Cycloidal Ramps

This new design is three experiments in one, all exploiting the unique properties of the cycloid. Each ramp is a carefully machined cycloidal curve with a full-length groove, serving as a track for a descending ball. The placement of the supporting feet allows the ramps to be positioned very closely together to aid in simultaneous ball release. In their tautochrone configuration, the ramps demonstrate that two balls released simultaneously from different points on their respective cycloids will reach the end of those ramps at precisely the same moment. Their arrival is signaled by the chime at the end of the ramps. When separated and placed so that the balls' paths will intersect, the tautochrone property turns the ramps into excellent colliders. The screened position markers on the ramps allow for repeatable experiments varying the gravitational potential energy contained in each ball. Vary the collision angle and ball mass to fully explore vector diagrams on the included carbon paper. In their brachistochrone configuration, the ramps demonstrate that the shortest path for an object traveling in a gravitational field between two points separated in both the X and Y axes is not a straight line -- it is in fact the cycloidal curve. Included: (2) ramps with feet (2) 19mm steel balls (2) 11mm steel balls chime carbon paper