The Curiosity Box
A Scholarship for All competition run in partnership between RGS and RGS Prep
Welcome
We are delighted to share with you the details of the inaugural Curiosity Box competition, a joint venture between RGS (Senior) and RGS Prep.
Scholarship is one of our shared school values and, as such, lies at the heart of everything that we do. In support of this, both schools offer a programme of academic enrichment beyond the classroom curriculum to support and inspire our students on the path towards identifying their unique passions and interests. Many of these activities are open to all students and are hence referred to as Scholarship for All.
The Year 5 students were introduced to the Curiosity Box early in September. They were asked to think of questions that they really wanted to know the answer to and to post these into the Curiosity Box, which was located in the school library.
The Curiosity Box was then transferred to the Senior School. Fifth Form (Year 11) students were given the opportunity to choose one of the questions to answer. Their answers were written in two parts – a more detailed answer that included as much depth and detail as possible, as well as a shorter, simplified version that would be appropriate to share with the Year 5 students. These responses were judged, and the winning Fifth Form student visited the Prep School to share his answer with the Year 5s as part of a celebratory Assembly, during which we also awarded prizes for the Most Curious questions to some of the Year 5 students.
We were delighted by the range of questions that the Year 5 students produced, as well as the thoughtful answers written by the Fifth Form students, who managed to explain some extremely complex concepts in careful, accessible language for their Year 5 audience. Over the following pages you will find a selection of both the Year 5 questions and the Fifth Form answers. We hope that you will enjoy reading both.
Yours sincerely
Mrs H.E. Tarasewicz
Miss I.R. Fenton Head of Scholarship, RGS (Senior) Head of Inspire, RGS Prep
The questions
Question
How does an infinity cube work?
Asked by
Max
How many words have been written (including these)? Felix
How many sheets of A4 paper have ever been made? Felix
What food, fruit or vegetable gives you the most energy? Ted
What vegetable has the most protein? Anders
What is the most deadly living thing? Aryan
How many grains of sand are there in the world? Harry
What is inside steel that it heats? Aarav
What is the strongest building material and where did it come from? Keiran
What happens in black holes? Julius
What is at the end of a black hole and what's inside one? Daniel
If all religious books are myths, how were they made up? Rahas
The questions
Question
Asked by
How does a surname start? Darith
Is space endless? Aryan
What is reality? Zhengdong
What happens after you get sucked into a black hole? Tenjun
Is it possible to get into a white hole and if so, what's in it? Harry
What happens in a black hole? Laurie
What makes the strings on the piano make a note? Aarav
Why don't we use wood to make mugs? Dylan
Why do planes use aluminium instead of other materials? Dylan
What is the most radioactive material and animal? Blake
What is the heaviest fruit? Ben
What is the best food and drink if I do lots of sports? Ben
What is the most acidic fruit? Amudan
How old is the earth? Rian
How was language formed into English? Arthur
How was language formed into English? Mylan
How many grains of sand are there in the world? Archie
How many plants are there on earth? Murad
What makes planes fly? Max
How fast has a human ever moved in history? Felix
What is in aerodynamics that makes a plane fly? Aarav
What is in a zip that makes it close? Aarav
Why is W called double U not double V? James
Which is the rarest colour eye? Blake
How hot does it get in an F1 car? Felipe
What is dark matter in space? Zhengdong
Where did the earth come from? Felipe
How long would it take to travel on every single bit of land and water on earth? Harry
How much uranium can you have? Siddarth
What would happen if you mixed two dangerous chemicals together? Adrian
How did people make money paper? Anders
The answers
What is dark matter? by Julian, in response to the question by Zhengdong
What is dark matter?
SHORT ANSWER
What is it?
First, we need to understand two things first – what gravity is, and why that’s important here.
Gravity – it’s a force that all things have that pulls stuff towards it. Since the Earth is the biggest thing near us, we feel its gravity pulling us most. It holds everything together, just like we are being held on the Earth and how groups or clusters of galaxies don’t float away from each other.
Gravity can also bend light – it pulls everything, including light towards it. This can make things look like if they’re reflections from funny mirrors or looking through a glass of water – everything gets wobbly and stretched. This means that we can tell where stuff is if something looks like it’s been bent.
Matter is regular stuff that has gravity. You can see it and touch it. Everything we can see -e.g. your clothes, your hair, a chair is made of normal stuff – matter. Since it’s regular stuff, it will have gravity. Dark matter is stuff that we can’t see but still has gravity – imagine if the chair was invisible. It’s still there and it still has gravity, but we can’t see it anymore.
