Energy and Rollercoasters Foundations of Physical Science

Energy and Systems  Work and Energy  Energy and the Rollercoaster  Waves and Energy  Sounds and Energy

Key Questions How do we measure and describe the world around us? What is the difference between accuracy and precision?

CPO Data Collector

Home Window

Stopwatch Window

Time and Distance 1.1 How can we measure time accurately? — Using the timer in stopwatch mode, who can get the fastest time? — CPO Record =.04 s — How precise are you? — How accurate is our stopwatch? Answer: to the nearest 1/100 th of a second

CPO Timing System 100 meter race? –One runner has a time of 10:01 s. –Another runner has a time of 10:02 s. –Who WINS? How can we measure time accurately? –Use the timer in stopwatch mode –Who can get the fastest time?

Application

Examine a photogate

Time Measureme nt  Plug one end of phone cord into the photogate, and the other end into slot A of the timer.  Turn on the “A” light  How does the photogate operate the timer?  NOW see who can get the shortest time to display!

CPO Timer Benefits Photogates measure to nearest 1/10,000 (Student data is ACCURATE) Photogates and CPO Timers allow quick, repeatable data collection (Student data is PRECISE) Error on graphing and statistics is reduced from 25-30% less than 5% error.

Key Questions  What happens to the motion of a marble on a hilly track?  How is energy conserved on a roller coaster?

Fastest Coaster Kingda Ka Six Flags Great Adventure Jackson, New Jersey 128 mph 5/21/2005

Where does the marble move the fastest?

Investigate Motion of Marble  How long does it take the marble to break the photogate beam at each of the 7 positions?  Do smaller times correspond to faster or slower speeds?

Where did the marble move the fastest?

How would you calculate the speed?

At what two positions is the marble moving the fastest? What is unique about these two positions?

Let’s investigate the relationship between speed and height more closely  Find the speed of the marble for each of 12 different positions on the coaster  Use the table provided to record your data (note: you don’t have to measure height of marble)  When finished, please complete the speed vs. position graph

COOL GRAPH!

What questions do you have about the CPO Science Curriculum?