Rollercoasters!

Newton’s Laws of Motion Isaac Newton: He was an established physicist and mathematician He discovered gravity, and the laws of motion that underpin much of modern physics. Sir Isaac Newton is the scientist whose ideas and laws have led to modern day physics and the study of motion. Newton lived from 1643-1727. He was knighted for his ideas about motion, gravity, and more. During his studies he came up with 3 laws of motion. Laws: A scientific law is a statement based on repeated experimental observations that describes some aspects of the universe. A scientific law always applies under the same conditions, and implies that there is a causal relationship involving its elements. Statements that describe or predict a range of phenomena behave as they appear to in nature Motion: Motion is the process of something moving or changing place or even just changing position. There are a lot of factor involved every time something moves: Speed is how long it takes for an object to travel a certain distance. Its formula is distance divided by time, or d/t. A car's speed is often measured in how many miles it can travel in an hour. So the distance is miles and the time is hours (distance / time = Miles/Hour, or Miles per Hour, or mph). Velocity and speed are very close and often mixed up. They both measure d/t. Velocity adds an extra step; it measures distance over time or speed in a given direction. So a car's speed could be 55 mph, but its velocity would be 55mph in a northward direction. Acceleration is when any part of an object's velocity changes. If the object speeds up or travels over a given distance in a shorter amount of time, then there is acceleration. There can also be acceleration if an object changes direction. So even if the car continues to travel at the speed of 55mph but turns and heads in an eastward direction, it is still accelerating. Force is any type of a push or a pull. In order for an object to accelerate it needs to have a force acted upon it. In other words, in order for an object to change speed or direction it needs to be pushed or pulled. Mass is the amount of matter (stuff) that something is. It is usually measured in grams.

Newton’s Laws of Motion Law of Inertia! Forces + Acceleration! Newton's first law is concerned with balanced forces. The first law states that if a body is at rest and the forces acting on it are balanced then the body will remain at rest. However if the body is moving and the forces acting are balanced then the body will keep moving at constant speed in a straight line. Newton's second law is concerned with unbalanced forces. Unbalanced forces produce acceleration. The bigger the unbalanced force the bigger the acceleration. This law is usually written as an equation: F = ma . Newton's third law concerns equal and opposite forces. It states that, "If A exerts a force on B, then B exerts an equal but opposite force on A." Actions + Reactions!

Conservation of Energy in Rollercoasters! Total amount of energy is always the same One of the fundamental laws of nature is that energy cannot be made or destroyed, just converted from one form into another. If you think about it, you require energy to run about. That energy comes from your food which by one means or another has got its energy from the sun (plants by photosynthesis, animals by eating plants). However, when you convert from one form of energy into another not all of the energy you begin with is converted into the useful energy. Some energy will be converted into unwanted types of energy, ie it is wasted. These unwanted types of energy reduce the amount of useful energy which is transferred during a process. For example, a car engine converts chemical energy into kinetic energy to allow it to move – but there are several other forms of energy involved in the process, with some energy being wasted (or ‘lost’) because it is converted to heat and sound by the engine. The amount of useful energy (in a car, this is mainly kinetic energy) is less than the amount of energy contained in the fuel. The efficiency of the process is less than 100% because of these ‘energy losses’.

Riding a Rollercoaster! Gravitational Energy Kinetic Energy Total Energy Gravitational Energy Gravitational potential energy - - the energy gained while rising a certain height. When work is done on an object it may also lead to energy being transferred to the object in the form of gravitational potential energy of the object. Gravitational potential energy is the energy an object has by virtue of its position above the surface of the Earth. When an object is lifted, work is done. When work is done in raising the height of an object, energy is transferred as a gain in the gravitational potential energy of the object.

Riding a Rollercoaster! Gravitational Energy Kinetic Energy Total Energy Kinetic Energy Gravitational Energy Kinetic energy - The energy that moving objects have. When work is done the energy is transferred from one type to another. This transferred energy may appear as kinetic energy. For example, when you pedal your bicycle so that its speed increases, you are doing work to transfer chemical energy from your muscles to the kinetic energy of the bicycle. Kinetic energy is the energy an object possesses by virtue of its movement. The amount of kinetic energy possessed by a moving object depends on the mass of the object and its speed. The greater the mass and the speed of the object the greater its kinetic energy. Gravitational Energy

Riding a Rollercoaster! Gravitational Energy Kinetic Energy Total Energy Kinetic Energy Kinetic Energy Gravitational Energy

Riding a Rollercoaster! Gravitational Energy Kinetic Energy Total Energy Kinetic Energy Kinetic Energy Gravitational Energy

Let’s Build Our Own Rollercoasters! 1 5 min Plan your design! 2 20 min Build your rollercoaster! Working in groups! 3 10 min Test your design!

Materials You Can Use! Cup BBQ Skewers Tubes Toothpicks Modelling Clay Materials will be given out to the students prior to starting. 1 Marble Tape

Scoring Points! +10 +10 +25 Lands in the Cup 1 Loop 2 Loops +15 +20 Jumps +15 Corkscrew +20 Students will be awarded points for the tricks their rollercoasters can do!

RAF examples: force and motion in action The different effects of G-force on a pilot. Shows 1-G to 6-G.

RAF examples: forces and motion in action The G-force effects of a pull-up from a 70 degree dive for a pilot. If the pilot pulls the aircraft up in 3 seconds would be equivalent force on him/her of more than 4-G. If the pilot pulls the aircraft up in 1 second would be equivalent force on him/her of more than 6-G.