A roller coaster is a machine that uses gravity and inertia to send a train of cars along a winding track. The combination of gravity and inertia, along with g-forces and centripetal acceleration give the body certain sensations as the coaster moves up, down, and around the track.
We can build a roller coaster using Tinkercad to design the blue print then we can use straws
PHASE 1
Using Tinkercad
PHASE 2
Using the straws
Tools
- Scissors
- Rulers
- Pencils
Materials
- Paper or plastic straws
- Hot Glue gun + Glue Stick
- A bouncy ball ( marble or ping pong ball)
- 12* 12 inc piece of cardboard
Procedures
The coaster is made up of 3 structures:
1-The legs of the coasters (usually they have a H shape and everything is built on them)
2-The roller coaster tracks : They lay along on the top of the legs. This is where the marble will run
3-The corner bumbers : They are pieces of tracks glued vertically onto the corner tracks to keep the marble from flying off the tracks at turns.
Use the TinkerCad design to build the straw roller coaster
Building the legs
1-Take measurements for the legs. You will need two legs and a middle brace for two different set of legs
2-Glue the tallest set of legs down
3-Glue the second set of legs down
Building the tracks
1-Glue the first piece of tracks to the top of the braces by applying some hot glue to the top end of the leg braces and press the tracks into place. Hold the structure in place till everything is cooled .
2-Place the second piece of tracks very close to the first one and repeat step 1
Test
With the two pieces of tracks on place, let’s test the roller coaster bu using the marble
Keep on building and testing
You can keep on adding new tracks and test with the marble