BANGOR, Maine — An emergency floodlight draws 1 ampere from its battery pack. How many coulombs will flow through the light in four hours?
If you know the answer is 14,400, then you might stand a chance against the group of Bangor teens traveling to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in the 25th National Science Bowl, organized by the U.S. Department of Energy.
After winning this year’s state competition, the team from Bangor High School will be Maine’s sole representatives, facing off against nearly 120 teams from across the nation, including 13 from California. The finals run Friday, May 1, through Monday, May 4.
Team members are Tyler DeFroscia, Hannah Rubin and Isaac Robinson, all 17; 18-year-old senior Andrew Ye; and Conor Thompson, a 15-year-old junior. Their coach is Cary James, science, technology and engineering department head at Bangor High.
Bangor has fielded science bowl teams for the past 15 years, but this is the team’s first trip to the national contest since 2003. They’ve been holding mock contests using practice questions supplied by the Department of Energy.
“I think most of our knowledge, though, has just come from our classes,” Robinson said.
James said U.S. Rep. Bruce Poliquin called him Tuesday to wish the team luck.
Categories covered in the competition range from chemistry and math to astronomy and computer science.
Each round features a series of “toss-up” questions, often multiple-choice, in which the first team to hit a buzzer gets to answer. They can buzz before the reader finishes the question; but if they get the answer wrong, the other team takes their points automatically and then gets to give their own answer to get more points. Still, chiming in early, even on a multiple-choice question before all the answers are read, is a worthwhile strategy the Bangor team says it plans to take advantage of.
“If you wait, you lose,” James said.
The team that answers the toss-up correctly gets to answer a bonus question. Toss-ups are worth four points each, and bonus questions are worth a vital 10. Bonus questions may be multiple choice, open-ended or math problems.
The competition trip’s costs are covered entirely by the Department of Energy, according to James.
Here are several other examples of questions similar to those the students might face this weekend at the competition:
— About how many calories per gram will it take to sublimate water at standard pressure? W) 180 X) 360 Y) 540 Z) 720.
— Assuming the specific heat of aluminum is 0.9 Joules per gram per degree, how much energy, in kilojoules rounded to the first decimal place, must be added to 500 grams of aluminum to raise its temperature from 10°C to 70°C?
— Which genus of bacteria has been found to be the most successful at restoring the intestinal flora and relieving symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome?
(Answers: 720 calories; 27 kilojoules; Lactobacillus)
For a full list of sample questions or more information about the competition, visit science.energy.gov/wdts/nsb/.
Follow Nick McCrea on Twitter at @nmccrea213.