There are three types of problems available: Core, Catalytic Craze and Atomic Rush problems. The scope of higher-order problems will align with the International Chemistry Olympiad (IChO) syllabus, and some may even explore advanced concepts beyond it.
Core Problems
Core problems can be attempted throughout the entire competition. They are arranged in order of increasing difficulty, and either consist of a single part or multiple parts (hereinafter referred to as multi-part problems). Points for each part will vary depending on difficulty and expected solving duration.
Unlocking Problems
All core questions are locked at the start of the competition.
Unlocking a problem allows you to access its pdf and submit answers. You may unlock a new problem whenever your team is working on three or less problems, which happens at the start of the competition, or after you solve or skip a problem.
When unlocking a new problem, you can choose only between the next four problems that have yet to be unlocked. You will only see their titles and allocated points, but not the topic, problem statement, or number of parts.
For multi-part problems, all individual parts will be available once unlocked, and you may attempt the parts in any order (i.e. you may attempt part (b) before completing (a)).
Point System
A correct answer yields the number of points allocated for that problem. For a multi-part problem, points are awarded individually for each part correctly answered.
Once all parts of a problem are correctly answered, it is considered solved, and you may unlock a new problem as stated above.
An incorrect answer has no penalty but decreases the obtainable points of the problem / part by 1 point, until it reaches 1. In other words,
Obtainable points = max(Listed points - No. of incorrect attempts, 1)
Confused? The following table illustrates the point-scoring system:
| Correct answer submitted on: | Points awarded for a problem / part worth: | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 points | 3 points | 4 points | |
| 1st try | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 2nd try | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 3rd try | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 4th try and beyond | 1 | 1 | 1 |
An incorrect answer will also cause a cooldown period of 3 minutes, during which all team members would be unable to submit answers for that problem / part. For a multi-part problem, only the incorrectly answered part will be on cooldown, while the other parts can still be attempted within this period.
Skipping Problems
If you are unable to solve any Core problem, you may skip it. This makes that problem permanently unavailable and allows your team to unlock a new problem. However,
- Two points will be deducted from your team's total score.
- There will be a cooldown period of 10 minutes, during which your team cannot skip another problem.
You will not be allowed to skip a question if doing so causes your team's points to become negative.
For multi-part problems, skipping that problem will mean skipping all remaining unsolved parts.
- You will still earn points for any parts that you have already solved, and the two-point penalty is only imposed once for the whole problem, regardless of how many unsolved parts were skipped.
- You may only skip the entire problem, not individual parts.
You will receive one free skip at the very start of the competition, with an additional one awarded every hour thereafter. You may use free skips at any time to skip a problem without the two-point penalty. However, the 10-minute cooldown will still apply. Free skips can be accumulated (meaning you need not use the free skip within 1 hour) and are shared amongst the whole team.
Catalytic Craze
The first special event, Catalytic Craze, will commence at the 1-hour mark (at 10 am), and will last 1 hour (until 11 am). Core questions will still be available during this period.
During this event, teams will gain access to the Catalytic Craze (CC) problem, Which contains 4 parts, as elaborated below:
| Part(s) | Points Available | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| A-C | 10 | Immediately available to attempt at 10am. |
| Final Part | 20 | Only unlocked after solving parts A-C. Does not need to be unlocked during the duration of CC. |
As with the Core questions, an incorrect answer for any part of the CC question will decrease the obtainable points of the part by 1, until it reaches 1.
If you solve any part of the CC problem within the duration of Catalytic Craze, you will be awarded a 50% point bonus for that part. If solved after Catalytic Craze has ended, no bonus will be awarded.
- For example, if your solve part A within the duration of Catalytic Craze and are awarded 9 points (due to 1 incorrect attempt), you will be awarded a 4.5 point bonus.
The CC problem cannot be skipped, and will remain visible and can be attempted even after the Catalytic Craze event ends.
Atomic Rush
The second special event, Atomic Rush, will commence at the 2.5-hour mark (at 11.30 am), and will last 30 minutes (until 12 pm). Likewise, Core questions will still be available during this period.
During Atomic Rush, each team can view 4 Atomic Rush (AR) problems concurrently at any time. AR 1 - 4 are automatically available at the start.
Each AR problem has only one part. They start at 1 point each, but will progressively ramp up at higher question numbers.
The key here is speed and accuracy. Teams can only attempt each problem once - an incorrect answer automatically skips the problem without penalty. Once an AR problem is solved or skipped, the next unattempted problem is unlocked immediately, so you cannot choose which AR problems to attempt.
- For example, if AR1 is solved, AR5 is unlocked immediately. If an incorrect answer is submitted for AR2, it is skipped and AR6 is unlocked.
In addition, the following score multipliers will be in place during AR:
| Score multiplier | Description |
|---|---|
Nitro | Solving 5 AR problems in a row correcly grants a 3-point bonus on the 5th problem. The streak resets after earning the bonus, meaning a new streak of 5 correct answers is required for another bonus. |
Hyperbullet | For each AR problem solved within 2 minutes, your team will receive double the allocated points for that problem. The 2-minute timer applies to the entire team, and starts when any team member first views the entire problem by accessing its pdf. |
The above multipliers apply only to AR problems, not Core or CC problems.
Once Atomic Rush ends, both the AR problems and the score multipliers will no longer be available.