Roller Coaster Physics



Roller Coaster Physics

Problems: Design a roller coaster run that has a loop and two hills. You will need to design a roller coaster that allows the marble to run the entire course and complete the course the fastest.

Hypotheses (complete sentences):

1. Can all the hills be the same height? If not, why?

2. Can the hills get bigger or must they get smaller?

3. How will you determine how big or how small the hills can be?

4. Do the steepness of the hills matter?

5. Is it better to make the hills steep or not so steep? Why?

6. How curvy should the tops of the hills and the valleys be? Why?

7. Should you design sharp turns or smooth turns? Why?

8. What provides resistance on the roller coaster causing the marble to slow down? How can this resistance be reduced?

Materials: meter stick, stop watch, small and large marble, insulation tubing, 2 m of masking tape, textbooks

Procedure:

1) Answer the hypotheses questions as a group. Before you can proceed get the hypotheses stamped.

2) Design a roller coaster run that has a loop and two hills. Make your roller coaster design on paper with strips. Cut and glue the strips on a second piece of paper to create a 3-D model of your roller coaster. Get your design stamped. Each person needs their own design.

3) Record the mass of the small marble in grams convert to kilograms.

4) Use the small marble to test your design. Does the marble complete the entire course? How fast does it run?

5) Make adjustments and test to see if the marble can run through the course several times. Try to make the marble run faster.

6) Measure the length of your track from start to finish.

7) Time the marble for the entire length of the track and record it on your table. Do this 5 times.

8) Once you have a working design. Draw your design on a piece of paper. Include length of track and height measurements.

9) Repeat your procedures #4-9 for the larger marble.

10) Find the mean time and use it to calculate the track speed using the formula:

speed = distance / time

11) Using your track speed as the final speed, and zero as the initial or beginning speed, calculate the acceleration of the marble using the formula:

acceleration = (final speed - initial speed ) / time

12) Repeat the same procedures but use the large marble. Record the mass of the large marble and do 5 timed trials.

13) Calculate the force of the small marble and the large marble with the following formula:

Force = mass (kg) x acceleration (m/s2) force is measured in Newtons (N)

Data:

Name of coaster: ____________________________

Drawing of Final Design: Small marble. (Don’t forget to label all heights and lengths.) Draw Large Marble track on the back. (Don’t forget to label all heights and lengths.) Get your final drawings stamped after you show Ms. Collins that the coaster completes the course and all requirements have been met. Must be neat!

5 Trials and Average of Runs

|Trial |Track Time (sec) with small marble |Track Time (sec) with large marble |

|1 | | |

|2 | | |

|3 | | |

|4 | | |

|5 | | |

|Mean (average) | | |

Calculations (Show your work) Refer to procedure for formulas.

|Mass (kg) Convert g=kg |Mean track time |Track length (m) |Track speed (m/s) |Acceleration (m/s2) |Force (N) |

| |(sec) | | | | |

|Small marble | | | | | |

|Large marble | | | | | |

Class Data

|Team |Coaster Name |Track Speed (m/s) sm|Acceleration (m/s2) sm |Force (N) sm |Track Speed (m/s) lg |Acceleration (m/s2) lg |Force (N) lg |

| | |marble |marble |marble |marble |marble |marble |

|1 | | | | | | | |

|2 | | | | | | | |

|3 | | | | | | | |

|4 | | | | | | | |

|5 | | | | | | | |

|6 | | | | | | | |

|7 | | | | | | | |

|8 | | | | | | | |

Do the following Vocabulary and explain how it applies to this lab in complete sentences:

Example: 1. principle of conservation of energy: The principle that within the universe, or any closed system, although energy may transform from one kind to another, the total energy remains constant. This applies to this lab because the total energy should remain constant at all times and in all places on the roller coaster.

2.friction:

3. gravitational potential energy (GPE):

4. gravity:

5. heat (thermal energy):

6. kinetic energy (KE):

7. mechanical energy:

8. acceleration:

9. Newton's First Law of Motion:

10. Newton's Second Law of Motion:

11. Newton's Third Law of Motion:

12. balanced force:

13. unbalanced force:

14. air resistance:

15. normal force:

16.velocity:

Questions (answer in complete sentences):

1) What forces are slowing the ball/car down, resulting in a loss of mechanical energy?

