Rollercoaster

Loops: The Science

of Centripetal Force
7-04

Research Question
What height does the drop on a
simulated roller coaster have to be to
have enough kinetic energy to loop the
loop with a small marble, and if the
drop is high enough for the marble to
make the loop, how fast will the marble
loop the loop?

Rationale
Physics are a fundamental part of our world and governs the world we live in as
well as governing everything we do. As such, it should be understood by all. That
is why it is important to understand the basic concepts about centripetal forces
and kinetic/potential energy as a whole.

Abstract
You enter the rollercoaster and sit down, buckling yourself in. An assistant comes by, checking your seat belt and harness; the
assistants stand back with thumbs up as you prepare to launch off the starting point of the track. Click, click, click, up you go and then
in a blink you are barreling down towards a massive loop. Are we going to make it you wonder and then in an instant you are at the
bottom of the loop as if nothing happened? What exactly allowed you to make this loop? In this instance, the intial drop allowed you
to make the loop. But what height does the drop on a simulated roller coaster have to be to have enough kinetic energy to loop the loop
with a small marble, and if the marble to make the loop, how fast will the marble go? To find the answer you must, first take out your
knife and pipe insulation. Cut the pipe insulation downward in the middle of both tubes all the way down. Tape the insulation pieces
together so that you have a long enough piece to incorporate a 30 centimeter wide loop as well as enough length to accommodate a 50
centimeter drop, a 75 centimeter drop and a 100 centimeter drop. For this part of the experiment to be well controlled, we will have the
insulation tubes start at the same heights for all drops and use the tape to hold down the insulation to the elevation you want. When you
are ready to test place the marble on the tube and have someone else start the timer as soon as you place the marble. Watch to see if the
marbles successfully make the loop. If the marbles do make the loop stop the stopwatch and record the time it took for them to make
the loop. Repeat all 3 lengths 15 times and record results. When you have finished you should see that the only drop height that
successfully allowed the marble to make the full loop was the 100 centimeter drop and that the average time it took to make the loop on
the 100 centimeter drop was about 1.7 to 2 seconds. These results seem to indicate that for the marbles to make the loop, the drop
height must be higher than 2.7 times the diameter of the loop as the only drop height that made the loop was the 100 centimeter height,
which is the closest that was larger than 2.7 times the loops width. This also seems to show that for the inertia and centripetal force of
an object to cause a circular motion they must cancel out in the way that a planets inertia and the gravitational force of the sun must
cancel out for an orbit to occur.

Hypothesis
If the drop height of the marble is
over 50 centimeters, the marble will
overcome the gravity acting on it
and make the loop. Furthermore,
the higher the drop, the faster the
marble will make the loop.

Materials

Two 1.905 centimeter by 1.8288 meter pipe insulation tubes

Knife capable of cutting the insulation

Scotch tape

1 centimeter marble

50 centimeters tall structure, 75 centimeter tall structure, 100 centimeter tall

structure

Stopwatch

Procedure
First take out your knife and pipe insulation.
2. Then cut pipe insulation downward in the middle of both tubes all the way down.
3. Tape the two halves of the insulation together (end to end) so that you have
enough length for a 50 centimeter drop, a 75 centimeter drop and a 100 centimeter
drop.
1.

4.

5.
6.

For this part of the experiment to be well controlled, we will have the
insulation tubes start at the same heights for all drops and use the tape to hold
down the insulation to the elevation you want When you are ready to test place
the marble on the tube and have someone else start the timer as soon as you place
the marble.
Watch to see if the marbles successfully makes the loop. If the marbles complete
make the loop, record the time it took for the marble to complete the loop.
Repeat all 3 lengths 15 times and record results.

Pictures

The 30 centimeter loop

The 30 centimeter loop with the drop

Drop
Results

50 centimeter drop

75 centimeter drop

100 centimeter drop

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.76 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.75 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.77 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.78 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.85 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.80 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.87 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.92 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.85 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.79 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.82 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.83 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.74 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.81 seconds

Did not make the loop

Did not make the loop

1.75 seconds

Test Summary
Of the 15 tests conducted for each drop height,
only 15 of the 45 total tests succesfully made
the loop. The only drop height to sucessfully
make the loop was the 100 centimeter drop.
The average time it took to make the loop was
1.806 seconds. Most of the data was fairly
close to each other though the average is
increased due to the outlier of 1.9 seconds.

Conclusion
These results seem to indicate that for the marbles
to make the loop, the drop height must be higher
than 2.7 times the diameter as the only drop height
that made the loop was the height that was larger
than 2.7 times the loops height. This also seems to
show that for the inertia and centripetal force of an
object to cause a circular motion they must cancel
out in the way that a planets inertia and the
gravitational force of the sun must cancel out for an
orbit to occur. However, the marble did not
make the loop until the 100 centimeter drop,
meaning my hypothesis was incorrect.

Resources
HowStuffWorks. HowStuffWorks.com, 9 Aug. 2007. Web. 13 Nov. 2016.
http://science.howstuffworks.com/engineering/structural/roller-coaster7.htm

"Loop Shapes in Roller Coasters." Loop Shapes in Roller Coasters. N.p., 2005.
Web. 13 Nov. 2016
http://physics.gu.se/LISEBERG/eng/loop_pe.html

"Roller Coasters." Roller Coasters. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2016

http://www.datagenetics.com/blog/march42014/index.html

THE END