Marble Machine
Build a marble run from ramps and loops and watch an energy bar show height turning into speed. Five missions, from a simple slope to a grand finale.
Downhill dash
The marble starts 3 m up. Build a track that sends it across the finish line faster than 5.5 m/s. Which pieces make it fastest?
Energy
- Stored (height) 100%
- Motion 0%
- Lost as heat 0%
Build your track0 of 5 pieces
Pieces join in order from the START flag. Pick one above to begin.
Friction is low in missions, so a little energy is lost as heat on the way.
- Speed now
- –
- Height now
- 3.0m
- Track pieces
- 0
- Tries
- 0
Stored energy ≈ g × height. A rolling marble spins as it moves, so motion energy is 0.7 × speed². All numbers are energy per kilogram, so the marble’s mass doesn’t matter.
The science behind it
Read these after a few missions.
How height turns into speed
Energy never disappears. It just changes form. Watch a marble swap stored height for speed.
Why loops need a high start
Why a roller coaster has to climb so high before it loops the loop, and the 2.7 rule that predicts it.
Build a marble run with pipe insulation
A simple home or classroom marble run, three measurements to take, and questions that connect it to Marble Machine.
Using Marble Machine in class
Mission 1 shows that speed depends on height lost, not on the route. Mission 2 shows that a marble cannot climb higher than its start. Missions 3–4 introduce the loop rule: a rolling marble needs a start about 2.7 times the loop radius above the loop bottom. The energy bar always adds up, so it works well for conservation-of-energy discussions. See the hands-on marble run guide.