PASCO ME-9812 Roller Coaster - Manual (Page 13)

Roller Coaster Model No. ME-9812
12 ®
SUGGESTED EXPERIMENTS (WITH CONFIGURATIONS)
1. Loop (One Car)
There are two basic configurations for the loop (see Configurations 1a
and 1b): Both begin on the left using the highest track path, but there
are two ways to end the track on the right. One configuration is steep
on one side and shallow on the other to emphasize that the car goes to
the same height on each side (ignoring friction). Note that only one car
can be used when starting on the highest track path because multiple
cars linked together will derail (because the following cars go too fast
over the bend in the track).
Where does the car have to start from rest to just barely make it over
the loop? Note that the car will also make it over the loop when it is
started from the second highest path on the left.
It is also possible to make a non-circular loop (see Configuration 1c).
Does the car have to be released at the same point as in the circular
loop?
Configuration 1a: One Car Loop: Steep/Shallow
Configuration 1b: One Car Loop
Configuration 1c: Oval Loop