However, we aren’t completely sure if it’s there or not.
How did we find it?
Almost 100 years ago, a Swiss scientist found a group of galaxies that were moving very fast through space. In fact, they were moving so fast that they should all break apart from each other as there wasn’t enough gravity to keep everything together – there was not enough stuff to keep everything from falling apart. But they weren’t – and the scientist proposed that there was invisible stuff keeping everything together; he called this dark matter. Nearly 20 years ago, this famous photo was taken by a telescope. This happened when two galaxy groups hit each other – stuff from both clusters interacted, and we can see the energy made by normal stuff in red, but scientists noticed that the stars around it were bending more than they thought it would. They once again said that it had to be an invisible type of stuff causing this – dark matter - and they mapped where they thought it was. This is the blue bit on the photo. This photo is the biggest proof of dark matter that we have found to date.
What could dark matter actually be?
Atoms are small. There are more atoms in a single strand of hair than there are people in the world. But they are mostly empty space.
There are things even smaller than them which don’t hit these atoms but still have gravity simply by existing. These are what we think dark matter might be made of. We use telescopes to look for these and tiny little signs that they leave behind, and we are expected to see for sure if they exist in 10 years or so.
Another thing they could be is lots and lots of tiny black holes. Black holes are invisible as light cannot escape it and they also have gravity.
What if it doesn’t exist?
Some people didn’t like dark matter as they thought it would be too tricky to add even more things to physics. Instead, they changed the whole idea of gravity so that it would explain what they saw about the fast stars that weren’t being thrown off.
The problem was that when scientists tried to test this, results were very weird and so this new version of gravity is not liked by most scientists.
We do not know what dark matter is. We don’t even know for sure that it exists. But if we find them, they will explain so much about the universe we live in, solving one of the biggest questions that mankind have ever asked.
What is dark matter?
LONG ANSWER
In short
Dark matter is a hypothetical substance that keeps the universe together. Unlike matter, which is visible in the EM spectrum (including visible light), dark matter is undetectable in this way. Instead, it takes up volume and gravity whilst being invisible and interacts with regular matter via gravitational forces.
Gravitational lensing
Before we continue, we need to understand one of the key ways that dark matter is detected by.
First proposed by Einstein in 1916 in his theory of general relativity, Einstein merged space and time into one continuum known as spacetime. Gravity was depicted as curvatures in space time, caused by heavy objects. The heavier an object, the greater the curvature. Einstein also theorised that light would travel and bend along these curvatures (Fig.1), meaning that heavy-enough objects could change the perceived positions of objects from their actual ones. With lensing powerful enough, we can see objects behind larger bodies, with famous examples including the black hole’s accretion disk and the Einstein cross, caused when a cluster lenses a galaxy behind it, making it appear four times in the sky.
How was it discovered?
The term ‘dark matter’ was first coined in 1933 by Swiss-born astronomer Fritz Zwicky. He observed a galaxy cluster in the sky (particularly the Coma cluster, Fig.4) and found that the stars on the edge of the cluster were moving too fast to stay within the cluster’s gravitational pull; however, they were staying in orbit. Due to the lack of observable matter, Zwicky proposed that the stars were being held in orbit by an invisible type of matter – this he named dark matter.
And the theory was born. Like most theories, it didn’t gain too much credibility at first, staying on the fringes of astrophysics. However, in the 1970s, American astronomer Vera Rubin also found stars moving very fast at the edge of spiral galaxies and as before, they Another thing they could be is lots and lots of tiny black holes. Black holes are invisible as light cannot escape it and they also have gravity.
What if it doesn’t exist?
Some people didn’t like dark matter as they thought it would be too tricky to add even more things to physics. Instead, they changed the whole idea of gravity so that it would explain what they saw about the fast stars that weren’t being thrown off.
The problem was that when scientists tried to test this, results were very weird and so this new version of gravity is not liked by most scientists.
We do not know what dark matter is. We don’t even know for sure that it exists. But if we find them, they will explain so much about the universe we live in, solving one of the biggest questions that mankind have ever asked.
Fig 1 – curvature of spacetime
Fig 4 – Coma Cluster
Fig 2 – Einstein’s Cross
Fig 3 – Accretion Disk
were moving too fast to stay in orbit given the amount of visible matter present. Therefore, Rubin also theorised that they had to be held together by some sort of invisible matter i.e. dark matter.
