accumulators - 2026 ACF Regionals

Question

In the hydraulic analogy, a capacitor is analogous to a hydraulic one of these devices. For 10 points each:

[10h] Give this term, which generically refers to devices that store energy. Compressed nitrogen gas is stored in a “bladder” or separated by a “diaphragm” in a hydropneumatic one of these devices.

ANSWER: accumulators [accept hydraulic accumulators or hydropneumatic accumulators]

[10e] Thermal energy is stored in the form of pressurized steam in a steam accumulator, which are typically used to store thermal energy generated from this source. Photovoltaic cells are used to generate energy from this source.

ANSWER: sunlight [or the sun; or solar power; or solar radiation; prompt on light or photons or radiation by asking “from what source?”]

[10m] Solar collectors generate thermal energy by using mirrors arranged in this shape to focus sunlight onto a single point. The heat equation is a member of a class of partial differential equations named in analogy to this shape.

ANSWER: parabola [or parabolic; accept paraboloids; accept parabolic partial differential equations; accept parabolic troughs or parabolic reflectors]

<GC, Physics>

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Summary


California (South)	Main Site	Y	4	20.00	100%	100%	0%
Canada	Main Site	Y	11	15.45	91%	64%	0%
Great Lakes	Main Site	Y	4	17.50	100%	75%	0%
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	9	15.56	89%	67%	0%
Northeast	Main Site	Y	6	18.33	100%	83%	0%
Overflow	Main Site	Y	3	16.67	100%	67%	0%
Southeast	Main Site	Y	8	13.75	100%	38%	0%
UK	Main Site	Y	6	16.67	100%	67%	0%
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	Y	8	16.25	100%	63%	0%

Data


Arizona State	UC Irvine	10	10	20
UCLA B	UCSD B	10	10	20
UCSD C	UC Santa Barbara	10	10	20
Western C	Brock	10	0	10
Carleton University	Waterloo B	10	10	20
Guelph	McGill A	10	10	20
Ottawa	Queen's	10	10	20
McGill B	Simon Fraser	10	0	10
UBC A	Toronto B	10	10	20
Toronto G	Toronto C	10	10	20
Toronto E	UBC B	10	10	20
Toronto Metropolitan	Toronto F	10	0	10
McMaster A	Waterloo A	10	10	20
Western B	Toronto D	0	0	0
UCSD A	UCLA A	10	10	20
Ohio State B	CWRU A	10	0	10
Michigan A	Michigan B	10	10	20
Pittsburgh	Ohio State A	10	10	20
CWRU B	Ohio State C	10	10	20
Duke	Liberty B	10	10	20
Liberty A	Wake Forest	0	0	0
North Carolina A	North Carolina C	10	0	10
South Carolina A	James Madison A	10	0	10
Virginia Tech A	VCU	10	10	20
Virginia Tech B	North Carolina B	10	10	20
Virginia	Liberty C	10	10	20
William and Mary	South Carolina B	10	10	20
Dartmouth B	Bowdoin A	10	10	20
Bowdoin B	MIT	10	0	10
Brown	Brandeis B	10	10	20
Brandeis A	Harvard A	10	10	20
Harvard B	Southern Connecticut State	10	10	20
Yale	Dartmouth A	10	10	20
NC State A	James Madison B	10	10	20
Iowa State	Missouri B	10	0	10
Missouri A	Minnesota A	10	10	20
Washington B	Washington A	10	10	20
Louisville B	Bruin	10	0	10
Georgia Tech C	Georgia Tech D	10	10	20
Mississipi State	Kentucky	10	10	20
WashU B	Vanderbilt B	10	0	10
Louisville A	Sewanee	10	0	10
Alabama A	Tennessee A	10	10	20
Tennessee B	Alabama B	10	0	10
Georgia Tech B	WashU A	10	0	10
Southampton A	Birmingham	10	10	20
Cardiff	Oxford C	10	0	10
Manchester	Southampton B	10	10	20
Warwick A	Edinburgh A	10	10	20
Warwick B	Montpellier	10	0	10
Cambridge A	Imperial B	10	10	20
NYU A	Catholic	10	10	20
Rutgers B	Columbia A	10	10	20
Rutgers A	John Jay	10	10	20
Maryland A	Johns Hopkins A	10	0	10
Maryland C	Johns Hopkins B	10	10	20
NYU C	Maryland B	10	0	10
Georgetown	NYU B	10	0	10
Columbia B	Columbia C	10	10	20