Plan the investigation
What students will do
Use the student handout to organize predictions, measurements, and explanations.
- Track the energy. Measure speed, height, kinetic energy, and gravitational potential energy at the bottom and top of a successful run.
- Compare starting speeds. Keep the release point fixed and find a speed that completes the loop and one that fails.
- Predict the top speed. Use measured center heights and energy conservation to calculate speed at the top, then compare it with the run.
- Explain contact. Draw the top force diagram and inspect normal force. Test a new speed to narrow the successful-run threshold.
What students will learn
- Use energy conservation to connect speeds and heights.
- Distinguish reaching the top from maintaining track contact.
- Combine a force diagram with observed success and failure.
Common misconception
Is reaching the top with zero speed enough?
Track contact also requires a physically possible inward force balance.