SOLUTION: Roller Coaster Physics Gismos Worksheet - Studypool - Free Printable

Let’s go step by step through the Gizmo Warm-up questions to make sure we understand what’s happening and why.

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Question 1:
> Press Play to roll the 35-gram toy car down the track. Does the car break the egg?

We’re told in the setup that Hill 1 = 70 cm, Hill 2 = 0 cm, Hill 3 = 0 cm, and the car is 35 grams.

When you press Play with these settings, the car rolls down from 70 cm. The graph shown (in the image) says at the bottom of Hill 1, speed = 257.2 cm/s and time = 0.44 s — but more importantly, the student wrote “no” as the answer, meaning the egg did NOT break.

That makes sense: a lighter car (35g) from a moderate height (70cm) may not have enough energy or momentum to break the egg.

✔ So, Answer for Q1: no

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Question 2:
> Click Reset. Set Hill 1 to 80 cm, and click Play. Does the car break the egg?

Now we’re increasing the height of the first hill to 80 cm — same 35g car.

Higher hill → more gravitational potential energy → converts to more kinetic energy → faster speed at bottom → more impact force on the egg.

The student answered “yes”, which means now the egg breaks.

This shows that even with the same mass, increasing height can give the car enough energy to break the egg.

✔ So, Answer for Q2: yes

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Question 3:
> Click Reset. Lower Hill 1 back to 70 cm and select the 50-gram toy car. Click Play. Does the 50-gram car break the egg?

Same height as Question 1 (70 cm), but now heavier car (50g instead of 35g).

Heavier car = more mass → more momentum and more kinetic energy at same speed → harder hit on the egg.

Student answered “yes” — so yes, the heavier car breaks the egg even from the same height.

✔ So, Answer for Q3: yes

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Question 4:
> What factors seem to determine whether the car will break the egg?

From comparing all three experiments:

- In Q1 vs Q2: Same mass (35g), different heights → higher height broke the egg.
- In Q1 vs Q3: Same height (70cm), different masses → heavier mass broke the egg.

So both height of the hill (which affects speed/energy) and mass of the car (which affects momentum and force) matter.

The student wrote:
> “the cm of the hill and the mass of the toy car”

That’s correct! We can phrase it slightly clearer for learning purposes, but the idea is right.

Better phrasing might be:
→ The height of the hill (in cm) and the mass of the car (in grams)

But since the question asks what *seems* to determine it based on the experiment, and the student’s answer matches the observations, it’s acceptable.

✔ Final Answer for Q4: the height of the hill and the mass of the toy car

*(Note: “cm of the hill” is a bit informal — better to say “height of the hill in cm” — but for this level, it’s fine.)*

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Final Answer:
1. no
2. yes
3. yes
4. the height of the hill and the mass of the toy car