Physics Project...

roller Coaster
hello!
 Background info

❖ When the cars reach the top of the incline, they roll free of the chain and are propelled downward by
gravity through a series of drops, rises, and turns.

❖ The height of the first incline must be calculated to give the cars enough energy to propel them all the way
through the ride and back to the station.

❖ The horizontal and vertical forces that the loaded cars exert on the track must be calculated at every
point to ensure that the support structure is adequate.

❖ Likewise, the forces exerted on the passengers must be calculated at every point

❖ As the coaster gets higher in the air, gravity can pull it down a greater distance. The potential energy you
build going up the hill can be released as kinetic energy- the energy of motion that takes you down hill.
 Vocabulary
★ Potential energy (stored energy): the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position relative to
others, stresses within itself, electric charge, and other factors.

★ Kinetic energy (energy of motion): energy that a body possesses by virtue of being in motion

★ Conservation of energy (basic law of physics): a principle stating that energy cannot be created nor
destroyed, but can be altered from one form to another.

★ Gravity: the force that attracts a body toward the center of the earth, or toward any other physical
body having mass

★ Velocity: the rate and direction of the change in the position of an object.

★ Friction: the resistance to motion of one object moving relative to another.

★ Slope: is a measure of the steepness of a line, or a section of a line, connecting two points.

First,
We purchased the materials
needed in Home Depot. We
bought 3 foam tubes to create
the roller coaster and 2 boards
for our base. We also had glue,
tape, and toothpicks to set the
loops in place. Lastly, we
bought a bag of marbles to
test our roller coaster multiple
times.
Process
Next,
We cut the tubes in half and
created one large and one
small loop, we went on to glue
both loops together. We also
glued the drop to the loops.
Then we glued the roller
coaster on the base for
support.
Lastly,
We tested our roller coaster
multiple times to make
modifications in order for the
marble to successfully go
through all the loops and reach
the end.
 process
(Images)
Trial and Error
Final Outcome
 data

A B C

Height Drop
35 47 51
(rise)

Length Drop
30 37 48
(run)

Outcome Fail Fail SUCCESS!!

Slope

Slope: 45/10
 Answers about the project
1. From physics point of view, a roller coaster is a combination of gravity and inertia that enables a train to
move along a set track. The sensation one gets when they are on a roller coaster is created by g-forces
and centripetal acceleration as well.
2. The first hill of a roller coaster is always the highest because the higher it is, the more potential energy it
creates. In order for the roller coaster to travel and climb up multiple hills, the kinetic energy created by
the potential energy needs to be big.
3. The purpose of this project is to investigate how much height is needed in order for a marble to run
through a loop of fixed sizes.
4. The height that is required to successfully navigate a given loop size depends on the size of the first loop,
for example if the loop is big the height would most likely need to be tall and steep. The value of my
calculation is that the length of the drop is 1ft and 20 in. The height of the drop is 3ft and 46in
 Answers about the project
5. If we used different marbles with different diameters on the roller coaster some might not be able to loop the loop. If
the marble is to heavy it will not gain enough speed during the first hill to be able to reach the end of the roller coaster.
If we use smaller marbles they would mostly likely build up enough speed during the first hill & loop the loop.
6. If we expanded the experiment by adding more tracks and loops, the height requirement will have to increase if the
loop size is increased, so the marble is able to build up enough speed. But if the loop size decreases the height
requirement could remain the same because the marble would still have enough energy to reach the end.
7. Seeing as the marble loses energy when it passes through the loop because it moves it if we add a support system
like stable stands or sticks to the side of each loop that would prevent it from moving while the marble passes through
it. If we added that support system the marble would be able to loop the loop at a shorter height because it wouldn't
be losing as much energy when it passed the through loop and it would still have enough to reach the end.
8. If the slope is decreased the marbles still have the potential to loop the loop but they most likely won't seeing as the
first hill gives the marble the kinetic energy it needs to go through the loops, and if the track is longer by the time the
marble reaches the first loop that energy would be lost.
 Slo’s

Investigate the World Recognize Perspectives

We went on the internet to We recognized ideas by taking into
brainstorm ideas on how we could consideration each others ideas on
create a roller coaster that would how we wanted to decorate our
work. roller coaster.

Communicate Ideas Take Action

We created a group chat on We took action by buying all the
snapchat to plan dates on when we supplies needed and meeting up to
could meet up or were available so start the process.
we could work on the project.
 Big concept
This project connects to many previously
learned lessons such as momentum,
velocity, mass, speed, acceleration, and etc.
 thanks!
Any questions?