A ROLLER COASTER STORY TEAM MONDAY NIGHT: Jonathan Edwards Zac Reeves, Blake Gonyea, Jason Morris

Design The design of the rollercoaster changed as we began construction We used the plastic tubing as our track A small metal ball was ‘cart’ We used hard shaped tubing to connect pipes Duct tape and zip ties were used to hold up Styrofoam supports The plastic tubing was used because we could bend it yet it did not occupy too much space and not a lot of energy would be lost due to friction. The metal ball was used because it was smooth and small enough to fit through our tubing. Hard plastic tubing to connect pipes in order to maintain as much energy as possible and keep the track stable, its in the shape of an elbow. Our supports were made so that they could easily be changed because we found our rollercoaster to be very inconsistent and we needed to be able to alter it as much as possible in order for the marble to make it through.

Construction Issues We had ideas that were too complex and would not have allowed the rollercoaster to meet the time requirements Our original tubing was too thick to maneuver and took up too much space Our base had to be fashioned together because it was not .5 m wide We wanted to incorporate a lift but it was too inconsistent to work be used Hold up tubing and show how it collapses when it is bent, also show the thickness. You can mention here that it has a greater coefficient of friction because it is styrofoam and therefore it is less effective than the plastic tubing we have. Mention that the base is two pieces because we needed the wood to be thick so it can support the weight and the only wood we found that was cheap and thick was not .5 m wide. Talk about the lift, how it was too complex to incorporate and not consistent enough to be entirely effective. Talk about how it developed, from the little motor we initially had to kinex then to us deciding not to use it because of its inconsistency.

Energy The energy in the coaster starts entirely as gravitational potential, no work is put in As the ball goes through the coaster the energy is lost to friction, sound, vibration Mention that the tubing is pinched in some places which increases friction, and our supports don’t hold down the tubing because we didn’t want to pinch more than we had to, so there is more vibration because the tubing isn’t as stable as it could be.

Conclusion The bulk of our time was spent on construction because we kept encountering problems. At times the ball almost stops in the ride because of increased friction in the tubing where it is pinched