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When you set up the mirrors, do the covers have to stay on? The sheet says that timing stops when you take the cover off. If yes then we'll just have to deal the uneven covers

Archaeopteryx wrote:When you set up the mirrors, do the covers have to stay on? The sheet says that timing stops when you take the cover off. If yes then we'll just have to deal the uneven covers

Yes, the covers must stay on during mirror set up. Otherwise you could easily just build a periscope to use to angle the mirrors (which would kind of take away a lot of the challenge).

What exactly do you mean by "uneven covers"?

John Richardsim wrote:What exactly do you mean by "uneven covers"?

Possibly the cover extending past the edge of the mirrors, making it difficult to place objects on or near them?

Isn't this event somewhat like Crave the Wave?

GoldandSilver wrote:Isn't this event somewhat like Crave the Wave?

You can think of it like that. Crave the Wave is broader in terms of the topics it covers, while Optics goes more in depth. Crave the Wave also doesn't have a lab/hands-on portion like Optics does. They're very similar events and having done Crave the Wave would help a lot in terms of doing Optics

Well, Crave is a laboratory event, too, just not with a predetermined activity. Good Crave tests tend to have more hands-on than Optics does, really. In fact, that's a key difference I've seen between the events. Crave can have many practical activities while Optics can only have one, and it's the same one every time. I kind of liked the variety. I suppose that's what the rotation is for.

What sorts of "measuring instruments" are allowed? Goniometers? A digital goniometer? Maybe a string to make a string-line? When it says they have to fit in a 3 ring binder, can you have a zipper-case placed in the rings? There is talk about the templates being paper--what about cardboard? How creative do teams get with these measuring instruments, or do they stick to very basic tools like paper templates and compass?

migh3suns wrote:What sorts of "measuring instruments" are allowed? Goniometers? A digital goniometer? Maybe a string to make a string-line? When it says they have to fit in a 3 ring binder, can you have a zipper-case placed in the rings? There is talk about the templates being paper--what about cardboard? How creative do teams get with these measuring instruments, or do they stick to very basic tools like paper templates and compass?

Anything that's not a mirror or a laser, and can be secured into your binder somehow - I put my stuff in the pocket of my binder (it's one of the ones that has a strap for closing) and the ES seemed to be ok with it. As long as nothing falls out you should be good

Honestly I find that paper templates and a couple of small protractors works fine if you know what you're doing

Thanks.

The rule book for Div B indicates that there are five moveable mirrors and one barrier with mirror. Am I correct in understanding that there will be total six mirrors including the barrier mirror on LSS? The kit I received from Ward Science includes total five mirrors. If one of them have to be used as a barrier mirror, then there will be only four moveable mirrors. Did Ward Science miss a mirror or did I interpret the rules incorrectly?