The Physics of HotWheels

We set up the HotWheels track a few days ago for a fun activity on these cold days. After moving one of the loops onto the stairs (and taping it securely), I figured out that the cars had too much speed going into loop 1, where the cars would just bounce out, and shortened the starting track. Today, Joe wanted a longer track, so I added the rest of what we had to the end.

Zivah loves the track, and Joe gets frustrated as she tends to hog the cars. If I'm not around to recollect the cars and carry them back up the 'hill,' it doesn't keep their attention long. But, admittedly, if the kids weren't around and I had no other obligations, I could spend hours running cars down the track.