Paper Roller Coaster Lab #1: Loops
Objectives
1 To find the minimum height necessary to make it around the loop without falling out.
2 To investigate the effect of the straight track’s angle on making it around the loop.
Materials
2 ....paper loops
3 ....paper tracks
1 ....scissors
1 ....roll of clear cellophane tape
1 ....ruler marked off in centimeters
1 ....calculator
1 ....marble
Procedure
1 You are to make two straight pieces of track and tape them together.
2 You are to make a circular loop and tape it to the straight piece of track.
3 Prop the end of the straight track on a box/books. Make sure the end is at least twice as high as the loop’s height.
4 Hold a marble at the top of the track.
5 Use a ruler to measure the vertical start height of the bottom of your marble.
6 Release the marble from rest. Record Measurement in your table (cm)
7 Listen to the marble as it travels around the loop. You should hear it make contact with the loop during its entire journey. In your table, record if it stayed in contact (Yes/No)
8 Move the marble lower; release it from rest, and listen to see if it makes contact the entire way around the loop. Record and repeat this process until you have gone too far down the track. You will know you have gone too far when you hear the silence of the marble as it loses contact with part of the loop.
9 Double check your final results to make sure the marble stays in contact the entire time and is in fact the minimum starting height
10 Increase/Decrease the angle of the straight piece of track. (Do not make this too extreme)
11 Repeat the loop process until the marble just barely keeps in contact with the track as the marble makes it around the loop.
12 Record the starting heights (cm) and loop completion (yes/no) in your second table.
Warning: You must stabilize your track and loop. You may need to lightly hold your loop during trials. Remember, if your track and loop move while the marble is traveling down, the marble is losing energy and your results will be incorrect.
The following Tables are examples of what you will have in your notebook. It will take you more than four trials to complete each angle. Please add more lines to your table depending on the number of trials it took your group.
Angle 1(Steep or Shallow?) / Height / Complete Loop? Yes/No
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
ETC
Angle 2
(Steep or Shallow?) / Height / Complete Loop? Yes/No
Trial 1
Trial 2
Trial 3
Trial 4
ETC
Questions:
1. Are your results accurate? Please explain why or why not.
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2. If your results are accurate, what do you notice about the two minimum starting heights?
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3. Is it the angle of your ramp or the starting height of your marble that affects the ability of the marble to make it through the loop? Why?
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4. Why did your starting height of your marble have to be higher than the top of the loop?
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5. What are three reasons your marble lost energy during this lab?
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