At this point, the theory was gaining credibility. It explained multiple cases of fast-moving stars staying in orbit of clusters and galaxies.
The most compelling piece of evidence came in 2006. 3.6 billion light-years away, two galactic clusters collided, forming the Bullet Cluster. Regular matter, in the form of hot gas, from both clusters interacted and produced X-rays, picked up by NASA’s Hubble telescope. The X-Rays are shown in Fig.2 in red.
However, the stars and galaxies around the cluster were being warped too much compared to the expected gravitational lensing. Scientists explained this lensing with dark matter, with the gravitational forces being attributed once again to invisible matter. The gravitational lensing that was actually observed (and therefore the distribution of theoretical dark matter) is highlighted in blue in Fig.5.
What actually is dark matter?
As of today, no-one knows. There are currently three main theories about what it could be:
WIMPs (Weakly Interacting Massive Particles)
Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (or WIMPs) are the most popular theory on what dark matter could actually be. Proposed in the 1980s, WIMPs would allow regular matter (e.g. protons, neutrons) to pass through them seamlessly, but would still interact with regular matter via gravitational forces. When two collide, they would theoretically annihilate each other and produce gamma ray bursts in the process. Scientists all over the world have been designing experiments involving xenon to try and detect these signatures.
Axions
Axions are hypothetical subatomic particles first proposed in 1977 as a means to solve the strong CP problem (a fundamental physics problem exploring symmetry and antimatter). Axions were introduced as tiny subatomic balancers to solve this problem, but were later coined to be a possible candidate for dark matter. Due to their incredibly tiny size, they could perfectly explain the lack of interaction with regular matter whilst still providing mass and therefore gravity. Current research is being undertaken to find small disturbances in X and gamma rays.
Fig 5 – Bullet Cluster
Primordial black holes
Probably the most radical solution out of the three, primordial black holes are black holes thought to have formed at the very beginning of the universe, with large ranges of mass and size. Black holes share very similar features to dark matter – being invisible on the EM spectrum and having gravitational effects. The key problem with this theory was that in order for a black hole to form, a star had to collapse into its core, which would take more matter than currently available in the observable universe to form such a vast amount of dark matter. However, in 1971, Stephen Hawking proposed that during the first few million years after the big bang, conditions would’ve been so volatile and chaotic that the threshold for creating black holes would be so low that incredibly many primordial black holes would’ve been produced, many on the atomic scale. These miniature black holes would’ve then been scattered across the universe, forming dark matter. The research in this area is focusing on trying to detect black hole radiation with data from Fermi.
The latest advances
In 2023, one of the biggest dark matter detectors was run for the first time. The CMDS detector found three unexplained traces within its xenon reactors, giving more possibility of WIMPs than ever before.
Furthermore, mystery of dark matter could be solved within the next ten years. Two of the biggest WIMP detector experiments are being combined into one –CMDS and LUX are being merged into XLZD, coined to be the definitive experiment of detecting WIMPs. Located in Whitby Bay, northeast England, the experiment will look for interactions within tonnes of xenon, and the experiment will be set up to run in the 2030s. The experiment will be the last WIMP detector ever, and if this fails, dark matter as a theory will take a huge hit.
What if we’re wrong?
There is a not-so-small chance that dark matter doesn’t actually exist. MOND (Modified Newtonian Dynamics), a slightly modified version of traditional Newtonian gravity, aims to explain the lensing effects and fast-moving stars without introducing any extra particles and is dark matter’s closest competitor.
Developed by Israeli scientist Modehai Milgrom and American-Israeli theorist Jacob Bekenstein in the 1980s, it explains the gravitational lensing caused by the bullet cluster without introducing any new particles. In 2016, MOND explained the rotation curves of 153 galaxies with extremely high accuracy without the need to introduce a dark matter halo that would give it its rotation.
However, MOND only seems to apply when you observe on the galactic level. Idranil Banik had been working on a paper for 6 years, but he found that the results were no different than if standard Newtonian gravity was used.
Due to so many practical issues and conflicting observations, MOND is and will most likely continue overshadowed by dark matter.
In conclusion
First conceived by Zwicky and later backed up by Vera Rubin and the Bullet cluster, dark matter has been one of the most mysterious topics in all of physics. Explaining so many galactic observations and solving problems that left astronomers stumped for decades, we are getting closer to understanding what happens throughout the cosmos. With ongoing research on WIMPs, axions and PBHs, dark matter could hold the key to explaining our entire universe.
What is inside steel that it heats?
