Marble Roller Coaster Background Research

Marble roller coasters are science based interactive toys that work on the principles of physics particularly changing potential energy into kinetic energy.

Marble roller coaster background research.

The foam pipe insulation needs to be the stiff kind. Because some energy is always lost to friction your initial hill. Plan your 60 minute lesson in science with helpful tips from kara nelson. Your roller coaster cannot be prefabricated or from a kit.

With a roller coaster this is acheived by pulling the train up a lift hill to the coaster s highest point. Gravitational potential energy is the energy an object has stored because of. The marble rolls because it has gravitational potential energy. If a curved track is not banked the marble may fly off of the edge of the track.

This is a good opportunity to explain the negative effects of momentum. Potential energy is gathered by an object as it moves upwards or away from the earth. A marble travelling forward will continue moving in that direction because of it s momentum. Gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy.

If it s too flexible then it s hard for the loop to keep its shape. You ll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape and see how much of an initial drop is required to get the marble to loop the loop it s a great way to learn about how stored energy potential energy is converted into the energy of motion kinetic energy. Building a simple marble run or tube based coaster is only the beginning. Get hands on exploring what kinds of loops are possible how energy changes during a ride and how the laws of motion come into play.

In roller coaster construction this is called track banking. It must have at least 2 hills including the starting point one loop cannot have a top and must be free standing. Your roller coaster will transport a marble that you supply you can use any model or size marble. They re miniature versions of the types of roller coasters you d find at amusement parks and they include twists turns and loops.

If you followed the guidelines discussed in the background section you should have been able to design a working roller coaster. Background roller coasters rely on two types of energy to operate. In this lesson students will prepare to construct a marble roller coaster by completing background research on roller coasters.