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Vol Ball Haul. Brad Eckel Eric Spraggins Jordan Harris Hunter Culbertson. The Team. Overview. The goal of our project was to create a “rollercoaster” on which we could calculate the theoretical kinetic and potential energy at any given point during the run.
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Vol Ball Haul Brad Eckel Eric Spraggins Jordan Harris Hunter Culbertson
Overview • The goal of our project was to create a “rollercoaster” on which we could calculate the theoretical kinetic and potential energy at any given point during the run. • We used a simple design in order to increase the accuracy and consistency of each run. • We made the run take as close to fifteen seconds as possible.
Materials • We use a ball bearing as the “coaster” and PVC pipe as the track. • The PVC pipes are supported on four 2x2s by several screws. • The base is a small piece of plywood.
Building • We first cut a piece of plywood that was 0.5 meters on each side. We also cut four 2x2s that were also 0.5 meters long. • Next we cut the PVC pipes to an appropriate length so they would fit within the 0.5 meter box. • Finally we constructed the basic supports and attached the PVC pipes using screws.
Testing • We ran several tests and made adjustments to make sure the run lasted fifteen seconds and was consistent. • The only problem we had was that the ball bearing tended to stop at the corners, so we filed down the end of each pipe to make a smoother transition.
Conservation of Energy • To calculate the initial potential energy we used the equation: PE=mgh • During the run we were able to calculate kinetic and potential energy by using: PE + KE = PE’ + KE’ • KE=(1/2)mv2 • We did not need to find the mass of the ball because it canceled out on each side of the equation.
Conclusion • By using a simple design the coaster is very consistent, and we are able to calculate the kinetic and potential energy of the ball bearing at different points throughout the run. • After several hours and many tests the project was completed and presentable.