SHORT ANSWER
Question Clarification
In order to answer the question, I will change it slightly. This is because In science, it is very important to be specific and the question says, ‘that it heats’. I will use the example of two pieces of steel, one hot and one cold, placed together. Why does one heat up? However, the same principle can be applied to all examples of heat transfer.
What is inside steel?
The atom
If you were to cut steel in half, over and over and over again, until you couldn’t cut it anymore; what would you get? What is left is an atom. You can have different types of atoms. These atoms, combined, are the building blocks of our universe. Imagine everything is made out of tiny little balls and lots of different types of balls make things in the larger world, that we live in, such as steel.
Energy
Every piece of steel that exists is vibrating slightly. You may not feel it because it is so subtle, but every atom in it jiggles. All atoms move; in solid metals they vibrate as they are all so close together. The average energy or movement, that all the atoms have inside steel is known as temperature.
However, steel is not the only material whose atoms move, as the question implies. Furthermore, these materials can be in different states: Solid, Liquid and Gas. for a solid. From solid to gas, atoms go from close together vibrating to far apart and moving fast. The reason this is the case is because the forces of attraction between the atoms ‘hold them together’ less and less as the atoms gain more energy. [See, Figure 1]
The reason the questioner has a misconception, is because steel is much better at conducting heat (taking in heat) than most other materials. This is because the atoms are so close together that they can easily jiggle each other.
2. How does steel get hot?
Heat Transfer
Using our example of two pieces of steel, one hot and one cold, placed together, we see that heat always transfers from hot objects to cold ones. This is because, when they come into contact; the hot material vibrates the cold a lot and the cold vibrates the hot one less. The hot vibrates the cold less and less as it transfers move energy and the cold one vibrates more
and more as it gets more energy to jiggle more. This happens until they vibrate each other an equal amount which will continue as they jiggle each other the same amount. They have reached an equilibrium (an equal amount of something), therefore, in order for one piece of steel to heat up, another one must cool down. [See, Figure 2]
The property of energy to spread out like this is a fundamental law of the universe because it always happens and you cannot reverse it. For instance, you will never see a cold piece of steel make a hot one warmer and that wouldn’t make any sense.
3. Why does steel get hot?
Entropy
This law is called Entropy, and it is a very important concept. This is because, it can be used to build up our universe. The same principle as why steel is heated can explain why we have: Time, Life and Gravity. It could even be the key to a Grand Unified Field theory! (A model that physicists would create to understand the whole universe)
If you would like to understand why Entropy affects Time, Life and Gravity, I recommend you read my other paper with a parent or guardian.
“From the primordial fireball of the Big Bang to the majestic swirl of heavenly galaxies, all are reflections of one, grand physical principle, one master equation.” - Brian Greene
To Conclude
An amended question: What is inside steel that means it is heated?
A summarised answer:
1. Steel is made up of atoms whose average vibrations or movement is known as temperature.
2. The transfer of heat, into the steel, always happens from hot to cold reaching an equilibrium.
3. This is known as Entropy and is the reason the whole universe exists as well as explaining how steel is heated.
Hopefully, after reading this essay, you understand the nature of this seemingly simple question, which actually reaches deep into the heart of physics. A simple question about heating something up can lead physicists to the answers to the universe.
What is inside steel that it heats?
LONG ANSWER
1 .What is inside steel?
"Everything that living things do can be understood in terms of the jiggling and wiggling of atoms" - Richard P Fyenman
The
Atom
1.1 If you cut steel in half, over and over and over again, until you couldn’t cut it anymore; what would you get? This is similar to what the ancient Greek Philosopher, Democritus asked thousands of years ago. He said that what was left would be
an atom. However, this is not totally correct: an atom can be broken down into protons, neutrons and electrons. These component parts can also be further split into the building blocks of our universe, as described by the standard model. Combinations of these particles create everything in our universe, including steel.
1.2 Some of these fundamental particles must have mass and charge. We do not have a reason for why they have a charge; it is just an intrinsic property. However, we do know that they get mass from the Higgs field and Binding energy.
1.2(a) The Higgs field is an energy field throughout the universe that interacts with particles with different intensities, determining their mass. For example, the photon is massless as it has limited interactions and therefore travels at the speed of light.
1.2(b) Binding energy, on the other hand, comes from Quantum Chromodynamics, created by Richard Feynman [See Figure 1]. We can use Einstein’s equation: E=MC^2, to show how some of the mass of an atom is actually the binding energy (the energy it takes to hold a nucleoid together) inside the nucleons (a proton or a neutron). This is formed from the strong nuclear force that uses gluons to interact with quarks.
