GREATAMERICAPROJECT
TIMELINE
2018
ProjectComponent
DueDate
GroupMembers
KeyQuestion*
DrivingQuestions*
4/24/18
Background*
BackwardsPlanning*
5/1/18
ParkWorksheetDeveloped*
5/3/18
DevelopmentofPresentation
(BlogPostorSlideShow)
Title
Purpose
Materials
Procedures
Data(setupdatatablesetc.)
5/7/18
Data&Calculations
5/8/18
FinalSubmission
5/10/18*
*SeeFirstStepsWorksheetExample
AmusementParkProject
Introduction:
Amusementparksprovideanauthenticopportunitytoconductrealscienceandapplyphysics
andmathconceptsinrealworldsituations.Whilevisitinganamusementpark,notonlywillyou
haveafunfilleddayofridingrides,butyouwillgettoapplywhatyouhavelearnedabout
estimation,measurement,motion,forces,gravity,energy,andsystems.Youwillexperiencea
truescientificprocesswhereyougettoaskyourownquestions,gatherdata,andapplywhat
youhavelearnedtoareallifesituation.Thedatacollectedmaynotbethemostaccurate,but
theapplicationofyournewphysicsknowledgewillbeclearlyevident.
ProjectDescription:
Yourgroup(34people,NOEXCEPTIONS!)willchooseoneormoreofthefollowingsample
questions,oryoumaydevelopquestion(s)ofyourown,toansweronyourfieldtriptothe
amusementpark.Questionsnotlistedbelowwillneedapprovalfromyourinstructorbeforeyou
beginanyplanning.Youwillcommunicateyourentireprocessandsolutioninanorganized,
scientificmannerinaforumofyourchoosing(i.e.scientificjournalarticle,livepresentation,
videopresentation.)
NotesofInterest:
● Preplanningisparamounttoyoursuccessinthisproject.Youshouldhaveaclear,
detailed,planofwhatyouneedtoDOattheparkbeforeleaving,includingwhich
calculationsyouwillneedtoperformtoobtaintheanswerstoyourquestions.
● Asignificantamountofresearchmayneedtobeconductedinorderto“getthescience
right”beforesolvingyourproblem.
● Arubricforyourpresentationhasbeenincluded.Thissamerubricwillbeusedforall
formsofcommunication.
SampleQuestions:Youmaychoosefromthefollowinglistofsampleproblemstosolve,
1. Whatisthepoweroutputofthemotorthatliftsarollercoastertraintothetopofthelift
hill?
2. Whatisthecentripetalaccelerationand/orcentripetalforceofarollercoastercaratthe
topofthefirstlooponthetrack?
3. Howmuchenergyislostbetweenthetopofthelifthillandanydefinedpointalongthe
trackofarollercoaster?
4. Howmuchworkisdonebyfrictionbetweenthetopandbottomofahillonaroller
coaster?
5. Whatistheacceleration(deceleration)ofarollercoastertrainattheendofaride?
6. Howmuchenergyislosttofrictionduringthedrop(BEFOREBRAKINGBEGINS)fora
freefallride?
7. Howmuchforceisrequiredtostopafreefallride(DURINGTHEBRAKING
SEGMENT?)Note:Youcanassumethatthebrakingforceisconstantoncebraking
begins.)
8. Whatisatypicalforceofimpactbetweentwocarsonabumpercarride.
9. Howmuchpowerisneededtoliftafullcarofpeopletothetopofanobservationtower
ride?
10. Whatisthespeedofarideafterfallingadefinedverticalheight?
11. Whatisthedifferencebetweenthetheoreticalandactualvaluesforthecentripetal
accelerationsonanycircularmotionride(pendulumride,carousel,loops,orspinners?)
AmusementParkProjectRubric
(20points)
Section
FullCredit
HalfCredit
NoCredit
Title
(1pt.)
Clear“Scientific”Title
(addressesquestion,method,
andanswer)
Not“Scientific”in
nature

NotPresent
Purpose
(2pts.)
Onecompletesentencethat
clearlystatesthegoalofthe
lab
Incompletesentence
orlongerthanone
sentence

NotPresent
Materials
(2pts.)
Inorganizedlistortablethat
indicatesallequipmentused
inthelab

Somematerialsare
missing
NotPresent
Procedures
(5pts.)
Aclear,detailed,explanation
oftheprocesstobefollowed
inordertoaccomplish
purpose.Procedures
specificallystateall
measurementsneeded,and
includeinstructionsforall
calculationsthatmustbe
performed
Proceduresmaybe
missing,difficultto
follow,and/oroutof
order.Maynot
describeall
measurementsneeded
ormaynotinclude
instructionsformaking
necessarycalculations

NotFunctionalfor
Following
Data/Calculations
(5pts.)
Allcollecteddataisclearly
displayedintables.
Equationsandworkforall
calculationsareshown,
clearlylabeledandeasyto
follow.Allcalculatedvalues
arerecordedinanadditional
datatable.

