Kids at YSU's Physics Olympics will know where to place a door handle

YOUNGSTOWN

Ask a physics kid the age-old question about the chicken crossing the road, and chances are pretty good you won’t get a clear answer as to why it happened.

But ask a physics kid how to get the chicken across the road, and odds are that he or she will come up with any number of intriguing methods of getting the bird from one berm to the other.

By definition, physics is the branch of science concerned with the nature and properties of matter and energy, focusing on mechanics, heat, light, sound, electricity, magnetism and the structure of atoms.

Nope, it’s not for everybody.

But for those who understand and appreciate the science behind it, physics opens their eyes to a new perspective of the world around them.

“Because of physics, I look at things all the time now and relate them back to what we learned in class,” said Hannah Hiscox, a senior at Lisbon’s David Anderson High School. She was one of dozens of high school pupils who participated in the 38th annual Physics Olympics Saturday at Youngstown State University.

The use of torque, and how it comes into play when deciding something as simple as placement of a handle on a car door, and how it can be used to help lift heavy amounts of weight, catch her eye on a regular basis, Hiscox said.

Read more about the event in Sunday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.