Description
For this project we had to make a full working marble machine and a background design explaining the physics of your roller coaster. We were supposed to be drawing rough drafts, a lot of rough drafts. We needed several rough drafts of our coaster and one of our background design.
Process
To get to our final product we first made initial sketches. After getting a peer review we chose a design and sketched it out on graph paper. We continued this process until we got down to the final draft. We then started building! For us we had our frame built by the teachers, so we attached styro-foam boards to the side and got to building. During this I was drawing the rough draft of my background image. We got a sheet of of guidline to help us. I finished the final and pasted it on the side of our project.
Why it changed
Our final product changed a lot from our initial design. It was a lot more simple and there was only one track. The reason is becuase the frame was not the demensions that were preferable and we didn't have enough time. It was a bummer because the final thing would have been awesome. We would have made it all club-like. Unce unce unce unce...
Parabolic motion
For my background design I chose parabolic motion. Parabolic motion is basically a parabola's motion. It measures how much an object will fall off a jump or a ledge over the course of time. This all depends on many variables. Things like potential and kinetic energy effect this motion, it depends on how fast the object is going and how high up it is. There is the weight of the car that come into effect. There is the total time the distance traveled and gravity. And if you want to get REALLY technical there is even wind speed and altitude. I personally think the whole thing is awesome.
Reflection
I worked my tail off in this project! We spent countless hours in and after school. We even came on a weekend. We drew a number of drafts throughout the project. We continued to push through many set-backs and due dates. I worked really hard on this project. I tried my hardest and I think I deserve the good grade I recieved.
My background design, but it is missing a piece
There was a page folded in half in the center. So you can flip the paper to see the calculations and see if she survived.