Dataismissing,work
orequationsfor
calculationsarenot
shown,ordata/
calculationsaredifficult
tofollow
NotPresentor
unorganizedtothe
pointofbeing
incomprehensible
Conclusion
(5pts.)
Fivesentences:1)restates
purpose,2)&3)summarize
majorstepsofprocedure.4)
summarizesresultsusing
data,5)indicatespossible
sourcesoferror.

1ofthepartsis
missingorincomplete
orfinaldataisoutside
themarginoferror
2ormorepartsare
missingor
incompleteorno
finaldatais
provided
EXAMPLEPROJECT
GroupMembers:(Listeachgroupmember’snameinabulletedlistbelow)
● PollyEsther
● GeneEric
KeyQuestion:(Whatistheprimarythingyouwanttocalculateatthepark?)(Indentandbold)
Determinetheamountofenergythathasbeenlostbetweenthebeginningofthefirst
loopandjustbeforebrakingbeginsonTheDemon.
DrivingQuestions:(Ifyouwereassignedtheabovetask,whatquestionswouldyouhave?)(Bulletedlist)
● Howwillwefindtheenergyatthesetwolocations?
● Whatdeterminestheenergyataparticularlocation?
● Shouldweusekinematicsorenergyconservationtosolvethisproblem?
● Whatdoweknowaboutwhatshouldhappentoenergyduringaride?
BackgroundPhysicsInformationNeeded:(Inparagraphform,discussthephysicsconceptsyouwilluse.)
TheLawofConservationofEnergystatesthatthetotalamountofmechanicalenergyfor
asystem,sayarollercoaster,shouldremainconstant.ThetotalMEiscomprisedof
GravitationalPotentialEnergy(GPE),ElasticPotentialEnergy(PE
el
),andKineticEnergy(KE).
GPEiscalculatedbytheformulaGPE=mgh;PE
el
iscalculatedbytheformulaPE
el
=½kx
2
;
andKEiscalculatedbytheformulaKE=½mv
2
.
AlthoughtheLawofConservationofEnergystatesthattotalenergyisconserved,this
problemindicatesthatthismaynotbetrueifenergyislost.Iffriction(boththerollercoasterwith
thetrackandairresistance)aretakenintoaccount,thentheLawofConservationofEnergy
wouldbetrue.
InordertousethisLawtosolvethisproblem,wewillneedtodeterminethetotalamount
ofenergytherollercoasterhasasitentersthefirstloop,andagainjustbeforethebraking
beginsattheendoftheride.Thedifferencebetweenthesetwovalueswillbetheamountof
energylosttofrictionwiththetrackandairresistance.
Todeterminetheenergyatthetwokeylocations,wewillneedtodecidewhattypesof
energythecoasterhasateachpoint.Asthecoasterentersthefirstloop,itisatit’slowest
verticalpointoftheride.Ifweconsiderthisheighttobe“h=0m”thenthecoasterdoesNOT
havegravitationalpotentialenergy.Thereisnoelasticpotentialenergyforthecoasteratthis
point,sotheonlytypeofenergyithasiskineticenergy.Asthecoasterentersthepartofthe
ridewherebrakingbegins,itisataheighthigherthanwhereitenteredthefirstloopsoitWILL
havesomeGPEalongwithKE,butwillstillNOThavePE
el
.
So,inordertosolvethisproblemwewillneedtobeabletohavevaluesofm,g,h,andv
ateachpoint.Theaccelerationduetogravity(g)isaconstant,theheights(h)canbemeasured
atthepark,butmassandvelocityprovemoredifficult.Uponfurtherresearch,wecanmeasure
velocityofthecoasterateachpointusingthedefinitionofvelocity.Wewillmeasurethetotal
lengthofthetrain(d)andtimehowlongittakestopassastationarypointonthetrackateach
ofthelocations.Wealsodecidedthatmasscanbeignored,becauseifwesetupanEnergy
Conservationproblem:
(mgh+½mv
2
)
initial
=(mgh+½mv
2
)
fnal
themasswillcanceloutoneachsideandtheremainingtheoreticalstatementistrue:
(gh+½v
2
)
initial
=(gh+½v
2
)
final
ThereforewewillalterouroriginalformulasforeachtypeofenergytoNOTincludemass.
EXAMPLEPROJECT
BackwardsPlanning:(Inabulletedlist,planwhatyouwillneedtocalculate/measuretoanswerKeyQuestion.)
● Subtractthetotalenergyatthefinallocationfromtheenergyattheinitiallocationtoget
theamountofenergylost.E
total
=E
1
E
2
● CalculatetheenergyattheinitiallocationusingE
1
=½v
1
2
○ measurethelengthofthetrain(pacing?)
○ timehowlongittakestopassapointonthetrackenteringtheloop
○ determinevelocitybyv=d/t
● CalculatetheenergyatthefinallocationusingE
2
=gh+½v
2
○ measuretheheightofthetrack(structuremethod?)(triangulation?)wherebraking
begins
○ measureheightoftrackatbeginningoffirstloop
○ Subtractthetwoheightstogetheightatbrakinglocation
○ measurethelengthofthetrain(pacing?)
○ timehowlongittakestopassapointonthetrackjustbeforebraking
○ determinevelocitybyv=d/t
EXAMPLEPROJECT
WorksheettoTaketoPark
Lengthoftrain:
____________
(paceoutentiretrainORpaceoutonecarandmultiplybynumberofcars)
Timefortraintopasspointbefore1stloop:
____________
Timefortraintopasspointjustbeforebraking:
____________
Velocityoftrainenteringfirstloop:
____________
v
1
=d/t
Velocityoftrainjustbeforebraking:
____________
v
2
=d/t
Heightoftrackentering1stloop:
____________
Triangulation:distance1fromride: ___________
distance2fromride: ___________
distance(D)betweenpoints: ___________
anglemeasured: ___________
h
1
=(Dsin0
1
sin0
2
)/sin(0
2
0
1
)
Heightoftrackbeforebraking:
____________
Triangulation:distance1fromride: ___________
distance2fromride: ___________
distance(D)betweenpoints: ___________
anglemeasured: ___________
h
2
=(Dsin0
1
sin0
2
)/sin(0
2
0
1
)
Heightoftrackbeforebraking:
____________
H=h
1
h
2

