Physics Competition
Join the Challenge
The State of Iowa Physics Competition is a series of five physics events for high school (Grades 9-12) students. The competition stresses creativity and ingenuity as well as an understanding of physics related principles and is intended to stimulate interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM). The competition emphasizes the scientific and engineering practices found in the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and participation in the competition integrated with appropriate instruction can address the Iowa Core.
The 2025-26 State Physics Competition will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Maucker Union in Central Ballrooms A, B, & C.
Competition Details
The 2025-26 State Physics Competition will be held on Tuesday, April 7, 2026 at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Maucker Union in the Central Ballrooms. Check-In begins at 8:30 am. Students should report to their events by 9 am. The preliminary round for events will begin at 9:30 am but schools who check in early may begin to compete as early as 9 am. The final round may begin as early as 11 am and will end before 3 pm.
The State Physics Competition is supported by the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) Department of Physics and STEM Support Services as well as the Iowa American Association of Physics Teachers (IAAPT).
UNI Dining is offering Physics Teams that pre-order lunch tickets a special offer of $10.50 (regular price $12) per lunch ticket. Teams must pre-order by Tuesday, March 24, 2026 at this lunch pre-order link. Lunch tickets are good at Piazza Dining Center on campus on the day of the competition. Piazza is an all you can eat dining facility with options for dietary restrictions and preferences. See this week’s menu. Teams may also purchase lunch at the door for the regular price of $12.50 per lunch ticket by credit card only.
Spring 2026 Competition
The events for the Spring 2026 competition include the following:
- Catapult,
- Mousetrap car,
- The Flying Machine,
- Optical Slalom, and
- Fermi Questions
All events from 2025 will be returning with some revisions. See 2026 Iowa Physics Competition Rules for more detailed information.
Students will use a variety of everyday, inexpensive materials such as mousetraps, compact discs, rubber bands, mirrors, etc. to build devices or to layout a "course" to accomplish specific tasks (catapult, mouse trap car, flying machine, and optical slalom) and to determine estimates of a quantity that is either difficult or impossible to measure directly (Fermi Questions). See rules below for the specific details for each event.
The events for the Spring 2026 competition include the following:
- Catapult,
- Mousetrap car,
- The Flying Machine,
- Optical Slalom, and
- Fermi Questions
All events from 2025 will be returning with some revisions. See 2026 Iowa Physics Competition Rules for more detailed information.
Students will use a variety of everyday, inexpensive materials such as mousetraps, compact discs, rubber bands, mirrors, etc. to build devices or to layout a "course" to accomplish specific tasks (catapult, mouse trap car, flying machine, and optical slalom) and to determine estimates of a quantity that is either difficult or impossible to measure directly (Fermi Questions). See rules below for the specific details for each event.
Iowa Physics Competition
The State of Iowa Physics Competition includes one open state competition that includes preliminary and final rounds on the same day with the preliminary round beginning by 9:30 am and the final round beginning around 11 am. The preliminary round replaces the regional competition to be used as a qualifier for the final round for the state competition. Regional competitions may still be held for teams to practice for the state competition but the teams still must qualify in the preliminary round on the day of the state competition to move onto the final round.
Each participating school will be allowed to bring up to 3 entries per event (or 3 event teams) for the State of Iowa Physics Competition preliminary round. For all events, only the top 10 teams for different schools for each event will compete in the final round. Only a school's highest scoring event team will go onto the final round to compete for individual event medals and to represent their school for overall competition awards.
See Iowa Physics Competition Rules for more detailed information.
The State of Iowa Physics Competition is hosted by the UNI Physics Department and coordinated by Dr. Larry Escalada (Lawrence.Escalada@uni.edu). Please feel free to contact Larry if you have any questions about the competition.