Pictured : ‘The Fellowship of the Safe’ team show off their creation.
Components of safe
us on the Physics involved and the mechanisms by which the safes worked. After lunch, the safe‐cracking took place. Other teams attempted to break into the DC safes and awarded scores for qualities such as ‘enjoyment’ while we attempted to crack into theirs. We stuck to our guns, and managed to crack all but two safes; ours remained uncracked from the UK round. With the results due to be announced the next day, we just had to hope that we had done enough to get into the top ten. Results day. All the safes were shown off in a public exhibition, and we had the opportunity to try out safes we hadn’t encountered. While it was entertaining to meet other competitors and share experiences, we were beginning to gauge the high standard of the competition. Tension began to rise as the results ceremony approached. To keep us suffering as long as possible, we were given a series of lectures talks before the final revelation, including a fascinating lecture on supernovae. At last the results were read out: ‘The Fellowship of the Safe’ placed in ... ‘second overall’ out of 72 teams (and secured top marks for enjoyment and for being most resistant). This was the icing on an already very tasty cake. With the competition part of the trip over, we travelled to Jerusalem, where we visited the Western Wall (where two members almost entered the women’s section) and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre as well as exploring the Christian quarter. On the final day we had a short trip to Jaffa where we visited the local flea market, bought a football and played on the beach. It was a brilliant way to end a spectacular trip. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Fiona and Ronnie Fattal, who sponsored our entire trip via the EC Sosnow Charitable Trust, for providing us with an incredible educational and cultural experience. T wo combination locks lock the safe, each corresponding to a challenge. The challenges can be done in either order, but for convenience’s sake they are numbered 1 and 2. In Challenge 1, the cracker must remove the aluminium ring from the base of the clear plastic tower. To do this, one must first remove the iron ring above it using the magnet provided. After this, the solenoid below the ring can be connected to the power pack provided. AC current must be used, and a quick change of voltage will cause the ring to be jumped up the pole out of the plastic tube. The code can then be read out from the inside of the ring. Mrs Jenny Stanley Cracking the safe
The safe is built of wood and acrylic. It also consists of: - A metal pole - A solenoid coil - A copper coil - Decorations, including LEDs, which are potentially detachable. Additional Equipment Potential crackers are provided with: - A 1.5V cell - An ac power pack, which can provide a variable supply of current (1-15V) - Two neodymium magnets, one of which is attached by a piece of string (or wire) to the safe - Wires for connecting the solenoid to the power pack We also brought spares of many of these items, as well as: a hot glue gun, soldering ion, a solder, spare batteries and araldite adhesive, spare coil of copper wire, a metal ruler, masking tape and sellotape for repairs.
The Weizmann Competition 2015
The College has again entered two Year 12 teams into the Weizmann Institute International Safe-Cracking Competition – dubbed ‘Pueri Magnets’ and ‘Fellowship of the Safe’ – and, for a second year running, the teams travelled to the Weizmann Institute in Israel, finishing first and second in the UK round. Daniel Torren Perraire (Year 12) reports
T he first hurdle we faced was at the airport: trying to get a couple of dodgy-looking items through Israeli customs. It was not our teachers, Mr Young and Mrs Stanley, that attracted their attention, but our two safes, their spare parts and our tools. By the time we reached our accommodation at the Hebrew University of Agriculture – with lime trees an arm’s length from our balconies – we set about re‐building and repairing our flat-packed safes. The more complex of the two – Pueri Magnets’ – needed significant repair work: there were multiple technical problems, including a fault with the printed circuit board, which meant that the device wasn’t in a functional state until the early hours of the morning. The next day was rather more relaxing. After an early start for a Competition photograph, we were taken on a tour of the outdoor science museum at the Weizmann Institute and Dr Weizmann’s stylish 1920s
house, where we marveled at his car – a one‐of‐a‐kind Ford Lincoln. Guided around the different science museum exhibits, we saw demonstrations of standing waves, inertia, astronomy, an amazing solar furnace that set fire to a tree branch within a second of being placed in a focused light beam from the sun, and an observatory‐come‐particle-accelerator tower. The rest of the day was spent marveling at Tel Aviv, with its beaches and trio of skyscrapers shaped as a cylinder, triangular prism, and cuboid, all with the same exterior texture. On the day of the competition, butterflies were in everyone’s stomachs as we bundled out of the coach into the dazzling sunlight. In the introduction to the competition we felt both swamped and out done by the other teams, some of whom had impressive themed costumes to go with their safes. The first part of the day involved us showcasing our safes to three separate judges, who grilled
In Challenge 2, the cracker must withdraw the iron ring from the pool of rings inside the safe. To do this, the aluminium tube must first be removed from inside the coil sticking into the safe. The neodymium magnets must then be connected to the 1.5V cell provided. They must be repelling each other and the one attached to string should be on the negative end. The cell can then be inserted into the coil and, if it has been connected correctly, it will move by itself and drop into the pool and attract the iron ring. The iron ring can then be pulled out using the string. Again the code is on the inside of the ring.
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