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Students compete in physics competition in Lackawanna County

Newswatch 16's Courtney Harrison was on hand for the high-intensity high school physics competition.

SCRANTON, Pa. — Students from more than a dozen schools were laser-focused, working on a physics problem at the University of Scranton.  

This type of intensity was warranted, as the students were competing to be the top team in the Hayes Family Physics Competition.

"To see the energy, enthusiasm of the local high school students interested in physics and engineering, it was fantastic," said Rachel Frissell, Hayes Family Physics Competition moderator.

This year, organizers focused on making each experiment in the competition as interactive as possible to get students excited about learning.

"I think it's really cool because it's physics, but it's hands-on," said Cadie Lewis, Dunmore High School senior. "So it's not just like sitting down writing things."

"We got to make the electronics. We got to make the balancing things. We got to pretty much do it ourselves," said Zach Uynon, Dunmore High School senior.

"It's a lot of fun, obviously. And it really tests all the skills that we worked on throughout the whole year," added Jocelyn Williams, Wyoming Area High School senior.

In the final team challenge, a trebuchet was used to catapult a basketball across the gym, and teams had to figure out how far the ball would travel based on the counterweight used.

"By taking some simple measurements, they can plug those values in and estimate the range that a projectile will be launched," Frissell said.

Most of these schools participate in this competition each year, and students say it's a big deal to win and bring the trophy home.

"That would really reflect everything that our science department and my physics teacher has taught me and how that can help me out in college, especially to," said Halle Kranson, Wyoming Area High School senior. 

The team from Delaware Valley won the overall competition, with a team from Wyoming Area taking second and one from Berwick coming in third. 

Check out WNEP's YouTube channel.

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