Transcript What Goes Up Must Come Down Roller Coaster Physics

Major Concepts Activity 54
• Potential energy is often referred to as stored energy.
• Kinetic energy is the energy an object possesses
because of its motion.
• With everything else being equal, an object with more
mass has greater potential energy, likewise an object
with greater height has more potential energy.
• Energy is transferred in many ways.
• Energy is associated with heat, light, electricity,
mechanical motion, sound, nuclei, and the nature of a
chemical.
Major Concepts Activity 55
• All energy types can be characterized as either kinetic
or potential.
• The amount of potential energy initially determines how
much kinetic energy will be transformed.
• When the train travels over the track of the
rollercoaster, friction between the wheels and track
cause some of the kinetic energy to be transformed
into thermal energy and sound. This is called entropy.
What Goes Up Must
Come Down
Roller Coaster Lab
Purpose: To explore how
different physical concepts
are involved in the
construction and operation
of roller coasters.
Roller Coaster Designs
Kong
Vallejo, CA
Roller Coaster Designs
Taz's Texas Tornado - Houston, TX
Medusa – Vallejo, CA
More Roller Coaster Designs
The Demon – Santa Clara, CA
…..And More
The Cyclone at Coney Island
Looping the Loop, Atlantic
City, 1901
…..Check These Out!
Serial Thriller
Task
Your task is to build a roller
coaster with at least one loop.
• It must be at least 2 meter in
total length
• The beginning of your roller
coaster must be steeper
than the end of the coaster.
• The loop must be
somewhere in the middle of
the coaster.
Roller Coasters—The Physics
Behind the Fun
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mVr3tcu24Us&fe
ature=related
Roller Coaster Forces
Explained
When you ride a roller coaster a motor does
the work to get you up the first hill. As the
coaster is being pulled up the hill by the
motor it is storing more and more potential
energy. That potential energy is turned into
kinetic energy as gravity pulls you down the
first hill. The farther you go down the hill,
the more potential energy is changed into
kinetic energy, which you feel as speed. The
ride goes fastest at the bottom of the hill
because more and more of the potential
energy has been changed to kinetic energy.
…More Explanation
On a downhill slope or a sharp curve, a ride will probably increase in
velocity or accelerate. While moving uphill or in a straight line, it may
decrease in velocity or decelerate. The force of gravity pulling a roller
coaster down hill causes the roller coaster to go faster and faster, it is
accelerating. The force of gravity causes a roller coaster to go slower and
slower when it climbs a hill, the roller coaster is decelerating or going
slower. The acceleration of a roller coaster depends on its mass and how
strong is the force that is pushing or pulling it.
Coaster designers know that friction
and air resistance play a part in the
ride. Therefore, they make each
successive hill LOWER so that the
coaster will be able to make it over
each peak. Coaster designers also take
advantage of friction to slow the
coaster and bring it to a safe stop when
breaks are applied at the end of the
ride.
Activity RCL
• Title: Roller Coaster Lab
• Problem: What forces keep the marble
on the roller coaster track? What
forces keep the marble rolling?
• Initial Thoughts:
Build the Ultimate Roller Coaster!
*Use the materials: masking tape and foam tubing, plus other
props such as, the wall, chairs, books, or anything which
will help you build
your roller coaster
*Focus on keeping the
marble on the track
before you get too
fancy
*Make sure you have 2
people spotting the
marble every time
you release it, so it doesn’t get lost. Remember----matter is
neither created nor destroyed----Find it!
Before you build it:
• READ THE PROCEDURE!!!!!!
• Get the teachers approval
Before take it apart:
• Make sure you measure the height of your
track = start height – end height
• Draw your coaster
• If you added more track, measure the final
length
• Gently remove the tape!
Group Questions
1. Can the coaster have too much speed at the
beginning of the trial? Explain.
2. Why do roller coasters always start out by
pulling you up a big hill?
3. When does a coaster have a large amount of
Kinetic Energy and when does it have a large
amount of Potential Energy?
4. What would happen if there was something on
the track, which caused a lot of friction
between the car, and the track?
5. What would happen to a roller coaster if
gravity was suddenly increased or
decreased?