire in all points of the
60 41
xy plane. It is clear that B⃗ h makes with North (y) direc-
80 29
tion an angle ψ = 180 − θ, where θ is the angle between
◦
100 17
the direction of the current and the positive x-direction.
The magnetic needle points along the vector B ⃗ =B ⃗h +B⃗E
of the total magnetic induction. As evident from the vec- these intervals with a step of 1 mm allows to determine
tor triangle on Fig. 1(a), the deflection angle φ can be ob-the approximate coordinates of the two crosspoints as
tained through the sine-theorem: P1 = (0.0±0.5, 75±1) mm and P2 = (100.0±0.5, 17±1) mm.
The uncertainty of the y coordinate is 1 mm since near
Bh sin φ sin φ
= = (1) the maximum |φ| changes slowly and takes the same
BE sin(ψ − φ) sin(θ + φ) rounded value at three consecutive points. Additional
scans along vertical (horizontal) lines of intermediate x
Consider a point on the surface at a distance d from the
(y) values could be done in order to find more points
wire projection onto xy plane, and at a distance r =
√ along the wire projection, and to determine the equation
d2 + h2 from the wire, as shown in Fig. 1(b). It follows
of the wire more precisely by means of a least-squares
from the Ampère’s law that the magnitude of magnetic
fit. A typical set of values is given in Table 1. The fitted
induction of the wire at that point is
equation of the wire is, respectively
µ0 I
Bw = (2) y = ax + b = −0.58x + 75.3 mm (4)
2πr
and the magnitude of its horizontal projection is with estimated parameter uncertainties of δa ≈ 0.01 √ and
δb ≈ 0.4 mm. The parameter uncertainties scale as 1/ N ,
µ0 Ih where N is the number of experimental points. A graph
Bh = Bw cos α = . (3) of the wire projection in the xy-plane is shown in Fig. 2.
2π(d2 + h2 )
Since φ < 0 at I > 0, the positive I direction is from the
Equations (1) and (3) are sufficient to complete all tasks West to the East border, as shown in the graph.
of the problem.

Figure 2: xy-projection of the wire with indicated posi-

Figure 1: Notations used in the derivation of the basic tive I direction.
equations.
100

90

80

70

60
I>0
50
Y

40

30

20

10

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
X (mm)

Task (a): Determination of the horizontal position

of the wire

As evident from the vector triangle (Fig. 1), the maxi- Task (b): Determination of h and BE
mum absolute value of the deflection angle at a given
current is met at d = 0 where Bh is maximal, i.e. verti- As follows from equations (1) and (3), the deflection an-
cally above the wire. Therefore, the wire can be tracked gle φ at a distance d from the horizontal projection of the
by finding two or more points on the surface where |φ| wire satisfies the equation
reaches a maximum. First, a coarse scan of the border
with a step of, say, 10 mm, can be performed in order to sin φ µ0 Ih
= . (5)
locate intervals, where |φ| goes through a maximum. In sin(θ + φ) 2πBE (d2 + h2 )
this way we establish that the wire projection crosses the
West side (x = 0 mm) at y ∈ [60 mm, 90 mm] and the East where the angle θ can be calculated from the slope coef-
side (x = 100 mm) at y ∈ [10 mm, 30 mm]. A finer scan of ficient a of the wire:

θ = arctan(a) = −30.1◦ ± 0.4◦ (6)

EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

Table 2: Experimental data for the deflection angle φ vs. Figure 3: U-I graphs for two different distances d from
current I at two different distances d. the wire, and the corresponding linear fits.
(0 mm,75 mm); (20 mm,75 mm);
d1 = 0 mm d2 = 10 mm 5

I (A) φ (deg) U I (A) φ (deg) U 4

-5.0 25 -4.85 -5.0 15 -1.00 3

d = 10 mm
2

-4.0 24 -3.89 -4.0 13 -0.77 2

-3.0 23 -3.21 -3.0 11 -0.59 1
d = 0 mm
1

-2.0 20 -1.97 -2.0 8 -0.37 0

-1.0 15 -1.00 -1.0 5 -0.21

I
1.0 -75 1.00 1.0 -7 0.20
-1

2.0 -126 1.99 2.0 -17 0.40

-2

3.0 -137 3.03 3.0 -32 0.60 -3

4.0 -141 4.02 4.0 -52 0.80 -4

5.0 -143 4.94 5.0 -75 1.00 -5

-5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0 1 2 3 4 5
k1 = 1.01 ± 0.01 A k2 = 5.04 ± 0.03 A U

