written by Gary D. White and Jacob Maibach

In this project, students design and machine a "fancy roller" with predictable properties. This is an axle with two wheels and a non-constant profile, made from PVC, aluminum and steel. In subsequent sessions the students develop ways to measure the "time of flight" for their rollers to make it down an inclined plane, and use their experimental results to determine the moment of inertia of their roller. Experimental results are compared to the appropriate theoretical computation.

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Last Modified July 19, 2019