Lower Sixth Students Excel at Inter-School Safe Cracking Competition
On Sunday 8th February, two teams of Lower Sixth students, FZN and MAXimum Security, competed in the Inter-School Safe Cracking Competition at Dulwich College. Their task was to design and build a ‘safe’ incorporating two physics phenomena that had to resist being ‘cracked’ by their peers—some of the brightest young physicists and engineers in the country. The ‘safe’ had to withstand being cracked for 10 minutes, and teams were also required to use their knowledge of physics to open and reset it in under 5 minutes. They then underwent rigorous questioning from a panel of expert judges, who tested their understanding of the physics behind their designs.
We were delighted that both teams scored in the top ten and that FZN was awarded the first-ever Judges’ Choice Award, being the only safe to receive a perfect score from one of the judges—Congratulations to Aryann, Arnav, Dylan, Emmanuel, and Tommaso. FZN was the first safe in the history of the competition to use external gear cogs and a differential gearbox together to spin water from a centrifuge into a tank, triggering a float sensor. The Physics Department is extremely proud of the skills the students developed throughout the competition, which we are confident will contribute to their future success.