The distance d between a point with coordinates (x, y)

and the wire projection can either be measured directly Alternatively, one can also use
on the graph in Fig. 2, or calculated as: √
d22 k1 − d21 k2
d = |(ax + b − y) cos θ| ≈ 0.865|ax + b − y| (7) h= = 5.0 mm. (12)
k2 − k1
It follows from equations (5)–(7) that the unknown h and
BE could be determined if the deflection angle φ is mea- Finally, we obtain for the horizontal component of the
sured in at least two points situated at different distances Earth’s magnetic induction:
from the wire. However, due to the random error, asso-
BE = 4.0 × 10−5 T (13)
ciated with compass positioning and the rounding error
of the angle reading, such a minimalist approach is quite and for the depth of the wire:
inaccurate. Therefore, systematic measurements at sev-
eral distances d and/or different currents I, are neces- h = 5.0 mm (14)
sary to obtain sufficiently precise estimate for h and BE .
Two generic approaches could be followed, as well as a These estimates of h and BE coincide with accuracy of
combination between them. two significant digits with the values preset in the simu-
lation program.
Method I. Varying the current at fixed dis-
tances. By defining a new dimensionless variable Method II. Fixed current, varying the distance.
U = sin φ/sin(φ − 30.1◦ ), equation (5) is linearized as: Equation (5) can be rewritten in the form:

I = kU (8) sin(θ + φ) 2πBE 2 2πBE h

= d + (15)
sin φ µ0 Ih µ0 I
where the slope coefficient is:
which can be linearized by setting new auxiliary vari-
k=
2πBE (d2 + h2 )
(9) ables: U = d2 and V = sin(φ − 30.1◦ )/ sin φ. A typical
µ0 h data set for this method is given in table 3, while the lin-
earized U-V plot is shown in Fig. 4.
Therefore, the unknown BE and h can be estimated af-
ter obtaining k for at least two different distances d from
the wire. Table 2 summarizes the results of measure- Table 3: Experimental data for the deflection angle φ vs.
ments at d1 = 0 mm (vertically above the wire) and at distance d at a fixed current I = 5.0 A.
d2 = 10 mm in a point with coordinates x = 20 mm and x (mm) y (mm) d (mm) φ (deg) U (mm2 ) V
y = 75 mm. Figure 3 shows the corresponding U-I graphs, 0 75 0 -143 0 0.203
and the estimated values of the slope coefficients are also 2 75 1 -142 1 0.226
listed in the table 2. 4 75 2 -142 4 0.226
It follows from equation (8) that: 6 75 3 -139 9 0.291
8 75 4 -138 16 0.311
BE µ0 (k2 − k1 ) 10 75 5 -132 25 0.416
= = 8.06 × 10−6 T/mm (10) 12 75 6 -128 36 0.475
h 2π(d2 − d1 )
2 2
14 75 7 -123 49 0.541
and 16 75 8 -111 64 0.674
18 75 9 -98 81 0.796
µ0 (d22 k1 − d21 k2 ) −4 20 75 10 -79 100 0.963
BE h = = 1.98 × 10 T · mm (11)
2π(d22 − d21 )
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

Task A: Horizontal position of the Points

Figure 4: U-V graph obtained at a fixed current I = 5.0 A. wire
A1 State or use that the wire is located 0.2
1.0
where |φ| is maximal.
0.9
(state alternative method which al- (0.1)
0.8
lows to find only a);
0.7
A2 Find points on the wire at most 2mm 0.2
0.6 away from both cross points with the
0.5 border.
V

