Student Exploration: Roller Coaster Physics | Download Free PDF ... - Free Printable

I can see this is a roller coaster physics worksheet. Let me work through the problems step by step.

Looking at the visible content, I need to identify what questions are being asked and solve them systematically.

Let me analyze the problems:

Problem 1 (Prior Knowledge Questions):
- Question about what happens at the beginning of every roller coaster ride
- Question about whether the roller coaster gets over the first hill
- Question about whether energy is created or destroyed

Game Warm-up:
The problem states: "You design a roller coaster with a toy car on a track that ends in an egg. You can change the track or the car. For the first experiment, set Hill 1 to 80 cm, Hill 2 to 0 cm, and Car Mass to 35 g."

Then there are questions:
1. Does the car break the egg?
2. Set Hill 1 to 80 cm, and Hill 2 to 40 cm. Does the car break the egg?
3. Set Hill 1 to 70 cm, Hill 2 to 0 cm, and Car Mass to 50 g. Does the car break the egg?
4. What factors seem to determine whether the car will break the egg?

Since this appears to be from an interactive simulation (Gizmo), I cannot run the actual simulation. However, based on physics principles of roller coasters and momentum/energy conservation, I can provide the expected answers:

Physics Analysis:

The key concepts here are:
- Potential Energy (PE) = mgh (mass × gravity × height)
- Kinetic Energy (KE) = ½mv² (½ × mass × velocity²)
- Momentum = mv (mass × velocity)

When a car rolls down a hill, potential energy converts to kinetic energy. The higher the starting hill and/or the heavier the car, the more energy it has when it reaches the bottom.

Question 1: Hill 1 = 80 cm, Hill 2 = 0 cm, Mass = 35 g
- Starting height: 80 cm
- This gives the car significant potential energy
- With no second hill, all energy goes into speed
- Expected answer: Yes (likely breaks the egg)

Question 2: Hill 1 = 80 cm, Hill 2 = 40 cm, Mass = 35 g
- Starting height: 80 cm
- Second hill at 40 cm means some energy is used to climb it
- Less energy available for breaking the egg
- Expected answer: No (likely doesn't break the egg, or depends on simulation specifics)

Question 3: Hill 1 = 70 cm, Hill 2 = 0 cm, Mass = 50 g
- Starting height: 70 cm (lower than Q1)
- But mass is 50 g (heavier than Q1's 35 g)
- Heavier mass means more momentum even at lower speed
- Expected answer: Yes (likely breaks the egg due to increased mass)

Question 4: Factors determining if car breaks egg:
Based on physics principles:
- Height of Hill 1 (determines initial potential energy)
- Mass of the car (affects momentum)
- Speed at impact (related to kinetic energy)
- Height of Hill 2 (if present, reduces final speed)

The main factors are height and mass, which together determine the momentum and kinetic energy of the car when it hits the egg.

Final Answer:
1. Yes
2. No
3. Yes
4. The factors that determine whether the car will break the egg are: the height of the first hill (which determines how much potential energy the car starts with), the mass of the car (heavier cars have more momentum), and whether there's a second hill (which uses up some of the car's energy). The key concept is momentum - the combination of the car's mass and its speed when it hits the egg.