Download Roller Coaster Web Quest Name________________________

Roller Coaster Web Quest Name________________________
Objective: Research, plan, and design a roller coaster.
Introduction-Did you know that roller coasters aren’t just thrill rides? Roller coasters
are examples of the laws of physics in operation. Roller coasters are
pulled to the top of the highest hill, and then released. A coaster has
potential energy as it is pulled to the top, but is changes to kinetic energy
as the coaster begins its descent. Gravity and friction control the rest of
the ride. Why don’t the cars of a roller coaster fly off the track? Why
don’t the passengers fly out of the seats? How high does the first hill of a
coaster have to be? What physical law determines how many hills, curves
and loops a roller coaster track can have? You can find answers to these
questions in this web quest.
TASK-
Your job in this web quest is to find out how roller coasters work
and use this information to plan design and build a simple model of a
roller coaster. You will learn about roller coaster design, laws of motion,
and about velocity and acceleration. You will design virtual roller coaster
tracks and see what happens to the coaster when you change variables
such as height of hills, length of track, mass of the coaster, and speed of
the coaster. Then you will use simple materials to build a model and test
your roller coaster track. Finally, you will report on your experiment.
Resources:
Look at the web sites given here to research information
about roller coasters. Answer the questions on a separate paper.
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/coaster.html
1. How does a roller coaster work?
2. What gives a roller coaster its power?
3. What “drives” the roller coaster?
4. What helps keep the ride smooth?
5. Describe the difference between a wooden and steel roller coaster.
6. Click on the Physics Glossary. Define centripetal force, inertia,
friction, potential energy, and kinetic energy. Give an example of each.
7. Click on “Design a Roller Coaster.” Follow the directions to create
your own coaster. Did your design pass or fail? What was your safety
rating?
8. What did you have to do in order to make your coaster fun and safe?
http://search.eb.com/coasters/ride.html
Go to this site for a graphic of a roller coaster with labels identifying the
types of forces that affect the coaster as it follows the track. Click on
the labels to learn more about that force.
9. Where does potential energy happen?
10. Where does the rider feel like they are falling?
11. Describe how gravitation and centripetal acceleration make a
person feel.
12.
Where do the riders experience acceleration?
13.
Where do they experience centripetal force?
14.
Describe how friction plays a necessary role in a roller coaster.
http://www.funderstanding.com/coaster
MAKE SURE TO SCROLL DOWN!
Visit this site to design a roller
coaster by manipulating the height of the hills, sizes of the loops, speed
of the coaster, and mass of the coaster on an interactive screen. This is
a fun site, but it takes a while to load so be patient.
15. Did your car make it all the way through without coming off the
track?
16.
What was the problem?
17.
What did you do to make the car go all the way to the end?