Roller Coaster project
During this project, we were required to take the concepts of; kinetic and potential energy, conservation of energy, g-forces, gravity, friction and more, and apply them to our very own roller coaster design. We were aloud to create a regular, wall-coaster, or marble run. The regular coaster was built from the ground up and made with one big hill to try and achieve the largest amount of potential energy possible, one loop (at minimum), and a turn, making the wall-e (cart or car that rolls along the track) curve back around towards its original starting point. The wall-coaster (which also happens to be the coaster my group chose) was required one small hill and loop to match (Though we also added a spiral at the end after the wall-e finished through the loop). The final and hardest coaster to build, in my opinion, would have to be the marble track. This track actually requires you to thread wire through a wire coating so that it can bend to the shape you like. It's built from the ground up just as the regular coaster is and takes a lot of drilling small minuscule holes and tying tiny wires that might not even hold. It is also one of the coolest ones I've seen and recommend giving it a try if you have the time.
Potential energy
Potential energy is any object that has stored energy based on its position. Basically what that means that anything that has the potential to move somewhere or do something, has potential energy. To explain and give examples of potential energy, my group and I set up a game that lets you, with the use of a sling shot, shoot bouncy balls at huge targets on the walls. When the slingshot was pulled back, that tension within the band made it so that it had the potential to snap back to its original shape, giving it and what ever was in the holder potential energy.
Six Flags
To generate some ideas for our coasters, we had a chance to visit Six Flags, Magic Mountain. I'm sorry to say that while I was riding, I wasn't thinking about potential and kinetic energy like I was supposed to. I was to busy riding Batman and The Riddler and Scream over and over again. Though I personally loved the idea of rider roller coasters all day, I don't think that it was very productive to ask children to calculate Potential energy as they scream at the top of their lungs flying down the first hill of Goliath :)
Efforts?
My teacher has asked me to explain the effort that I put into this project. Did I work hard? Do I feel accomplished? Proud? Disappointed? Well, first off, let me mention that I was put into a position that I am not normally placed in. Instead of being the project manager, I was elected to be the builder (I would like to point out my complete lack of experience with the power tools needed within this project). It was new and odd and I kind of liked the feeling. All I had to concentrate on was making sure our wall-e made it across the track and though it was so difficult that I was jumping for joy after it rounded our first loop, I felt very accomplished in our outcome even though it was smashed by my good friend Dylan Ramirez.
Physics Concepts |
Six flags concepts |
Roller coaster script
Riley: This is our roller coaster and how it works is that we gain potential energy when it is on top of the first hill.
Santana: We push the wall-e down the hill and that is kinetic energy because it is releasing energy.
Stephanie: There is so much energy stored up that it goes around the first loop successfully.
Riley: Then the wall-e goes down another small hill which makes it gain more energy. So the wall-e can go down the swirl.
Santana: We measured every 5 centimeters of our roller coaster and then we measured the distance between the roller coaster and the floor for every 5 centimetres.
Stephanie: When we went to six flags one of the roller coasters that we went on that was like our roller coaster was goliath.
Riley: This roller coaster was like ours because there was a loop at the end just like our roller coaster did.
Santana: The requirements were we had to have a loop and a turn.
Stephanie: This was really hard because you have to gain enough potential energy to get around the loop.
Riley: Another struggle that we had was making the track smooth and the same size so that the wall-e would go on the roller coaster smoothly.
Santana: Potential energy is one of the main topics in the roller coaster because you have to gain a lot of potential energy for the wall-e to finish the roller coaster.
Santana: We push the wall-e down the hill and that is kinetic energy because it is releasing energy.
Stephanie: There is so much energy stored up that it goes around the first loop successfully.
Riley: Then the wall-e goes down another small hill which makes it gain more energy. So the wall-e can go down the swirl.
Santana: We measured every 5 centimeters of our roller coaster and then we measured the distance between the roller coaster and the floor for every 5 centimetres.
Stephanie: When we went to six flags one of the roller coasters that we went on that was like our roller coaster was goliath.
Riley: This roller coaster was like ours because there was a loop at the end just like our roller coaster did.
Santana: The requirements were we had to have a loop and a turn.
Stephanie: This was really hard because you have to gain enough potential energy to get around the loop.
Riley: Another struggle that we had was making the track smooth and the same size so that the wall-e would go on the roller coaster smoothly.
Santana: Potential energy is one of the main topics in the roller coaster because you have to gain a lot of potential energy for the wall-e to finish the roller coaster.
Potential energy script
RILEY: Hello, my name is Riley...
SANTANA: My name’s Santana....
STEFANNY: And I’m Stefanny....
RILEY: And today we are going to teach you about Potential Energy.
SANTANA: Potential energy is the energy within an object based on its position, mass, and gravitational pull.
STEFANNY: In other words, its an object that has the POTENTIAL to go somewhere or do something.
RILEY: When a roller coaster idles on top of its first hill, it has the POTENTIAL to fall downwards.
SANTANA: The first hill of a roller coaster must be the highest. The first hill determines the maximum energy that is available to be used throughout the roller coaster track. Since the first hill is the highest, it also is the point on the roller coaster with the most potential energy.
STEFANNY: Potential energy is not only found in roller coaster. Other examples are springs, rubber bands, and swings. In our demo, the potential energy is not caused by the height of an object but by the stretch of a rubber band.
RILEY: The more you pull back on the slingshot, the more potential the ball has to fly.
SANTANA: If you pull the rubber band on the slingshot back as far as possible, the most potential energy is found and the ball will have the potential to fly far. Whereas, if you only pull the rubber band on the slingshot a little bit, the potential energy found is small and the ball won't go far..
SANTANA: My name’s Santana....
STEFANNY: And I’m Stefanny....
RILEY: And today we are going to teach you about Potential Energy.
SANTANA: Potential energy is the energy within an object based on its position, mass, and gravitational pull.
STEFANNY: In other words, its an object that has the POTENTIAL to go somewhere or do something.
RILEY: When a roller coaster idles on top of its first hill, it has the POTENTIAL to fall downwards.
SANTANA: The first hill of a roller coaster must be the highest. The first hill determines the maximum energy that is available to be used throughout the roller coaster track. Since the first hill is the highest, it also is the point on the roller coaster with the most potential energy.
STEFANNY: Potential energy is not only found in roller coaster. Other examples are springs, rubber bands, and swings. In our demo, the potential energy is not caused by the height of an object but by the stretch of a rubber band.
RILEY: The more you pull back on the slingshot, the more potential the ball has to fly.
SANTANA: If you pull the rubber band on the slingshot back as far as possible, the most potential energy is found and the ball will have the potential to fly far. Whereas, if you only pull the rubber band on the slingshot a little bit, the potential energy found is small and the ball won't go far..
potential energy
Potential Energy is stored energy, and is found in a spring, roller coaster, and a bow and arrow. When the roller coaster is on the top of the first hill is when it has the most potential energy because there is a lot of energy that is storing up.
The equation for potential energy is mass x gravity x height. To find the potential energy you have to times the mass, gravity, and height.
Exhibition/building |
Roller coaster video |