Energyenteringfirstloop:
____________
EXAMPLEPROJECT
E
1
=½v
1
2
Energybeforebraking:
____________
E
2
=gH+½v
2
2
ENERGYLOSTBETWEENTWOPOINTS:
____________
E
lost
=E
1
E
2
PREPARINGFORGREATAMERICA
REQUIREDDATABEFOREGOING:
MassinKilograms:Convertyourmassinpoundstokg(1kg=2.20lb)
WeightinNewtons:Calculateweightusingyourmass(F=ma;usea
g
todetermine
weight)
EyeHeight:Useametersticktomeasurefromthegroundtothemiddleofyoureye
whenstandingstraight
StrideLength:Comfortablywalktwentysteps(measurefromsamelocationonfootat
bothbeginningandend)thendivideby20togettheaveragelengthofonestride.
MYmassinkilograms(kg)
MYweightinNewtons(N)
MY“eyeheight”inmeters(m)
MYstridelengthinmeters(m)
PRACTICEDATACOLLECTINGTECHNIQUES:
*Youshouldtakemultiplesetsofdataanddetermineanaveragetoeliminateerror
(youcandotheseonpaperandsubmitimagesofyourworkORdotheseinaspreadsheetand
attachittothisassignment)
DeterminingSpeeds
*Lengthof“standard”car(m)(NOPACING...tooshortadistance)
*Timeforcartopassstationarypointalonghighway
Averagespeedofcaronhighway
DeterminingLongLengths
DeterminingHeights
A) AccessibleFeatures
PREPARINGFORGREATAMERICA
DeterminingHeights
B)InaccessibleFeatures
*AngletosighttopofTelephonePole
fromPosition#1
*NumberofPacesfromPosition#1toPosition#2
DistancebetweenPosition#1toPosition#2
*AngletosighttopofTelephonePole
fromPosition#2
HeightfromeyetotopofTelephonePole
TotalheightofTelephonePole
(NWcornerofReinway&Yosemite)
DeterminingAccelerations&Forces
*Anglereadwhilespinninginacircleonscooter
Centripetalacceleration(a
c
=gtanθ)
Centripetalforce(F
c
=ma
c
)
GroupMembers:(Listeachgroupmember’snameinabulletedlistbelow)
KeyQuestion:(Whatistheprimarythingyouwanttocalculateatthepark?)(Indentandbold)
DrivingQuestions:(Ifyouwereassignedtheabovetask,whatquestionswouldyouhave?)(Bulletedlist)
BackgroundPhysicsInformationNeeded:(Inparagraphform,discussthephysicsconceptsyouwilluse.)
BackwardsPlanning:(Inabulletedlist,planwhatyouwillneedtocalculate/measuretoanswerKeyQuestion.)
ParkWorksheet:(CreateaworksheetwhereyoucanrecordallnecessarydataforyourKeyQuestion.)
Eye Height 1.6125
These are measurements around my
campus that I have students practice with
to prepare for Great America. These are
MY actual measurements and calculations
so I can check their work.
m and angles radians m ft
Flag Pole Height: 9.710340332 31.85807196
Horizontal Distance 10
Angle 39 0.6806784083
Bleachers Height: 7.861193519 25.79131732
Horizontal Distance 10
Angle 32 0.5585053606
Light Pole Height: 9.710340332 31.85807196
Horizontal Distance 10
Angle 39 0.6806784083
Telephone Pole (NW corner Reinway & Yosemite) Height: 9.588302455 31.45768522
Distance between angles 10
Close Angle 18 0.3141592654
Far Angle 13 0.2268928028
Top of Gym Height: 10.98554028 36.04179881
Horizontal Distance 15
Angle 32 0.5585053606
Length of GYM 33.95 Length: 34.27
wall to zero 0.32