Having been to both selective and non-selective, I can tell you that the atmosphere does make quite a difference, not just the competition but in general. Also another thing is, when I was at my non-selective school I used to come 1st quite easily which led me to not pushing myself to do extra...
For Part 2
If Intensity is greater than 8.1 x 10^-9, ear damage occurs so that means the greatest intensity at which no ear damage occurs is 8.1 x 10^-9. So to find the maximum loudness of a sound so that no ear damage occurs, you have to sub in 8.1 x 10^-9 for I in the equation and solve for...