Project6–RollerCoaster

The Folded Paper Ramp/Tube Roller Coaster of Ultimate Domination

6 December 2008

Mohammad Salehi

Jay Lockaby

Kyle Elich

Danny Holbert

All members of this group have read and approve this report.

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Abstract

The main goal of this project was to make a roller coaster that lasted 15

seconds and still fit the constraints given to us. The roller coaster that we made had to

fit inside the 0.5 m x 0.5 m x 0.5 m size parameters. Our group started off with

purchasing materials for our project. We bought marbles and BB’s to act as the roller

coaster car but in the end we just decided to use BB’s to go through our roller coaster.

During the building process of our roller coaster, we realized that we had bought

more materials than we actually needed. At first we tried designing the roller coaster

using skinny, plastic tubing to start off with. We found that even when we started the

tubing at the highest height we could, we could not make the roller coaster last long

enough with just tubing. Therefore, we decided that using very slightly angled ramps

in the beginning to make the BB roll slower would be the best option. After the

angled ramps made out of a poster board, the roller coaster was built so that the BB

then rolls straight into the plastic tubing towards the end of the coaster. In this way we

were able to make the coaster last long enough for the requirements of this project.

Overall, we learned to make sure the design of the roller coaster made the length of

the ride last as close to 15 seconds as possible through trying to use several different

designs which we had to troubleshoot in order to get the final product of our design.

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Introduction

The objective of this project was to work together as a team to construct a roller

coaster functioning efficiently enough to sustain the run of an object that lasts

approximately 15 seconds by using principles learned in EF 151. After drawing up the

plans and constructing our roller coaster, we then put our raw data in a presentable form

that allowed us to communicate our findings by making a PowerPoint presentation. By

applying the knowledge we acquired in EF 151, we were able to build an efficient roller

coaster and use forms of communication used by engineers to display our results.

Design Process

The design process for our roller coaster lasted several days and was the most

time intensive portion of the project. We began with the idea of using paper towel rolls

and construction paper to build very slightly angled ramps, but found the structural

integrity to be far too weak. We allowed ourselves to be influenced by our peers and

attempted to design a more complex, wooden structure utilizing PVC pipes and wood

scraps from Estabrook 113. However complex the second design may have been, it still

wasn’t anywhere near the 15 second requirement. It consisted of a wooden frame and

base with PVC pipes suspended from the top. The pipes crossed three times exiting into a

plastic tube which concluded the roller coaster in a final loop. Our final design was a

revision of the previous one, but was far simpler. The base and structure were kept, but

instead of suspended PVC, we placed a poster board backing to the structure and taped

paper ramps to it. The ramps were at extremely slight declines and carried the ball from

one side to the other three times. Plastic tubing was taped to the end of the last ramp to

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catch the ball and send it into a loop. We had reached ground level by this point and still

need several more seconds, so we suspended a ramp from the structure and attached

another pole closer to the center of the base plate.

Device Description

The construction of our roller coaster device began with the purchasing of the

materials to build the roller coaster. The materials used to make our device included scrap

pieces of wood, a roll of tape, glue, poster board and foam boarding, narrow plastic

tubing, nails, BB’s, and string. The plastic tubing cost $3.75, the BB’s were $6.99, the

scrap wood cost about $5.00, the tape cost $2.50, the glue cost $1.99, the poster board

and foam boarding together cost $1.29, the nails cost $2.00, and the string cost about

$1.00. Therefore the total amount spent on the project by our team adds up to $24.52. Our

device was designed to have a BB act as the car on our roller coaster track. The BB starts

out at the highest height it can be at 0.5 m. The first ramp starts out from the middle of

the box, angles down slightly, and continues straight to another slightly angled ramp. The

ramps are supported by a piece of wood nailed to the middle of the baseboard. The ramps

lead the BB towards the side of the project where three ramps made of poster board are

connected to a foam board sticking straight up. When the BB hits the board, it

momentarily stops and drops down onto a ramp, which is perpendicular to the second

ramp. The third ramp is also very slightly angled and at the end of the ramp, the BB hits

the piece of wood and drops onto another ramp which is the same size at the third one

except the opposite direction. There is one more ramp which repeats the same process

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except at the end, the BB rolls straight into the plastic tubing which curves around the

wood sticking up from the center of the base. After that, the tubing drops in order to

make the BB go faster and then goes through a loop in the tubing. The BB exits the

tubing and is stopped by a small paper towel tube.

Results:

Ramps/tube Potential Energy at the

Beginning

(N*m)

Potential Energy After

(N*m)

Change in Potential Energy

(N*m)

Velocity at the end of section

(m/s)

R start 4.6097 4.2359 .37379 .86459

R1 4.2359 4.1113 .12459 .49917

R2 3.7999 3.6753 .12459 .49917

R3 3.30155 3.1769 .12459 .49917

Tube 1 3.17696 0 3.1769 2.5696

Tube loop 0 1.1212 1.1212 2.0881

Tube exit 1.1212 0 2.0557 2.5696

Conclusions

When faced with the objective of developing a functioning roller coaster that lasts

a certain time limit it is easy to be lulled into a sense of complacency. We thought that it

was going to be a piece of cake, and very quickly we learned that it was going to be much

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more difficult than we first thought. Simple tasks like setting up a stable, consistent track

for the BB were very difficult. To put it simply it was very hard to get the plans we had

on paper to translate into a functioning device. In the end however, we were able to

successfully put our plans into motion and construct the roller coaster. If faced with this

challenge again we would definitely spend more time coming up with a blueprint for our

coaster because our biggest problem came from having to rethink everything on the spot

during development.

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Appendices: