Marble Loop The Loop Physics

First we need to find the minimum speed required at the top of the loop.

Marble loop the loop physics.

Loop the loop with a little physics. The loop is tricky. You ll build a roller coaster track for marbles using foam pipe insulation and masking tape and see how much of an initial drop is required to get the marble to loop the loop. It takes extra energy for the marble to stay on the track so it has to slow down when it goes through the loop.

On the other hand you need to take account of the energy of the sphere rolling which is stated explicitly. Abstract this is a really fun project even if you don t like going on roller coasters yourself. First the center of the marble doesn t move from 0 to 2r it moves from r to 2r r so the potential energy due to this is smaller than mg 2r which is what you had in your expression. We are going to find the minimum speed you require to complete the loop we ll do this via an energy argument.

I solve the loop the loop first year undergraduate and ap physics problems. When the marble finally gets to the floor it has all kinetic energy and no potential energy. But we have to get a few other things taken care of. First we need to know the minimum speed at the top of the loop for the mass to remain on the track.

When you let go of the marble its potential energy is converted into kinetic energy the energy of motion. What is the minimum height that a mass can be released from rest and still make it around the loop without falling off. For ease we ll ignore friction. Your expression for the velocity looks right.