Name___________________

ROLLER COASTER WEB QUEST

Activity Overview: In this activity you will determine the roles of potential and kinetic energy
in the performance of a roller coaster. During this web quest, you will collect data that will
assist you when you are assigned to design your own roller coaster.
Section 1: Vocab!ary Before beginning your quest, define the following vocabulary
associated with roller coaster physics.
1. Potential energy

!. "inetic energy

#. $aw of %onservation of &nergy

Section ": Ro!!er Coa#ter $%y#ic#

%tt&:''#cience(%ow#t))wor*#(com'en+ineerin+'#trctra!'ro!!er,coa#ter-(%tm
%lick on the 'e(t icon at the bottom of the roller coaster components page. )his new page
contains the information necessary to complete the ne(t set of tasks.
1. %lick *play+ on the simulation. ,t what point is the potential energy the
greatest-
!. %lick *continue+ on the simulation. ,t what point is the kinetic energy
the greatest-

#. %lick *continue+ on the simulation. .hen the coaster is at the top of the second hill,
what is the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy-

/. %lick *continue+ on the simulation. .hy is it necessary to have so
much kinetic energy heading into the loop-

0. %lick *continue+ on the simulation. .hat is the relationship between
kinetic energy and potential energy at the top of the loop-

1. %lick *continue+ on the simulation. .hat is higher, the kinetic energy at point ) or the
kinetic energy at point b- %lick continue and reset the simulation if the need to see
the reading at point b again.
2croll down on the page to answer the rest of the questions in this section.
3. .hat role do the tracks play in the performance of the coaster-

4. 5ow do the tracks and gravity work together to insure that you have a
sweet ride on the coaster-

6. .hy does the si7e of the hills get smaller as the roller coaster ride progresses-

Section .: Ener+y Tran#)ormation
8or the ne(t set of tasks you will need to go to the following 9:$;
http://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/energy/ce.html
1. 5ow does a roller coaster convert potential energy to kinetic energy and then back to
potential energy again and again-

!. <bserve the simulation on this page. ,t what point does kinetic energy reach its
ma(imum-
.hat is the ma(imum speed at that point-
Section /: Bi!0 a Ro!!er Coa#ter Sim!ator
In order to do the ne(t activity, go to the following web site;
http://www.funderstanding.com/k12/coaster/
2croll half way down the page until you see the blue funder coaster simulator.
)he settings on the simulator can be changed by clicking on the sphere and dragging it to the
left to decrease the setting or the right to increase the setting.
1. Place all 3 settings as high as possible =all the way to the right>. :un the simulation.
.hat was the result-
)heori7e as to why you got this result.

!. 2et all of the settings at their lowest value =all the way to the left>. .hat was the
result-
)heori7e as to why you got this result.
#. $eave all of the settings set as low as possible with ?ust one e(ception; set the speed
at its highest setting. .hat was the result-
.hy did you get this result-
/. $eave all of the settings set as low as possible with these ! e(ceptions; set speed and
gravity as high as possible. .hat was the result-
.hy did you get this result-
0. 5ow did the results differ between task @# and task @/-

)heori7e as to why you got different results.

1. 2et hill @1, hill @!, and the loop at the lowest setting. 2et speed, mass, gravity, and
friction at halfway between the lowest and highest setting. :un the simulation.
.hat was the result-
.hy did you get this result- In your e(planation, include the role kinetic and potential
energy played in the result.
3. $eave the settings as they are with this one e(ception; increase the si7e of hill @! by
half. :un the simulation. .hat was the result-
.hat was not present in an amount great enough to insure the successful completion of
this run-
4. 'ow you are free to manipulate all of the settings. 8ind the settings at which you are
able to make a successful run of your coaster. .hat settings ran the simulator
successfully-
.hy was this run successful when the others were not-