What is it?

The science of tubing is a 3-hour learning program, at the Tubing area at Buck Hill.  An ideal laboratory that allows your students not only to witness the laws of physics in operation but also experience them first hand.  Your students are given the opportunity to collect and analyze their own raw data.  You may want your students to quantify their results or you may have them simply describe what they have experienced with your guidance. To quantify their experiences, only simple equipment is needed. All of this equipment will be furnished by Buck Hill. Using this equipment to gather the necessary data will allow calculations of the following: Average speed, acceleration, the force of friction, coefficient of friction, potential energy, kinetic energy, work, and power enabling the student to:

1. Calculate average velocity while descending the hill.
2. Apply the principles of conservation of energy to determine the speed and acceleration of an object while traveling down the hill.
3. Calculate the coefficient of friction.
4. Calculate the work done.
5. Use right triangle trigonometry to calculate the height of the hill.
6. Apply Newton’s Laws of motion to explain the effect of forces on passengers.
7. Calculate the effect of friction bringing the tube to rest at the bottom of the hill.
8. Calculate the potential and kinetic energies.
9. Calculate the work needed to pull a tuber up the hill.