1.3 Steel is made out of atoms, which are made out of nucleons and then fundamental particles. These particles have a charge and a mass which is why they can interact with one another.
Energy
1.4 Every piece of steel that exists is vibrating slightly. You may not feel it because it is so subtle but every atom in it ‘jiggles’ [See, quote by Fyenman]. All atoms move, in solid metals they vibrate, as a lot of them are very close together and there is not a lot of space. The amount of jiggling that the atoms do in something is known as its temperature.
1.5(b) However, steel is not the only material whose atoms move, as the question implies. Furthermore, these materials can be in different states: for a solid,
atoms are close together and vibrate. They get further apart to a liquid, which is in-between. Then they go to a gas, whose atoms are fast and far apart and ‘jiggling’. The reason this is the case is because the atoms ‘hold onto’ one another while also moving faster and faster until they change states. Think of when you put the kettle on, look for steam coming out of the top. This happens when the atoms in the liquid water move so fast that they cant hold onto one another anymore so they fly away from each other.
1.5(b) The reason, the questioner has a misconception, is because steel is much better at conducting heat than most other materials due to it having free moving electrons which transfer energy through its metallic lattice easily.
2. How does steel get hot?
“Entropy is the price of structure” - Ilya Prigogine
Equilibrium
2.1 In order to answer the question, I will amend it slightly. This is because it is vague and says, ‘that it heats’. I will use the
example of 2 pieces of steel, one hot and one cold, placed together. Heat always transfers from hot objects to cold ones. This is because, when they come into contact, the hot material vibrates the cold a lot and the cold, vibrated the hot less. They respectively vibrate each less and more until they vibrate each other an equal amount. They have reached an equilibrium [See, Figure 2]. Therefore in order for one piece of steel to heat up, another one must cool down.
2.2(a) All materials, including steel have atoms and their property, to dissipate energy is what heats cold things up and cools warm things down. It is known as Entropy [See, 3. What does entropy do?]. Entropy is inside everything and is intrinsic to all thermodynamic exchanges. It is actually entropy, which is everywhere that causes heat to flow into a cold piece of steel.
2.2(b) This property of energy, the way it spreads out, is a fundamental law of the universe. This is shown by the third law of thermodynamics, which states, “The entropy of a system approaches a constant value as its temperature approaches absolute zero”. It means, ‘whenever there is energy, it will always spread out’.
3. Why does steel get hot?
“Entropy is not a doom, but the mechanism by which the universe experiments.” -
R. Buckminster Fuller
Entropy
Steel is made out of atoms that ‘jiggle’ but the property of energy to spread out, which includes raising the temperature of a cold piece of steel by, for instance, a hot one is known as entropy. Entropy can be used to build up our universe, it is the same principle as why steel is heated but I looked at three major ideas that entropy is responsible for: Time, Life and Gravity.
What is Entropy responsible for?
Time
3.1 Entropy is the medium by which time is measured. It is how time is measured because the spreading out of energy only occurs in one direction, Entropy only increases. The direction of entropy moving in only one direction is also why you cannot go back in time. Going back in time would go against the very definition of entropy.
Life
3.2 Furthermore, entropy could be the reason life exists. For example, humans use energy to drive cars. By doing this we take the photons from the sun which cause natural phenomena to occur on earth such as plants undertaking photosynthesis. Dinosaurs ate these plants and then mysteriously died to form oil. Humans refine this oil into petrol and can now successfully drive to the supermarket. All of these steps spread energy out by using it, releasing low energy photons back out from the Earth. We are so good at this that some people believe it is why we exist. If there is a lot of highly concentrated energy in an area you will get better and better dissipaters of it to use this energy and increase the entropy. This happens until you get life. Jeromy England said, “You start with a random clump of atoms, and if you shine light on it for long enough, it should not be so surprising that you get a plant.”
Gravity
3.3(a) Finally, my personal favourite and newest concept about entropy is that it is responsible for gravity. I looked at the scientififc paper ‘A Postquantum Theory of Classical Gravity?’ by Carney et al which explains how gravity could not be a fundamental force but an emergent phenomenon. It expands on the ideas of Ted Jacobson in 1995 and expresses the theory in a toy model (a simplified concept that is therefore not the same as a real world system and should be taken with a pinch of salt), showing how newtons laws can be derived from that mathematical model.
