Barbie Bungee Jumping Lab

1. Barbie Bungee Jumping Lab

2. BarbieBungee Jumping 8th Grade Physical Science Instructor: Mrs. K

3. Your Mission • Team members have been hired to work for the Evil Knievel Entertainment Company. • This company provides rock climbing, sky diving, extreme skateboarding and hang gliding adventures to the public. • The current market research indicates that the company should add bungee jumping to its list of entertainment services. • As part of the preliminary research, the management assigned teams the task of working out the details of the jump that will ensure a safe yet thrilling experience. • The company has several sites planned for bungee jumping and each site is at a different height.

4. Purpose • To ensure a safe and thrilling jump you will determine the relationship between the jump height and the number of rubber bands used to make the bungee cord. You must allow your Barbie to come as close to the floor as possible without sustaining any injuries or fatalities.

5. Problem Statement • How many rubber bands does it take to give Barbie the best bungee jump without hitting the ground?

6. Hypothesis • If I use rubber bands for the bungee jump, then I think that __________ rubber bands will give Barbie the most thrilling ride without hurting her.

7. Materials • Meter Stick • Rubber Bands, 7 to start • Barbie Doll • Scale • Graph Paper

8. Procedure • Create a double loop to wrap around Barbie’s feet. A double loop is made by securing a rubber band to another with a slip knot • Wrap one end of the double loop around Barbie’s ankles to serve as a point of attachment for the bungee cord. • Use a rubber band to tie back Barbie’s hair. • Barbie will fall freely from a standing position, plunging head first throughout this lab. • Measure the initial length of the 1 band bungee (double loop) you constructed once it is attached to Barbie’s ankles.

9. Procedure Pt. II • Test drop Barbie three times to practice taking readings. • Drop Barbie three times and record the data each time. • Add a rubber band to your attached bungee cord. • Measure the new cord length. • Drop Barbie three times and record the data each time. • Repeat the steps until you have a total of 6 rubber bands. • Record the data each time. • You may have to devise a way to take measurements that are longer that 1.0meter.

10. Procedure Pt. III • Calculate the average of the data and record it in the data table. • Using graph paper, construct a graph of drop distance vs. number of rubber bands. • Use the equation in y=mx+b format in the space provided in the data table. (y = drop distance, x = # of Rubber bands, b = length of Barbie, m = slope) • Use the equation to predict how many rubber bands will be needed in order for Barbie to perform a safe, yet thrilling jump for a location specified by Mrs. K

11. Conclusion Questions: • Use your equation to predict how many of your rubber bands would be needed to allow Barbie a successful, yet thrilling jump from a height of 1000 cm. • Ken wants to jump and have some fun too. Barbie loans Ken her bungee cord, but warns Ken that this may not be a safe plan. Why may it be a bad idea for Ken to use Barbie’s bungee cord? • A student measured the mass of Barbie before attaching the first rubber band that secures Barbie’s ankles to the bungee cord. How will this error affect the calculated value of the stretch factor? • Use this experiment to describe and illustrate gravitational potential energy, free fall, kinetic energy, elastic potential energy, Newton’s 1st Law of Motion, Newton’s 2nd Law of Motion, Newton’s 3rd Law of Motion • Find the Kinetic and Potential Energy of Barbie K= ½ mv^2 P=mgh