Physics Roller Coasters!

Last week (January 22 - 26) was pipe insulation roller coaster week for my Physics class. It's probably my favorite project of the year. This year we had 5 roller coasters, all of them much taller than any that had been built before them (the new school has 11 foot ceilings instead of 8 foot at the old school). The project is part of the Work & Energy unit, and as such the students have to calculate things like kinetic & potential energy, g-forces, and the minimum velocities to complete loops.

"Hazard Zone" (pictured) cleaned up in the awards category; they were awarded 1st place in the Safety, Aesthetic Appeal, & Creativity/Originality categories by the judges, which was enough to clinch the overall 1st prize. The other categories are Appriopriate Name for Coaster and Excitement Factor.

For more pictures and information check out the newly updated project web page.

The broadcasting class at Whitmore Lake High School also did a special feature on the roller coasters. You can view the video by clicking here, but be warned, the file is 53.0 MB (dial-up users may want to consider switching to cable).