0.4 A3 Find n points along the wire projec-

0.3 tion:
0.2 n = 3 or 4; 0.3
0.1 n ≥ 5. 0.5
0.0 A4 Draw wire projection on the graph:
0 10 20 30 40 50
2
60 70 80 90 100
plot all measured points or at least 0.2
U (mm )
5;
if a point drawn incorrectly; -0.1
line through the points; 0.2
From the fitting line we obtain: axes labels and units; 0.1
axes tick marks with values; 0.1
V = 7.37 × 10−3 mm−2 U + 0.208 (16) correctly indicated positive I di- 0.3
rection.
which means 2πBE h/(µ0 I) = 0.208 and 2πBE /(µ0 Ih) = A5 Equation of the line:
7.37 × 10−3 mm−2 . Thus, we obtain: a within [-0.61;-0.55]; 0.1
a within [-0.60;-0.56]; +0.1
BE = 3.9 × 10−5 T (17) a within [-0.59;-0.57]; +0.3
b within [73.6;77.0] mm; 0.1
for the horizontal component of Earth’s magnetic induc- b within [74.6;76.0] mm; +0.1
tion, and b within [74.9;75.7] mm . +0.3
h = 5.3 mm (18) Correctly estimated uncertainties of 0.2
for the depth of the wire. These estimates are close to, a and b.
but less accurate than the values obtained by Method I. Total on Task A 3.0
The reason is that at small d, there is a large relative error
associated with wire positioning, i.e. with variable U . At
large d, however, the deflection angle is small, and there
is significant relative error, associated with the compass Since there are several approaches to the solution of
reading, i.e. with V parameter. Task B, the subsequent marking scheme is unified in or-
der to fit all methods of solution. The data point is de-
fined as a single measurement of φ at given I, x, and y.
Marking scheme The data point weight W is defined as a mark related to
the way, in which the measured data are presented and
The basic equations could be stated in a separate section treated numerically:
of the solution, or spread over different parts of the so-
lution.
Theoretical background Points
T1 States explicitly or shows on a clear 0.1 I, x, y, and the corresponding φ are 0.1
graph that the magnetic needle documented in a table with appropri-
points along the total magnetic ate number of digits.
induction. The value of the distance d to the wire, 0.1
T2 Derives eq. (1) or equivalent. 0.3 and the values of the auxiliary lineariz-
T3 Writes down the Ampere’s law (2). 0.2 ing variables (if required by the solu-
T4 Derives eq. (3) or equivalent. 0.4 tion) are calculated correctly and doc-
Total on Theory 1.0 umented in the table.
Maximum W 0.2
In tasks A and B points for obtaining final results are
given on an additive basis. If a given quantity, say a-
parameter of the line, falls into the widest interval, a
minimum number of points is given. If the value, how- The total mark for data recording and treatment (B2,
ever, belongs to the subsequent narrower interval, an- see the table below) scales linearly with the number of
notated points are added to the points for the previous data points N for up to N = 8. All data points after 8-th
interval, and so on, down to the narrowest interval. do not contribute to the total mark on B2. Data points
measured in part A only count towards the mark of B2 if
it is stated in part B that they can be used for this part as
well, or if they are used implicitly.
EuPhO-2021
Task B: Finding BE and h
B1 Makes appropriate choice of auxil-
iary variables, which linearize eq.
(3) OR derives explicit expressions
for BE and h in terms of two mea-
sured angles φ at two different dis-
tances d (minimalist approach).
B2 Data recording and treatment:
min(N, 8) × W
B3 Organization of data in table(s):
Column titles
Units
B4 Extracting parameters
Graphical method:
For plotting n points m = min(n, 8)
Coverage of at least 75% of the
graph window
Titles on axes
Units on axes
Tick marks with annotated values
Fitting line(s) is (are) drawn on the
graph(s)
Fitting line parameters are ex-
tracted and explicitly stated
Linear regression without graph:
using n points m = min(n, 8)
correct fit
Averaging over n two-point mea-
surements: m = min(n, 13)
B5 Final values of BE and h are calcu-
lated from the line parameters or
calculated from the results of a two-
point measurement (minimalist ap-
proach):
BE ∈ [3.7; 4.3] × 10−5 T
BE ∈ [3.8; 4.2] × 10−5 T
BE ∈ [3.9; 4.1] × 10−5 T
h ∈ [4.5; 5.5] mm
h ∈ [4.7; 5.3] mm
h ∈ [4.9; 5.1] mm
Total on Task B
Experimental problems. Language: English
Points e
0.6
E2: Hot Cylinder
Start the experiment with the heater on full for 300 Watts
and the thermostats located evenly across the length of
the rod and display the results every 100 seconds. Then
1.6 plan out the remainder of the experiment while wait-
ing, or do the other experiment. The rod reaches steady
0.2 state at about 600 seconds. Find the average tempera-
0.2 ture at the five thermostats by considering the last five
measurements; you will use this later.
The most accessible approach is then to study the
0.1m steady state behavior, the uniform temperature behav-
0.2 ior, the low temperature behavior, and the high temper-
ature behavior. Separating the low and high temper-
0.2 ature behaviors is useful because blackbody radiation
0.2 dominates at higher temperatures while convective loss
0.2 is most significant at near room temperature.
0.5 Finding the heat capacity is done by heating the rod at
a low enough rate for a short enough time so that heat
0.5 loss is as small as possible.
One possibility is to give a total of 1500 J of heat, but at
various power settings and various times, while keeping
0.1m
the temperature as low as possible.
1.8
0.2m The average temperature of the rod is computed from
the five equally spaced points by applying Simpson’s
rule,
T1 + 4T2 + 2T3 + 4T4 + T5
Tavg =
12
Computing instead a direct average yields a +5% error.
It is found that the average temperature for heating
0.1 times less than 50 seconds is 55.4±0.5 °C, yielding specific
+0.1 heat capacity of c = 114 ± 1 J/kg K.
+0.2 Heat the rod full power for 600 seconds, and then al-
0.1 low to cool.
+0.1
+0.2 The rod temperature becomes uniform at about 700
6.0 seconds. Average the five points to obtain an average
rod temperature.
Linear cooling predicts a straight line graph for
ln(T − T0 ) versus t
The convective heat loss rate is then given by Aα(T −
T0 ), where A is the surface area of the rod. Do not forget
the end caps!
The radiative heat loss rate is βσ(T 4 − T04 ) where σ =
5.67 × 10−8 W/(m2 K4 ). The radiative heat loss rate is
then given by Aβσ(T 4 − T04 ).
Note that at temperatures close to T0 the radiative ex-
pression can be written as
Aβσ(T 4 − T04 ) ≈ Aβσ4(T − T0 )T03
This means that the linear heat loss rate at tempera-
tures close to T0 is
( )
A α + βσ4T03 (T − T0 )
For the uniform, low temperature cooling rod,
dT ( )
mc = −A α + βσ4T03 (T − T0 )
dt
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