3.3(b) The current model of gravity is general relativity, in which mass and energy warp space-time. However there is more to it than that, if you linearise (make a model that is flat) space by imagining it is mostly flat and the perturbations (ripples) in space are gravitational fields you can find the quanta (smallest possible quantity) of these ripples which are known as gravitons. This is helpful for physicists to think about and calculate interactions with gravity.
3.3(c) However, this new theory suggests that gravity actually arises from entropy. The nature of entropy is for something to align itself into a more disordered state. This is because there are more options for something to be disordered in many ways compared to one ordered state. It is more statistically likely that things move towards disorder, and this is the ‘force of entropy’. Eric Velinda uses the example of a rubber band, which is made out of long chain monomers that like to be messy. It takes effort to stretch them into a straight, ordered orientation and they return to the original position after with an equal and opposite force. Applying this to space, we see that mass changes the collective orientation of qubits. (quantum bits which can be in three states due to quantum superposition) The degrees of freedom align to the mass, due to this statistical force: entropy [See, Figure3]. This appears to be the curvature of space time: gravity. Sabina Hossenfelder, describes the collapse of the wave function for the qubits with the pun, “If cheesecake is in superposition, that explains why it disappears so quickly when observed”. The equation for this (Heisenberg uncertainty principle), is ΔxΔp≥h/4π.
3.3(d) Furthermore, the paper by Carney et al describes how this model can be tested. This would however be quite difficult and would require us to be able to put particles in superposition. One would have to observe their interactions with gravity with a difficult level of precision.
3.3(e) Finally, I believe that this theory could offer an explanation for dark matter [See, Figure 4]. Scientists do not know what dark matter is, they use it as a label for why stars move faster than they should around galaxies and what causes extra gravity. I think that if you follow the line of reasoning from entropy, the amount of energy spread out in the bar of steel would be proportionally greater the larger it is. This is because as it gets bigger by a scale factor, it is cubed as it is a three-dimensional universe, explaining where the extra gravity is coming from in galaxies.
What does this mean for us?
3.4 Entropic gravity could be the key to a Grand Unified field theory as it seemingly, bridges Quantum Mechanics and General relativity. The paper by Carney et al states that it, ‘couples classical and quantum degrees of freedom, and [we will] use it to generate consistent hybrid dynamics’. It is amazing how all of this is determined by the same property that makes steel heat up. As you go through time and live your life, stuck to the planet Earth by gravity, you may remember; the reason for all of this is the same as if heating something as simple as a piece of steel. The answer to a Grand Unified Field Theory could come from a question as simple as ‘What is inside steel that it heats?’
To Conclude
An amended question: What is inside steel that means it is heated?
A summarised answer:
• Steel is made up of atoms whose average vibrations or movement is known as temperature.
• The transfer of heat, into the steel, always happens from hot to cold reaching an equilibrium.
• This is known as Entropy and is the reason the whole universe exists as well as meaning steel is heated.
Hopefully, after reading this essay, you understand the nature of a very complicated topic. I also hope that you have enjoyed delving into deep concepts at the forefront of modern physics which could explain the whole universe. This can, incredibly, be derived from a question as simple as ‘What is in steel that it heats’.
What is the best food and drink if I do a lot of sports?
SHORT ANSWER
The best athletes from all sports have to keep to quite a strict diet for them to such great things on the field. Did Christiano Ronaldo score all those goals from eating Pringles? Did Lebron James become an all-time great from going to McDonalds when he wanted? I would mention Messi but I don’t talk about mediocre players. Certainly, they didn’t do that from having a pack of Walkers before training. Even though you and me like crisps and sweets, the best athletes fuel with the right food.
It is quite important to have a mix of different foods. Proteins like meat( or chickpeas for the veggies), eggs and fish are great at helping the body build muscle and recovery from plenty of running around. Carbohydrates like bread, potatoes( not chips) and pasta are great at giving the body energy. I am now going to tell you can eat sweets . A quick gummy bear before some action is great for short term energy. This does not mean that you can try to stuff as many of them down as possible.
In short, a balanced diet is great for performing great in most sports. It is also important to drink plenty of water and avoid really processed foods like fast foods and instant noodles.
Try to stay away from caffeinated drinks as they can mess your brain and body up.
Try to follow this advice and have fun!
What
is the best food and drink if I do a lot of sports?
LONG ANSWER
Introduction to sport nutrition
The worlds of sport and nutrition are and always have been interlinked and in this essay, I will be exploring how to optimise what food and drink to have, when to have it and how much of it to have in relation to someone doing multiple different sports frequently.
