Preface
The present state of science and technology
is such that a large number of scientists
and engineers must ha educated at an ad-
vanced level. This cannot be done without
significantly raising the level of teaching
physics, with an emphasis on the individual
and special efforts to detect and nurture
budding talents. In this respect, physics
olympiads for students at secondary school
and vocational training colleges are impor-
tant in bringing to light the brightest stu-
dents and in correctly guiding them in theirchoice of profession.
This book, which is a collection of phys-
ics aptitude test problems, draws on the
experience of the physics olympiads con-
ducted during the last fifteen years among
the schoolchildren of Moscow. A Moscow
physics olympiad includes three preliminary
theoretical rounds at the regional, city,
and qualifying levels, followed by a final
practical round. After the final round, a
team of Moscow schoolchildren is selected for
participation in the all-Union olympiad.
The complexity of the problems set for
each round increases gradually, starting
from the simplest problems at regional lev-
el, problems which can be solved simply
by having a thorough knowledge of the bas-
ic laws and concepts of physics. The prob-
lems at the qualifying stage are much more
complicated. Some of the problems at this
level involve a certain amount of research