The solution is of the form The blackbody remainder term is then

T − T0 = Ce−Bt 300 − 59 = 241 W,

where and necessarily equals
α + βσ4T03
B=A
mc Aβσ(T 4 − T04 ) − Aβσ4T03 (T − T0 ),
On a log plot of ln(T − T0 ) as a function of time t, the where the second term reflects the fact that we had con-
plot should be linear, with a slope given by sidered part of the blackbody behavior as being linear.
α + βσ4T0 3 Solving, β = 0.304 ± 0.004.
−A
mc Failing to subtract the second term would yield β =
0.28.
It is also possible to plot dT /dt as a function of T − T0 ,
We are now in a position to find α, from
and the plot will be linear, with a slope also given by
α + βσ4T03
α + βσ4T03 −A = −1.78 × 10−3 /s
−A mc
mc
which yields α = 2.93
The slope in either case is found to be −1.78 × 10−3 /s.
Alternatively, for the uniform, high temperature cool-
ing rod,
dT ( )
mc ≈ −Aβσ T 4 − T04
dt
as the radiative cooling effect will dominate.
On a plot of dT /dt as a function of T 4 − T04 , the plot
should be linear, with a slope given by
Aβσ
−
mc

The slope is found to be −7.8 × 10−12 K3 /s

This means β/c = 3.25×10−3 kg K/J; this gives β = 0.36,
which is too high; ignoring the linear loss effects was sig-
nificant; as was previously seen, almost 20% of the heat
loss is from convection in this temperature range.
We can use the high temperature behavior to find the
heat flux through the center of the rod. The average of
T and T 4 on the non-heated half of the rod is 599 C and
5.8 × 104 K4 , yielding a heat loss at 112 W. That heat nec-
essarily came from the other side of the rod.
The temperature gradient is −898 K/m, so k =
397 W/mK. Don’t forget that the formula provided gave
Note that only the last points (in red) were used to determine the linear cooling line. It is clearly a good fit
from t = 2000 s on, which corresponds to rod temperatures of T < 45 C.
the rate of heat flux, which means that we needed to con-
sider the cross sectional area of the wire.
To find the blackbody behavior we want to heat the
rod as much as possible such that the blackbody heating
becomes the dominant form of heat loss. Since the hot Marking scheme
rod is in steady state, the heat radiated must be equal to
300 W. Use the results from the beginning. Finding c, 2.5 pt total
The average temperature of the rod is computed from Task Pts
the five equally spaced points by 2.1 Idea of heating the rod by a fixed Q. 0.6
2.2 Obtaining an equation relating the inserted 0.4
T1 + 4T2 + 2T3 + 4T4 + T5 heat with the temperature change and c.
Tavg = = 662 °C.
12 2.2 Heating the rod for a short duration for miti-
Computing a direct average yields a +1.5% error. gating the effects of heat loss:
The average of T 4 is found from heating for less than 60 seconds. 0.2
2.3 Averaging the temperature of the rod:
T1 4 + 4T2 4 + 2T3 4 + 4T4 4 + T5 4 averaging over one to three points; 0.1
4
Tavg = = 7.95 × 1011 K4
12 Use Simpson rule (or equivalent) 0.3
averaging over four or more points; 0.2
Computing a direct average yields a +6.3% error.
2.4 Checking more than one time value 0.2
The rate of linear temperature heat loss is found from 2.5 Numerical value of c:
above to be c within [103;123] J/(K kg); 0.3
(−1.78 × 10 −3
/s)mc∆T = 59 W c within [108;118] J/(K kg). 0.2
EuPhO-2021 Experimental problems. Language: English

