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Part of the challenge is that individual event supervisors might interpret topics quite differently. There isn't some secret supervisor manual or test bank for them to work with. Also, it's common for tournament directors to utilize faculty members, who don't always pay close attention to the rules since they are used to teaching on these topics and think they should include whatever they typically include in intro college classes. But this is also an opportunity for the students to learn more stuff! In regards to your specific questions:

Cloudia wrote: (I have taught absorption spectra, but not emission, and especially not how it's created. Is this required knowledge?)

I wouldn't expect emission spectra to be included. That said, it's rather trivial to understand the basics of emission spectra if you understand absorption spectra.

Cloudia wrote: Question 25. What is Huygens principle, and how does it relate to the double-slit experiment (assume the width of the slit is less than the wavelength of course)?

This is related to diffraction and is not within the scope of topics listed in the rules.

Cloudia wrote: Question 26. Analysis of hydrogen spectral lines from a distant star are measured to have a wavelength of .21107m. However, hydrogen emission lines are measured to be .21106m in a vacuum. How fast is the star travelling in terms of the speed of light (c)? Is this an example of red shift or blue shift?

Doppler effect / relativity also aren't in the topics list.

Cloudia wrote: Question 27. Give an example of when light acts as a particle, and an example of when it acts like a wave.

Ditto for quantum physics

Cloudia wrote: Question 39. A hydrogen electron transitions from n=3 to n=1. Is a photon absorbed or emitted?

This is borderline acceptable since it relates to absorption spectra

Cloudia wrote: Question 40. What is the photon's energy in eV?
Question 41. What is the frequency of the photon?

But I think this takes the topic far beyond what's intended by the rules.

Cloudia wrote: (Diagram was light entering air and then two mediums with different refractive indexes. My question is whether the photon energy component should be included in this year's material?)

Question 10. Take the energy values from number 9. Explain any pattern or lack or pattern in the values. Why does this occur?

I don't think so.

Hello,
I really need help now, my Optics final (for team selection) is next Wednesday, and I'm not really sure about the optical absorption spectra! I've already posted this question (and now I'm asking it again), but can somebody please give a simple explanation and resources for the optical absorption spectra? I'd appreciate it a lot.
Thanks,
superpenguin666

superpenguin666 wrote:Hello,
I really need help now, my Optics final (for team selection) is next Wednesday, and I'm not really sure about the optical absorption spectra! I've already posted this question (and now I'm asking it again), but can somebody please give a simple explanation and resources for the optical absorption spectra? I'd appreciate it a lot.
Thanks,
superpenguin666

Have you tried Wikipedia? It's always a good place to start and points to lots of other resources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Absorption_spectroscopy

Thank you so much for your opinions, chalker! It's very reassuring to read that this material wasn't all meant to be covered. I'll expand our coverage of the borderline topics to be safe. Once again, I really appreciate that you've taken the time to help.

Superpenguin, I've sent you a private message with a bit of help.

Cloudia wrote:Hello

While I was expecting that my students would struggle with the state/national level theory (lasers, multiple lenses, etc) that the Cornell Invitational is known for, there were questions in which I can't see how they fit within any of this year's optics topics. Alternatively, is it common to see more topics thrown than expected?

I'm currently a student, but I'll give you my take. The Cornell invitational is known for writing odd tests in some events, so I'm sorry to say I wouldn't base your studying off of the experience there.
To reference this year's rules, "Optical Absorption Spectra: Film, chemicals, dyes" could be interpreted as analysis of energy levels as well as analysis of spectra. This leads to a need for understanding the energy and characteristics of photons as well as methods such as diffraction which can produce spectral lines.
Redshift was on previous years' rules I believe, but not this year. In this respect, Cornell seems to have simply failed at following the rules.

Tom_MS wrote:

Cloudia wrote:Hello
While I was expecting that my students would struggle with the state/national level theory (lasers, multiple lenses, etc) that the Cornell Invitational is known for, there were questions in which I can't see how they fit within any of this year's optics topics. Alternatively, is it common to see more topics thrown than expected?

I'm currently a student, but I'll give you my take. The Cornell invitational is known for writing odd tests in some events, so I'm sorry to say I wouldn't base your studying off of the experience there.
To reference this year's rules, "Optical Absorption Spectra: Film, chemicals, dyes" could be interpreted as analysis of energy levels as well as analysis of spectra. This leads to a need for understanding the energy and characteristics of photons as well as methods such as diffraction which can produce spectral lines.
Redshift was on previous years' rules I believe, but not this year. In this respect, Cornell seems to have simply failed at following the rules.

I'm a grad and I've written/proctored various tests at different levels of tournaments, so here's my take on it. While some subjects might be outside of the defined area, I think that one of the most important part of the rules is in 4.c.: "The competition must consist of at least two questions from each of the following areas". Now the way I interpret this line may be different from how others do, but when I write tests the first thing I generally do is make sure that I meet this quota. However beyond these 20 questions, I generally add questions that are not listed in the provided topics (for example, wave optics and some astronomy-related things) that I think are still important to know for the overall subject of optics. This doesn't go against the rules at all as far as I can see, as I am meeting the 20 question requirement, but just adding some new topics/questions of my own on top of that. Thus if I was currently competing in Optics, I wouldn't limit myself to knowledge of just the topics listed, but try to get as much breadth as possible in the subject, as other test-writers could always think the same way I do. Plus that's representative of the spirit of Science Olympiad - not just limiting knowledge to content that will be presented on a test, but to have kids explore a subject beyond what schools/classes regularly teach as well as diving into the subject as much as they can/want.

True. Some rules have different wording but with optics you're right.

Can someone check me back on this problem its a Doppler Shift one?

"A spaceship is moving away from an asteroid at a relative velocity of 2.8481 x 10^8 m/s. The spaceship sends a signal with a frequency of 5 x 10^6 Hz to a base located on the asteroid. What is the frequency of the signal measured by the base?"

I keep getting 2.56 x 10^6 Hz but the test key says the answer is 3.1225 x 10^7 Hz.

Fluorine wrote:Can someone check me back on this problem its a Doppler Shift one?

"A spaceship is moving away from an asteroid at a relative velocity of 2.8481 x 10^8 m/s. The spaceship sends a signal with a frequency of 5 x 10^6 Hz to a base located on the asteroid. What is the frequency of the signal measured by the base?"

I keep getting 2.56 x 10^6 Hz but the test key says the answer is 3.1225 x 10^7 Hz.

I jammed those numbers into an online doppler shift calculator and got your answer. Couldn't seem to figure out how to get their answer.

Fluorine wrote:I keep getting 2.56 x 10^6 Hz but the test key says the answer is 3.1225 x 10^7 Hz.

Using hyperphysics and wolframalpha, I got 3.12*10^7 Hz if the spaceship moves towards the asteroid, rather than away from it - this follows common sense, as redshifting would lower frequency, whereas blueshifting would increase it. Looks like your proctor either misworded the question, or applied the wrong equation in his/her calculations of answers.