Marble runs make fun toys and engaging science museum activities, but they can also be made from scratch with simple materials. In the video above, mechanical engineer Dr. Shini Somara sets up an engineering challenge: Make a run that takes 60 seconds from start to finish—no more, no less. Use paper, cardboard, or any other materials you have around, as long as the marble takes exactly one minute to complete the track.
How can this be done? Somara talks with Dyson engineers about three tracks equipped with different materials, ramp angles, and components that can affect marble speeds.
“To race marbles,” Somara explains, “you need some kind of slide or run like a water chute or a waterslide.”
“All these slides and runs use gravity while trying to keep friction to a minimum. Friction is a force between two surfaces that causes a moving object to slow down, like a brake on a bicycle. The amount of friction changes depending on the materials from which the two surfaces are made.”
And that friction can also strategically s l o w your marble to meet the 60 second run goal. Notice the ramp shapes, shallow angles, sand paper, tube textures, and funnels that can help control the marble’s speed.
This video is one in a 2016 engineering challenge series from The James Dyson Foundation. Find 44 classic engineering and science activities for at home or in the classroom in this handy Challenge Cards pdf.
Watch more engineering videos and projects, including:
• Andrew Gatt’s Ultimate Paper Roller Coaster
• Red Ball Adventure, a chain reaction marble track on a pegboard wall
• Pythagora Equipment Academy: Rube Goldberg mini-mechanism tutorials
• How to make a steel track marble run, a step-by-step guide
• The Blue Marble, an uninterrupted catapult-filled magnet marble run
• Which marble will win the Longest Sand Marble Run Ever?
Plus: Find more activities and more from Shini Somara in the archives.
Curated, kid-friendly, independently-published. Support this mission by becoming a sustaining member today.