Finding the linear heat loss, 2.0 pt total

Task Pts Finding k, 2.5 pt total
3.1 Idea of looking at how the rod cools down at 0.2 Task Pts
the low temperature limit (with no heating). 6.1 Idea of looking at the flux from part of the rod 0.4
3.2 Obtaining an equation for T as a function of to the other
t in terms of α, β, and c: 6.2 Theory:
linearize radiative loss around T0 ; 0.3 Expressing heat flux in terms of k and the 0.2
obtaining a differential equation for T (t); 0.1 temperature gradient;
solving the differential equation to get T (t). 0.2 Expressing heat flux in terms of the average 0.4
3.3 Finding the average temperature at t: T , T 4 , and the heating power of one of the
averaging over one to three points; 0.1 halves of the rod;
Use Simpson rule (or equivalent) 0.3 accounting for the area of the end caps. 0.1
averaging over four or more points; 0.1 6.3 Finding the average temperature of one of
3.4 Graphically finding the slope (which is a the halves:
function of α, β, and c): averaging over one to three points; 0.1
Plot 2 to 4 points in range T < 50C; 0.1 averaging over four or more points. No 0.1
Plotting 5 or more points in range T < 50C; 0.1 marks if points not equally spaced and aver-
axes labels and units; 0.1 age doesn’t account for the unevenness;
axes tickmarks with values. 0.1 6.4 Finding the average T 4 (for calculating aver-
3.5 Numerical value of the slope: age radiative loss):
slope within [−1.58 × 10−3 ,−1.98 × 10−3 ]; 0.2 averaging over one to three points; 0.1
slope within [−1.68 × 10−3 ,−1.88 × 10−3 ]; 0.1 averaging over four or more points; 0.1
6.5 Finding the temperature gradient:
Finding β, 2.5 pt total
Using at least two points for the gradient cal- 0.1
Task Pts
culation;
4.1 Idea of looking at the steady state at the high 0.2
Using (f (x + h) − f (x − h))/2h for numerical 0.2
temperature limit.
derivative;
4.2 Writing down the heat balance:
Having the range of points used for gradient 0.1
accounting for the area of the end caps; 0.1
calculations not farther apart than 5 cm;
accounting for the linear contribution to the 0.2
Having the range of points used for gradient 0.1
heat loss by removing the α dependence from
calculations not closer than 1 cm;
the previously found slope;
6.5 Numerical value of k:
final expression for β in terms of mean value 0.2
k within [328;488]W/(m K); 0.3
of T and T 4 of the steady state. Making a mis-
k within [378;438]W/(m K). 0.2
take in the previous parts shouldn’t be pe-
nalised here. Some grading notes:
4.3 Measurements: • Failure to record and report the location of the sensors
Heating power sufficiently big such that 0.1 will result in a penalty of -1.0 pt for each occurrence!.
the steady state temperature is bigger than It is acceptable to clearly state the location of the sen-
500 °C; sors in one part of the report, and then mentioning that
Waiting for at least 300s to reach the steady 0.1 they are not moved during the experiment.
state • When computing spatial averages, if the spacing be-
Waiting for at least 600s to reach the steady 0.1 tween thermometers is not uniform, the averaging
state techniques must use appropriate weighting, or there
4.4 Finding the average temperature: is a penalty of -0.1 pt for each occurrence!
averaging over one to three points; 0.1 • When computing spatial averages, if the rod is not
Use Simpson rule (or equivalent) 0.3 mostly uniform in temperature, a Simpson’s Rule tech-
averaging over four or more points; 0.1 nique or equivalent must be used to obtain the 0.3 pts.
4.5 Finding the average T 4 (for calculating aver- If instead all of the temperatures are within two error
age radiative loss): limits, then Simpson is not required to obtain the 0.3
averaging over one to three points; 0.1 pt.
Use Simpson rule (or equivalent) 0.3 • Any numerical derivatives must use the symmetric
averaging over four or more points; 0.1 form
4.6 Numerical value of β: f ′ (x) ≈ (f (x + h) − f (x − h))/2h
β within [0.25;0.35]; 0.3
β within [0.28;0.32]. 0.2 or some equivalent, or better, method.

Finding α, 0.5 pt total

Task Pts
5.1 Obtaining an expression for α in terms of the 0.1
slope γ.
5.2 Numerical value of α:
α within [2.33;3.23]W/(m2 K); 0.2
α within [2.53;3.03]W/(m2 K). 0.2