Nicolas Reed Science Blog

Summary:        In order to successfully complete this project, you must have designed (and sketched) a roller coaster made of pretty common materials (a marble, insulation tubing, tape, popsicle sticks, straws, etc.). In addition, you had to create a timeline (which is the presentation) of your roller coaster along with an analysis. The analysis consisted of questions revolving around physics (force, velocity, acceleration, energy, etc.). Through this project I learned that the only real way to generate enough force to move a roller coaster (through the whole course) that is only pushed by gravity is by beginning with a big drop. On top of this, it is impossible for the height of the hill to be greater than the height at which the marble is initially placed. Due to how it is impossible for the marble to generate enough energy to be able to go up something larger than which originally placed. This is because the amount of potential energy at the top of the hill is...

Goliath (Six Flags Over Georgia) 02  by  Coasterman1234 Summary:        When creating a model of a roller coaster (so their is no motor or any other force acting upon it besides gravity), the factors that determine the amount of force/energy a roller coaster has are the mass and speed of the roller coaster. Also, when there is no friction, the only factor that affects the final speed of a roller coaster is the total height lost. Total height lost is equal to the first hill's height subtracted by the final hill's height. For example, if you have three hills where the hill's heights are 100 cm (for the first hill), 30 cm (for the second hill) and 60 cm (for the last hill), the total height lost is 40 cm. This is due to how 100 cm subtracted by 60 cm is equal to 40 cm. Thus, the total energy of the car does not change when going down a hill. In addition, hill two does not have an effect on its final speed. S&EP 1-Asking Questions and Definin...

Summary:        K inetic energy is energy an object has due to its motion. Potential energy is energy that is stored and waiting to be used later. Three types of potential energy are gravitational potential energy, elastic potential energy, and chemical potential energy. Gravitational potential energy is potential energy due to an object's position. Elastic potential energy is potential energy due to compression or expansion of an elastic object. Lastly, chemical potential energy is potential energy stored within the chemical bonds of an object. The formula for finding  0.5(mass x speed 2 ) . The formula for finding gravitational potential energy is mass x height x gravity. Both potential and kinetic however are scalar quantities meaning that they do not have direction. Both also are measured with same metric unit, this unit is known as Joules. One of the Charts From the Simulation that I Computed S&EP 5-Using Mathematics and Computational Thinkin...