Physics and Astronomy Night At Elitch Gardens This curriculum book is developed by: DEPARTMENT OF PHYSICS AND ASTRONOMY Accelerate into your future in science! Begin now - www.du.edu/physastron INTRODUCTION Welcome to Physics and Astronomy Night at Elitch Gardens! The park will be open to physics/physical science students and their teachers from 10 a.m. to 8:00 p.m with activity booths starting around 4 p.m. In this booklet, we provide a variety of materials for teachers and students to take advantage of some of the many educational opportunities at Elitch Gardens. Feel free to duplicate any of these materials. Please do not distribute information in Section 5. It contains ride specifications—these often contain the actual values that students are asked to estimate or calculate. We have tried to provide materials that will give maximum flexibility for in use in the classroom. 1. Suggestions for Making Measurements. In this section are some ideas on measuring time, distance, angles, and accelerations related to various rides, as well as some suggestions for equipment that can be built in the classroom and brought to Physics Night. NOTE!!! Accelerometers will not be allowed on any ride on which the rider is inverted. e.g. Mind Eraser, Sidewinder, Boomerang. 2. Estimation Problems –Fermi Questions. This section invites students to make order of magnitude estimations concerning quantities at the park. Students will need to make some assumptions about quantities (e.g., number of hot dogs consumed per person) to determine the magnitude of some of the quantities. Answers are not provided, but the quality of the assumptions made and the consideration of influencing factors should be reflected in the teacher-based grading. 3. Ride-related activities. The activities for each ride are divided into three parts. Part 1 – These questions generally do not require any calculations or estimations. The questions ask for information about sensations and other observables. These questions should be appropriate for all students regardless of physics background. Part 2 – These questions generally require the students to make estimates or timings. For estimates, students are asked to describe their method. The calculations generally involve substituting into provided equations. This section would be most appropriate for physical science students or students in a physics course that does not emphasize mathematics. Part 3 – These questions generally provides minimal guidance for calculating quantities. It relies on a student’s understanding of physics relationships and vectors including trigonometric relationships. This section would be most appropriate for physics students. Data for Parts 1 and 2 need to be collected during Physics Night; however, the calculations and descriptions could be completed later at school. Part 3 information often relies on data 1 Introduction from Part 2 and often requires that some measurements using accelerometers or protractors be made at the park. Much of the analysis of the data could be done at a later time. 4. Physiology of Amusement Park Rides. Questions on this page invite students to be thoughtful about a variety of physiological responses to typical rides. 5. Specifications for Elitch Gardens Rides - Data for several rides at Elitch Gardens are presented in this section. These data are provided to assist teachers in designing studies for their students, including the use of the activities materials provided in this booklet. Because some of these data may be relevant to Physics Night Challenges, we request that teachers do not give these data sheets to students. Many teachers who use these materials have their students work in teams to gather data and complete the activity sheets. No student should be forced to participate in any ride. Most activities can be completed without actually riding the ride. Estimates and measurements can be made from the ground. Safety is a concern of Elitch Gardens and should be for your students as well. This booklet is the result of significant work done by Steven Iona at the University of Denver, Department of Physics and Astronomy 2112 E. Wesley Ave. Denver, CO 80208. It built on earlier drafts done by Rob Davies and activities drawn from similar manuals used at Kennywood, Wyandot Lake and Riverside theme parks. Gretchen Swanson, Columbine High School, Albert Thompson, Ponderosa High School, and Herschel Neumann, University of Denver provided editorial review. The entire Physics and Astronomy Night program including this booklet is a work in progress. Your comments and suggestions can improve the program. Please send your remarks to: Kendra O'Brien 303.572.4517 [email protected] Special Events Elitch Gardens Theme Park & Water Park 299 Walnut Street Denver, CO Tickets can be purchased online at ElitchGardens.com Contents Suggestions for Making Measurements Estimation Problems - Fermi Questions The Mind Eraser Tower of Doom Big Wheel Troika Carousel The Sea Dragon The Sidewinder The Dragon Wing Physiology of Amusement Park Rides Ride Specifications (Please do not distribute this information to the students.) Further Curriculum Resources 4 Suggestions For Making Measurements Time The times that are required in the amusement park problems can easily be measured using a watch with a sweep second hand or a digital watch having a stopwatch function. When measuring the period of a ride like the Tilt-a-Whirl, measure the time for several repetitions of the motion. This will give you a better estimate of the period of the motion than just measuring one repetition. When measuring a single event on a ride (for example the time required for the Boomerang Coast-to-Coaster to complete one loop), measure the time for several trains and average them. Distance Since you cannot interfere with the normal operation of the rides, you will not be able to directly measure heights, diameters, etc. All but a few of the distances needed in the following problems will have to be measured remotely. Following are a few suggestions on how to obtain reasonable estimates of needed distances. Pacing – Determine the length of your stride by walking at your normal rate over a measured distance, for example, the length of the football field at school. Count the number of steps you take to cover this distance. Knowing the distance and the number of steps taken, the average distance covered per step can be determined. Knowing you distance per step, horizontal distances can be paced off and estimated. This technique can be used, for example, to determine the diameter of the Big Wheel. Ride structure – Distance estimated can be made by noting regularities in the structure of d d the ride. For example, the track on the Twister II has regularly spaced cross-members as shown in Figure A. The distance d can be estimated and by counting the number of cross-members, distance along the track can be determined. Such an estimate of the distance between the supporting members can Figure A aid in determining vertical and horizontal distances, which can also be used to determine the angle of inclines. In the past, some students have taken photographs of a structure and knowing one distance in the photograph, used scaling techniques to determine other distances along the ride. Soda Straw Triangulation – For measuring heights by triangulation, a device such as that shown in Figure B can be constructed. As will be discussed later, this gadget also can be used as an accelerometer. The way this gadget is used is shown in Figure C. String Protractor Suppose the height h of the Total Tower Weight Figure B 2 must be determined. First the distance L is estimated by pacing it h off or by some other suitable methods. Sight through the soda L straw at the top of the tower and read the angle from the protractor. Then since Figure C tan h L h is given by h L � (tan ) A similar device can be used to measure horizontal moveable pin distances that cannot be easily paced off. Using a d piece of cardboard (a shoebox top works well) and three straight pins, the triangulator shown in Figure c D can be made. Suppose the distance d is to be measured. Pace off or estimate the baseline L shown a b in Figure E. Sight along fixed pins a and b toward fixed pins one end of the distance d. While the triangulator is in this position, line up the moveable pin c so that your line of sight from pin a to c extends to the other Figure D end of the unknown distance d. Figure E shows that triangles aop and abc are similar. Thus, c p d bc a• or b d L ab • o d �� �� L • ł L � bc � � Ł ab Figure E If it is difficult to measure or estimate the length of the base line, L, (in Figure C or Figure E) because it is impossible to get h close to the structure, the following technique can be used. Suppose the height 1 2 h in Figure F is to be determined. Standing back at some distance from the object, Kno , measure the angle 1. Walk directly toward 2 wing the object a distance D and measure angle . 1, 2 a nd D, the height h D Figure F 3 can be calculated using the expression sin 1 � sin 2 h =Œ œ� D sin(2 1 ) Speed The average speed of an object is given by d v ave t where d is the distance traveled in time t. This is pretty straight forward since d and t can be measured as discussed above. However, there are two basic types of speed computations. First there are problems in which the speed is fairly constant, and second, those in which the speed is changing.