Roller Coaster Physics
In this series, your student will be commissioned to be a roller coaster designer and as part of his training, he will look at some roller coasters that do not work and his task will be to figure out why they do not work and design a solution to the coaster's problem, using what he has learned about physics. Each student will need a blank notebook to write in.
Middle School Physical Science: Roller Coaster Design Training: The Snake
Covers Potential and Kinetic Energy, Law of Conservation of Energy and reviews Newton's First Law of Motion.
Middle School Physical Science: Roller Coaster Design: The Racing Roller Coaster
Reviews Speed, Velocity and Acceleration, looks at how Mass Affects Velocity and Therefore Momentum.
Middle School Physical Science: Roller Coaster Design: The Wooden Wonder
Covers mechanical advantage and reviews drag.Middle School Physical Science: Roller Coaster Design: Marble Coasters
Students take what they have learned and apply it to making their own model roller coasters. They must identify at what points in the roller coaster the following are demonstrated:
- Inertia
- Centripetal Force
- Friction
- Angular Momentum
- Linear Momentum
- Highest Kinetic Energy
- Highest Potential Energy
- Negative Acceleration (Deceleration)
Other hands-on activities are suggested.
