Project Reflection
What was the purpose of this project? What did you learn?
The purpose of this project was to prove our understanding of the physics we were currently learning at the time, which included finding momentum of an object, how to find the amount of energy there is in an object, and how to convert potential energy to kinetic energy. This project had taught me how to use physics when building roller coasters and how you must take into account all the different factors that may affect the energy transfers. I had figured out how to use physics when building a roller coaster when we had to make the blueprints. We had to make sure that the height of the ramp was high enough to start off with enough potential energy to convert to kinetic energy so that the marble would go through the funnels. Taking into account of the different factors that may affect the energy transfers was also included when making the blueprint because there might have been a slight friction that could have slowed the marble down, or the release of other energy such as heat or sound could also disrupt the marbles course. In the end, this project has helped me to make sure I have all the factors because if I ignore a single segment, the whole thing could go wrong.
What did you enjoy most about this project? Why?
What I enjoyed most about this project would have to be converting the energy and finding out the amount of joules there was throughout the roller coaster. This would have to be the part I enjoyed most about this project because I really enjoyed doing the mathematics involved and finding out how numbers can describe factors in life that we cannot always see. Another reason why I had enjoyed this portion of the project was also due to the way that if I had made a mistake, finding where the mistake lay would be much easier and simpler due to the only thing that needed to be looked at and changed would be numbers. This is why I enjoyed converting different energies and finding out the amount of joules the energy had throughout the roller coaster.
What was the most challenging part about this project? Why?
The most challenging aspect of this project was the construction part because it was difficult to assemble and make it just right. This was so because we had to construct a roller coaster that had enough structure underneath to make sure it didn't fall or tip over, also we had to construct it in a way that the marble started of at the top and made its way to the end of the roller coaster with only the structure to help it along the way. Making the loops and funnels out of metal shelving was quite difficult since the material was quite thick and a bit difficult to bend into a circle. Also, if the metal was bent too much, there were bumps in the tracks making the ride unstable and making it lose excess energy. That was why the construction of the roller coaster was the most challenging part when doing the project.
If you could do it over again, what would you do different? Why?
If I had a chance to do this project over again, I would do funnels differently because they were not circular enough. I would do this part again because the whole roller coaster worked efficiently except for this part, thus bringing my grade down. The problem of fixing this issue before was that it was constructed in the middle of the strip of metal shelving, making it problematic to bend it in a way that there was not a sharp twist in the middle. This was a problem due to the energy transfer, it required more energy to overcome this obstacle, energy that was not there at the time of the demonstration. To fix this problem I could have used a different material for the circular part of the roller coaster, such as a plastic hose cut in half or pipe insulation foam cut in half. To add support to this structure, I could have lined the material with metal wire or wood, making it more stable and less likely to fall. This was one of the things that I would have done differently to make the project better and what I would have done instead.
What was the purpose of this project? What did you learn?
The purpose of this project was to prove our understanding of the physics we were currently learning at the time, which included finding momentum of an object, how to find the amount of energy there is in an object, and how to convert potential energy to kinetic energy. This project had taught me how to use physics when building roller coasters and how you must take into account all the different factors that may affect the energy transfers. I had figured out how to use physics when building a roller coaster when we had to make the blueprints. We had to make sure that the height of the ramp was high enough to start off with enough potential energy to convert to kinetic energy so that the marble would go through the funnels. Taking into account of the different factors that may affect the energy transfers was also included when making the blueprint because there might have been a slight friction that could have slowed the marble down, or the release of other energy such as heat or sound could also disrupt the marbles course. In the end, this project has helped me to make sure I have all the factors because if I ignore a single segment, the whole thing could go wrong.
What did you enjoy most about this project? Why?
What I enjoyed most about this project would have to be converting the energy and finding out the amount of joules there was throughout the roller coaster. This would have to be the part I enjoyed most about this project because I really enjoyed doing the mathematics involved and finding out how numbers can describe factors in life that we cannot always see. Another reason why I had enjoyed this portion of the project was also due to the way that if I had made a mistake, finding where the mistake lay would be much easier and simpler due to the only thing that needed to be looked at and changed would be numbers. This is why I enjoyed converting different energies and finding out the amount of joules the energy had throughout the roller coaster.
What was the most challenging part about this project? Why?
The most challenging aspect of this project was the construction part because it was difficult to assemble and make it just right. This was so because we had to construct a roller coaster that had enough structure underneath to make sure it didn't fall or tip over, also we had to construct it in a way that the marble started of at the top and made its way to the end of the roller coaster with only the structure to help it along the way. Making the loops and funnels out of metal shelving was quite difficult since the material was quite thick and a bit difficult to bend into a circle. Also, if the metal was bent too much, there were bumps in the tracks making the ride unstable and making it lose excess energy. That was why the construction of the roller coaster was the most challenging part when doing the project.
If you could do it over again, what would you do different? Why?
If I had a chance to do this project over again, I would do funnels differently because they were not circular enough. I would do this part again because the whole roller coaster worked efficiently except for this part, thus bringing my grade down. The problem of fixing this issue before was that it was constructed in the middle of the strip of metal shelving, making it problematic to bend it in a way that there was not a sharp twist in the middle. This was a problem due to the energy transfer, it required more energy to overcome this obstacle, energy that was not there at the time of the demonstration. To fix this problem I could have used a different material for the circular part of the roller coaster, such as a plastic hose cut in half or pipe insulation foam cut in half. To add support to this structure, I could have lined the material with metal wire or wood, making it more stable and less likely to fall. This was one of the things that I would have done differently to make the project better and what I would have done instead.