High School Roller Coaster Modeling Project
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@unknownuser said:
Do you, dudes, have that in reality (really)???
No, like the Hot Wheels cars on a flexible plastic track - the Hot Wheels cars are pretty small, about 2 inches long? -
How about a little SketchyPhysics added to the schedule? That would be cool!!!
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Absolutely! SketchyPhysics will be part of it - I just have to figure out a little more about it. We already began learning about speed - the first of ten lessons which deal with roller coaster physics (attached below - my subscripts and delta symbols aren't displayed here, sorry). This may seem over-simple and ridiculous to be covering such a basic topic in high school, but many are surprised (including myself) how little these folks know about basic math, physics, et cetera:
%(#000080)[Understanding the Physics of Roller Coasters
speed = distance / time
if you travel distance s in a time t, your speed v is
v = s / t
The variable v really stands for velocity
True velocity has a direction associated with it (which speed does not) therefore velocity is a vector. Vectors have both a magnitude and a direction, so with velocity you not only know how fast you’re going, but also in what direction.
Speed is only a magnitude, so it’s represented with a v (not in bold).
v = x / t = (xf – xo) / (tf – to)
= change
xf = final position
xo = origin or starting point
tf = final time
tO = start timev = average speed (supposed to be a hyphen over the "v" - write that in before printing or find the symbol)]
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. . . btw, does anyone know of a Ruby script that easily & reliably creates helical curves . . . ? . . .
Thanks,
Brad
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There are two "drawhelix.rb"s here.
I think I use the later version. -
@unknownuser said:
There are two "drawhelix.rb"s here.
MEGA-THANKS!!! Works great - I updated the loop drawing above. -
. . . more options . . . food to inspire them rather than feed . . .
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Now Brad with this latter, helical ramp the problem will be that the cars wil fly off. The path should be slanted inwards a bit I guess.
Nice ones though!
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Yes - a good learning experience if they fall off - then the question & learning takes place: What was anticipated, how did it perform, what could have been done better?
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The roller coaster project is officially "over" - it was a gigantic success!
Sorry this photo is very poor quality but it gives you an idea what some of the students did. This photo does not show all the roller coasters. Only four groups attempted the Round & Round - it was the most difficult, I think.
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