Food
Sportsmen and sportswomen, like everyone, should follow a balanced diet which contains all the nutrients that the body needs. When focusing on sporting performance it is important for athletes to balance their energy intake with their energy expenditure and consume the correct micro and macro nutrients to maintain essential bodily processes and help to recover after exercise. This can be tailored for different sports however this is the rough guideline for a balanced diet for someone doing many sports meaning they need to have a very wellrounded diet which contains the following macronutrients.
55-60% Carbohydrate: The main energy source for the body for all types of exercise, of all intensities. It is stored as glycogen in the liver and muscles and then can be used to provide energy during exercise. Carbohydrates are typically broken down into two types:
1. Simple carbohydrates- these are found in foods such as sugar, milk and fruit. Simple carbs are found naturally in many foods such as fruit however they are also often added to products to sweeten and flavour them. These should be taken up to an hour before exercise as they provide quicker release short bursts of energy.
2. Complex/starchy carbohydrates- these are found in foods such as bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and pulses. Complex carbs are higher in fibre and digest slower, promoting bowel regularity and controlling cholesterol. These should be taken 2-4 hours before exercise for slow release energy.
Carbohydrates in sport: Carbohydrates provide the bulk of the fuel for any exercise that is going to take place. The body’s glycogen stores need to be replenished and built up quicker after exercise ready for when it is used up again quickly during high intensity exercise or slowly during low intensity exercise and throughout the day. For someone doing lots of sports (2 hours a day intense activity 5 times a week) they should consume 5-8g per kg of body weight per day. These are rough values however and depending on the sports different amounts of carbohydrates should be consumed.
A diet low in carbohydrates can lead to fatigue, lack of concentration and a slower recovery which, for someone doing lots of sports, would be detrimental to their performance.
25-30% Fat: This is another source of energy for the body, it provides more energy than carbohydrates however only for low intensity exercise. Fats absorb fatsoluble vitamins such as vitamins, A, D and E which are vital for things such as vision, maintaining the immune system and the skin. Fat also helps to insulate the body to maintain homeostasis, the state where the body maintains a stable internal environment. This is vital because enzymes In the body which are needed as catalysts for biological reactions only function at certain temperatures and they become slow and ineffective if the body is too cold and become denatured if the body is too hot. The optimum body temperature is 3637 C. There are 2 main types of fat:
1. Unsaturated fats: Fatty acids in which hydrocarbon molecules have two carbons that share double or triple bonds and are therefore not completely saturated with hydrogen atoms. These are needed to stabilise heart rhythms and improve blood cholesterol levels. There are two types of unsaturated fats. Monounsaturated fats- found in olive oils, avocadoes, pecan nuts, almonds, seeds.
2. Polyunsaturated fats- found in sunflower oils, walnuts, fish (fish contains omega-3 which improves circulation, prevents blood clots, lowers blood pressure and helps to maintain a healthy heart rhythm)
3. Saturated fats- found mainly in animal foods such as butter, cream, cheese, red meats. These are considered less healthy than unsaturated fats due to them raising levels of LDL cholesterol and increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases.
15-20% Proteins. Proteins are essential for muscle growth and repair and are made up of different amino acids. Proteins can be found from two sources:
1. Animal protein- from fish, chicken, red meat and animal products such as eggs and milk.
2. Vegetable protein- from pulses and grains.
Proteins in sport: A person doing regular exercise should eat around 1.2-2g per kg of body weight of protein per day. Protein is vital in recovery after heavy exercise as it repairs the microtears in the muscular fibres which appear after exercise. Protein is needed in order to promote muscular hypertrophy where over time the muscles grow.
Fibre is also necessary in the diet of athletes, and this is most commonly found in fruit and vegetables such as oranges, prunes and apples. Fibre is material that the body cannot digest crucial in order for the digestive system to function correctly.
In addition to these macronutrients, there are also certain micronutrients which are needed by everyone to maintain bodily functions and organ tissues. Vitamin A can be found in fish, dairy, organ meat and eggs and it helps vision, growth and immunity. B vitamins can be consumed from fish, meat. eggs and dairy products and are particularly important in sport as it helps with cell growth and development in addition to maintaining the nervous system and making red blood cells. It is important to have enough red blood cells in order for them to transport oxygen from the alveoli in the lungs to the cells in the body to provide oxygen which is needed in the process of respiration which produces the energy needed for athletes. Vitamin C is found in fruit and veg and helps maintain the skin, blood vessels and ligaments. This is especially important for athletes because ligaments connect bones to bones and without them the different joints of the body would not be able to function, and the skeleton would not be able to move in the way it does to produce movements required for sport. Its main function however is maintaining the immune system, this is essential for athletes as being ill means that athletes have to miss training and/or competitions/matches and so are not able to compete in their sports. Vitamin D is found in eggs and sunlight and helps to regulate calcium and phosphate in the body.
