Create a Safe Bungee Cord for Washy!
Students learn about the role engineers and mathematicians play in developing the perfect bungee cord length by simulating and experimenting with bungee jumping using washers and rubber bands. Working as if they are engineers for a (hypothetical) amusement park, students are challenged to develop a show-stopping bungee jumping ride that is safe. To do this, they must find the maximum length of the bungee cord that permits jumpers (such as brave Washy!) to get as close to the ground as possible without going "splat"! This requires them to learn about force and displacement and run an experiment. Student teams collect and plot displacement data and calculate the slope, linear equation of the line of best fit and spring constant using Hooke's law. Students make hypotheses, interpret scatter plots looking for correlations, and consider possible sources of error. An activity worksheet, pre/post quizzes and a PowerPoint® presentation are included.
The bungee experiment in progress.Copyright 2015 Marc Frank, Polytechnic Institute of NYU
Engineers are involved in the planning and design of large and complex construction projects such as airports, tunnels, bridges, skyscrapers and amusement parks, and must effectively interact with and articulate their ideas and designs to other engineers. When designing a bungee cord ride, engineers must have a full understanding of the forces and materials as well as the concepts of overextension and tension in order to create designs that guarantee jumper safety. In this activity, students play the role of engineers as they design and test simulated bungee cords. Like engineers who put their math skills to work in their designs, students use linear equations when making plans for bungee cord use.
After this activity, students should be able to:
- Utilize collected data to construct scatter plots and find lines of best fit.
- Calculate the slope of a line, linear equation and spring constant (using Hooke's law).
- Measure displacement.