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Marble Rush^® Launchpad Set^™ Force Challenge

This Marble Rush^® challenge explores the concept of force and how it creates motion. The launcher cannon and pedal kicker are exciting components that make exploring this concept a great STEM investigation.

Learn About Force

Force is a word to describe the push or pull on an object. Force can make an object speed up, slow down, or stay in place. When force moves an object away from something, that is a push. When force brings an object closer, that is a pull. When the cannon plunger is pushed by hand, the force of that action pushes the marble out of the cannon.

What’s Needed:

Marble Rush^® Launchpad Set^™
Marbles

See Force in Action

Force Challenge!

Complete the construction set as illustrated, then drop a marble down the clear funnel to begin.
When the marble gets to the pedal kicker, note how much force it takes to shoot across the gap.
Press down on the plunger to shoot the marble out of the cannon. Try again to figure out the appropriate force to reach the catcher at the top.

Using Force

Exploration 1: Mind the Gap

Explore different ways to adjust the track to change the size of the gap between the pedal kicker and orange ring ramp. Apply different amounts of force to the kicker to see if the marble can reach the other side of the differently sized gaps.

Does it take a stronger or weaker force to launch the marble across wider gaps?
What is the widest gap that the marble could successfully make?

Adjust the track and amount of force used on the pedal kicker.

Exploration 2: Cannon Partners

The cannon launcher shoots a marble directly upward to the inverted catcher. Explore different ways of constructing the track to change the height of this catcher. Apply different amounts of force to see if the marble successfully launches into the target.