Marble Roller Coaster Experiment

The foam tubing roller.

Marble roller coaster experiment.

In this experiment you see that the run section needs to be placed higher than the top of the loop in order for the marble to travel the loop completely. Playz monster chain reactions marble run science kit stem toy with race tracks for boys girls kids roller coaster toy experiments outer space theme park boy toy girl toy educational gift 3 5 out of 5 stars 77. Layers of learning has hands on experiments in every unit of this family friendly curriculum. Physics examines and explains those rules.

In an isolated system such as the roller coaster the total energy remains constant. Background roller coasters rely on two types of energy to operate. In this activity you will find the speed of the marble in different portions of a paper roller coaster. Abstract if you d like to investigate the physics of amusement park rides then this project is for you.

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. You ll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape and see how much the marble s potential energy at the beginning of the track is converted to kinetic energy at various points along the track. The lesson plan difficulty. A steeper slope will accelerate the marble the faster however the total track length will be longer.

Your marble must not fall off until it gets to the end of the track. In a typical paper roller coaster the speed of a marble will increase and decrease many times. Identify the two parts. Finally you will also find the average speed of the marble during the entire trip down the paper roller coaster.

Objects on earth always follow the same physical rules. Learn more about layers of learning. Gravitational potential energy and kinetic energy. Abstract this is a really fun project even if you don t like going on roller coasters yourself.

What type of slope will accelerate the marble the fastest. You may only use the materials provided. Build your own marble roller coaster in this project and find out. Arrange plenty of space in your room cleanup.

Allow 2 minutes near end of class for students to try each others coasters. In addition to the roller coaster materials you ll need a stopwatch and a heavy object. Your marble must land in the cup at the end of the run. You may tape your run to furniture.

Then have everyone gently take apart only their own roller coaster and clump all the used tape into a giant tape ball start of class lecture. The marble relies on the force of gravity to speed it up as it travels down the track.