Student Exploration: Roller Coaster Physics

Name: ______________________________________ Date: ________________________
Student Exploration: Roller Coaster Physics
Vocabulary: friction, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, momentum
Prior Knowledge Questions(Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo .)

Sally gets onto the roller coaster car, a bit nervous already. Her heart
beats faster as the car slowly goes up the first long, steep hill.
1. What happens at the beginning of every roller coaster ride?
2. Does the roller coaster ever get higher than the first hill?
Explain.
Gizmo Warm-up
The Roller Coaster PhysicsGizmo models a roller
coaster with a toy car on a track that leads to an egg.
You can change the track or the car. For the first
experiment, use the default settingsHill (1 = 70 cm,
Hill 2 = 0 cm,Hill 3 = 0 cm, 35-g car).
1. Press Play ( ) to roll the 35-gram toy car down
the track. Does the car break the egg? No
2. Click Reset ( ). Set Hill 1 to 80 cm, and click Play. Does the car break the egg? Yes
3. Click Reset. Lower Hill 1 back to 70 cm and select the 50-gram toy car. Click Play. Does the 50-gram
car break the egg? Yes
4. What factors seem to determine whether the car will break the egg? The mass and speed of the
car
2019
Get the Gizmo ready:
Activity A:
Click Reset.
Roller coaster speed Select the 35-g toy car.
Question: What factors determine the speed of a roller coaster?
1. Observe: Set Hill 1 to 100 cm, Hill 2 to 0 cm, and Hill 3 to 0 cm. Be sure the Coefficient of friction is
set to 0.00. (This means that there is no friction, or resistance to motion.)
A. Click Play. What is the final speed of the toy car? 422.9 cm/s
B. Try the other cars. Does the mass of the car affect its final speed? No
2. Collect data: Find the final speed of a toy car in each situation. Leave the last column blank.
Hill 1 Hill 2 Hill 3 Final speed

40 cm 0 cm 0 cm 280.1
40 cm 30 cm 0 cm 280.1
60 cm 50 cm 20 cm 280.1
60 cm 0 cm 0 cm 343.1
60 cm 45 cm 0 cm 343.1
90 cm 75 cm 30 cm 343.1
3. Analyze: Look at the data carefully. Notice that it is organized into two sets of three trials.
A. What did each set of trials have in common? The final speed was the same
B. Did hill 2 have any effect on the final speed? No
C. Label the last column of the table Total height lost. Fill in this column by subtracting the
height of hill 3 from the height of hill 1. See Above
D. What do you notice about the Total height lost in each set of trials? total height lost was
the same
4. Draw conclusions: When there is no friction, what is the only factor that affects the final
speed of a roller coaster? The only factor that affects the final speed is the total height lost
2019
What factors do not affect the final speed of a roller coaster? The final speed is not affected by the mass
of the car or the height of the
middle hill.
Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

Click Reset. Select the 50-g car.
Energy on a roller Check that the Coefficient of friction is 0.00.
coaster Set Hill 1 to 100 cm, and Hill 2 and 3 to 0 cm.
Question: How does energy change on a moving roller coaster?
1. Observe: Turn on Show graph and select E vs t to see a graph of energy (E) versus time. Click Play
and observe the graph as the car goes down the track.
Does the total energy of the car change as it goes down the hill? No, it stays the same
2. Experiment: The gravitational potential energy (U) of a car describes its energy of position. Click
Reset. Set Hill 3 to 99 cm. Select the U vs t graph, and click Play.
A. What happens to potential energy as the car goes down the hill? It decreases
B. What happens to potential energy as the car goes up the hill? It increases
3. Experiment: The kinetic energy (K) of a car describes its energy of motion. Click Reset. Select the K
vs t (kinetic energy vs. time) graph, and click Play.
A. What happens to kinetic energy as the car goes down the hill? It increases
B. What happens to kinetic energy as the car goes up the hill? It decreases
4. Compare: Click Reset. Set Hill 1 to 80 cm, Hill 2 to 60 cm, and Hill 3 to 79 cm. Be sure the 50-g toy
car is selected, and press Play. Sketch the U vs t, K vs t, and E vs t graphs below.
2019
(Activity B continued on next page)
Activity B (continued from previous page)
5. Calculate: Gravitational potential energy (U) depends on three things: the (m), its height (h), and
gravitational acceleration (g), which is 9.81 m/s2
U = mgh
Energy is measured in joules (J). One joule is equal to one 1 kg 2/s2. When calculating the energy of
an object, it is helpful to convert the mass and height to kilograms and meters. (Recall there are 1,000
grams in a kilogram and 100 centimeters in a meter.)
A. What is the mass of the 50-gram car, in kilograms? 0.050 kg
B. Set Hill 1 to 75 cm and the other hills to 0 cm. What is the height in meters? 0.75 m
C. What is the potential energy of the car, in joules? 0.368 J
6. Calculate: Kinetic energy (K) depends on the mass and speed (v) of the object. The equation for
kinetic energy is:
K= mv2
With Hill 1 set to 75 cm, click Play and allow the car to reach the bottom.
A. What is the final speed of the car, in meters per second? 3.836 m/s
B. What is the kinetic energy of the car, in joules? (Use the mass in kg.) 0.368 kg
C. How does the kinetic energy at the bottom of the hill compare to its potential
energy at the top? The same
2019

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Name: ______________ Date:

Student Exploration: Roller Coaster Physics

Vocabulary: friction, gravitational potential energy, kinetic energy, momentum

Prior Knowledge Questions(Do these BEFORE using the Gizmo .)

1. What happens at the beginning of every roller coaster ride?

1. Press Play ( ) to roll the 35-gram toy car down

the track. Does the car break the egg? No

car break the egg? Yes

Question: What factors determine the speed of a roller coaster?

Hill 1 Hill 2 Hill 3 Final speed

B. Did hill 2 have any effect on the final speed? No

Activity B: Get the Gizmo ready:

Question: How does energy change on a moving roller coaster?

A. What is the mass of the 50-gram car, in kilograms? 0.050 kg

energy at the top? The same

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