2) Where are the mechanical energy forms: gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy demonstrated in this lab? How does this help explain how a roller coaster works?

3) How are Newton’s 3 laws demonstrated in this lab?

4) Name all the forces acting on the roller coaster? Draw 2 vector diagrams on your roller coaster picture that show the different forces. You may want to choose 2 of the various locations: the ball/car at rest on the starting point, the ball/car going down a hill, a ball/car in the loop, the ball/car going the home stretch (before it stops).

5) When there is a change in the mass of the ball/car, how is the force, velocity and acceleration affected?

The Thrill Factor

On rides such as roller coasters (and even swings), where the rider experiences fast changes in velocity due to increases or decreases in speed or simply changes in direction, the rider is subjected to unbalanced forces that give the rider an illusion of feeling heavier or lighter than normal. Through our sensing of these unbalanced forces, we judge the “thrill factor” of a ride to be high when they occur frequently in a ride. Some of the best rides give us the illusion of weightlessness for short periods of time.

6) Where on the roller coaster would you expect to feel heavier, and where would you feel lighter? Identify these places on your roller coaster design.

7) Use Newton’s law of inertia to explain these illusions of heaviness and lightness, also known as positive and negative “g forces.”

Dividing the work among lab partners: As a group you may decide however you would like to divide the work or you can do all part together. Your group grade is dependent on overall completion of the lab. (150 points)

• New Title (2 points)

• Hypotheses written in complete sentences (8 points)

• individual roller coaster designs (4 points)

• 2 successful roller coasters construction (8 points)

• 2 neatly drawn, labeled, and measured roller coaster designs ( 12 points)

• vocabulary and how the terms apply to the roller coaster in complete sentences (30 points)

• timed data table (12 points), calculations with work shown (12 points), class data table (2 points).

• answers to the questions in complete sentences 1-(2), 2-(4), 3-(6), 4-(6), 5-(6),6-(4), 7-(2)

• the RERUNS conclusion (30 points)

Your grade will be based upon completion of each part of the lab that you were responsible for (25 points)

|score |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |6+ |

| |Does not do the part |Starts the part of |Completes over half |Completes the part of|Completes the part of|Completes all parts |If completed part of |

| |of the lab they were |the lab assigned to |of the lab assigned |the lab assigned to |the lab assigned to |of lab assigned to |the lab assigned to |

| |responsible for. |them, but does not |to them, with many |them but there are |them, but with some |them correctly and |another person. |

| | |complete it. Many |errors and is messy. |many errors. |errors. |neatly. | |

| | |errors and is messy. | | | | | |

You also have a participation grade that your group partners will grade you upon (25 points)

|Score |0 |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |

|Lab partner: |Does not |Participates but does |Arrives on time |Stays focused on |Helps lab team stay|Assists others as |

| |participate. Is |not successfully |ready to work. |assigned task and |focused and |they work. |

| |more of a |complete one or more |Shows respect for |complete the lab |completes tasks. |Facilitates the |

| |hindrance than a |of the requirements |others. Cares for |work. Cleans up |Shares work equally|participation of |

| |help. Disrupts |listed in level 2. |lab equipment. |area and equipment.|and helps group |all in the group. |

| |others. | | | |solve problems. |Tutors and or |

| | | | | | |supports other |

| | | | | | |students. |

Each partner will complete this table on a separate sheet of paper and turn it in. Score yourself as well. If your group consistently gives you a zero, than you will receive a zero for the lab.

|Lab partners |Part of the lab assigned |Did they complete their parts? |Did they participate well in a group? |

| | | 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | 5 4 3 2 1 0 |

| | | 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | 5 4 3 2 1 0 |

| | | 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | 5 4 3 2 1 0 |

| | | 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | 5 4 3 2 1 0 |

| | | 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 | 5 4 3 2 1 0 |

Doing Background Research

Taking Notes:

• A collection of on-line resources may be found on the website:

• Don’t forget to LIST SOURCES for WORKS CITED

Take Notes About the Following:

• The history of roller coasters

• How roller coasters work

• Roller coaster safety

• Famous roller coasters

• How does the number of riders on a roller coaster affect the speed that it can achieve? In other words “As you increase the mass of an object rolling downhill, does it affect the overall speed that can be achieved?”

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Stamp for working coaster goes here.

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