Marble Run

22/5/13

We were tasked to design and build a pathway for a marble from te top left hand corner to the bottom right hand corner on a sloping board. The team who makes the marble's journey last as long as possible wins! :)

Our Final Design!

Final Result: 11 seconds

Reflections

I think that our timing could have been better if we had build our pathway longer, like how other groups did. As our pathway was much shorter than the other groups, there was a difference in timing. However, i believe that our speed was most probably similar to other groups. 

Speed = Distance/ Time

To increase time = increase distance

decrease time = increase friction and/or decrease gradient of slope

The most difficult part of this Challenge was making sure the ball stayed on track and is in constant motion. I really liked how our product turned out overall as our ball successfully cleared the course! :)

Application to The Real World

Three types of guiding structure:

- Mountain Road

-River flow ( concave and convex banks)

- Marathon. ( where the runners follow the sign board to run)

Kinds of kinetic energy:      

- Rotational Kinetic energy ( e.g. like how the Earth Rotates! :)