Minerals such as calcium, potassium, iron, zinc and magnesium are also necessary with many of these being found in products such as leafy veg, milk, seafood and nuts. They each have specific functions however overall they are necessary for a sportsperson to have in their diet to support bone growth (calcium), nerve stimulation (potassium and magnesium), making of red blood cells (Iron), regulating blood pressure (magnesium), helping the immune system (zinc) and tightening muscles (potassium). All of these need to be consumed in a balanced diet to maintain good bodily functions for someone doing lots of sports.
Drink
Water: Hydration is crucial for athletes attempting to perform in lots of sports because at all times the body needs to have enough water to regulate body temperature and to assist in chemical reactions taking place in the body. Hydration is not only crucial before exercise, athletes should try to drink plenty of water when they can during breaks in the exercise, such as stoppages in a match or rest periods in a workout. After the exercise athletes should attempt to consume 15% of the fluid which is often loss through sweating and breathing.
Dehydration can result in blood thickening which limits the function of oxygen getting to cells to provide muscular tissues with energy through respiration turning glucose + oxygen into carbon dioxide and energy in the form of ATP. This in turn can lead to muscle fatigue and cramps happening frequently during exercise which severely impact the ability of someone doing lots of sports to compete.
Electrolytes: These are minerals that are essential for the body to function, the primary examples include sodium, potassium and chloride. They are essential in sport for maintaining fluid balance and allowing muscles to work properly in order to produce movements required in different sports. They also support the nervous system. Electrolytes are found in a balanced diet, and many are found as salt. Nuts, bananas and milk also contain certain electrolytes such as phosphate, potassium and calcium respectively.
Energy drinks: The world of sports drinks is a very divisive issue in sports nutrition, as they brand themselves as necessary for supporting sporting performance in lots of sports, especially for endurance sports such as marathons and cycling. On the other hand, many people think that water and a good diet are sufficient for athletes doing lots of sport. Sports drinks contain water and extra electrolytes such as sodium and potassium with most also containing carbs, and they can rehydrate athletes rapidly during and after exercise and can be especially useful in hot conditions where there is an increase in water loss through sweating. However, the sugar and carbs in the sports drinks can be detrimental if too much of the drink is consumed or they are consumed at the wrong time, as the drinks will end up adding unnecessary calories. To decide whether sports drinks are necessary it depends of the type and intensity of the exercise and it is up to the athlete in question.
Overall
An athlete doing lots of different sports should make sure that they consume plenty of carbohydrates and water before the sport takes place, and with water during the sport, which could be supplemented by energy drinks if the sport is over a long period of time. After the sport has taken place there should be a lot of proteins and carbs consumed, and then during rest periods a balanced diet with fats, carbs, proteins and fibre coming from a variety of sources in order to gain the micro and macro nutrients needed to keep the body functioning. Athletes should tailor their food and drink consumption to when in the day and the week they are consuming it and plan their meals and snacks accordingly.
Knowledge-sharing
10th December 2025
RGS Prep was delighted to host the final knowledge-sharing phase of The Curiosity Box collaboration. Our three Most Curious Year 5 students were delighted to receive their amazing prizes, and the entire Year Group listened rapt as the winning Fifth Former delivered his fascinating presentation on dark matter – and, promoted in an instant to expert astrophysicist, answered with aplomb a series of very testing follow-up questions as well! The boys could have continued the discussion for hours and we look forward very much to next year’s Curiosity Box.
I watched a video, and it really made me wonder. I always thought of myself as a curious student. I was happy and surprised to win and I want to do more things like this.
– Felipe
I feel I’m going to be quite good with Senior School people now because I asked some questions and they thought they were good. I feel confident because I won the question.
– Rahas
The Curiosity Box let us think deeper into what the questions were. It made you think deep enough to understand. You could get to a really good question that was really meaningful.
- Zhengdong
I liked how optional this was because you could choose whatever question you wanted. I would like to do the whole thing again. I would like to talk more about science and about other things as well.
- Blake