“Don’t time yourselves,” he said. “Don’t even worry about getting the right answer. Just write down anything you know. Draw the rocket. Write down momentum conservation. Even if you only get the first line—‘Let the exhaust mass be Δm’—that counts.”
Jordan slumped in his chair. “Last year’s paper had a circuit so complex it looked like modern art. I feel like I’m supposed to already know a secret trick.” senior physics challenge past papers
He drew three columns on the whiteboard, labeled: , Analyze , Adapt . Step 1: The Honest Attempt (No Fear, No Time Limit) Dr. Evans handed each of them a single question from a past paper: A rocket of mass m ejects gas at speed u. Derive its final velocity. “Don’t time yourselves,” he said