A cutaway engine cylinder shows the piston, valves and spark through the four strokes of the cycle. Students change engine speed and spark advance and watch the stroke, cycle angle, cylinder pressure and valve states update.
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Marble Maze
About this simulation
This simulation shows how a ball accelerates on a slope. Students tilt an 11 by 11 cell maze by dragging or using arrow keys, and the ball speeds up along the incline, bounces off walls with some energy loss and slows with rolling friction. Readouts show time, best time, falls and current tilt. Sliders change rolling friction and maximum tilt, and a toggle switches drag between tilting the board and orbiting the view. Teachers can connect it to acceleration on inclines and to fine motor control.
What students can explore
- Drag gently to tilt the board and roll the ball toward the green hole, avoiding black holes.
- Watch the Tilt readout and notice that a bigger tilt makes the ball speed up faster.
- Raise Rolling friction and see how the ball stops sooner on a level board.
- Switch off Drag tilts the board and use arrow keys while orbiting the view with the mouse.
- Lower Max tilt to 8 degrees, then try to beat your Best time.
Learning objectives
- 1Describe how tilt angle affects a ball's acceleration.
- 2Explain why a ball slows down on a level surface.
- 3Relate wall bounces to energy being lost.
- 4Use time and fall counts to refine a control strategy.
Questions teachers ask
Is the Marble Maze simulation free to use?
Yes. It is free, needs no sign-up, and works in any modern browser on whiteboards, tablets, phones and computers.
Why does the ball speed up when I tilt the board?
On a slope, gravity pulls the ball along the incline with acceleration g times sin of the tilt angle. A steeper tilt gives a larger acceleration, so the ball gains speed faster.
How do I control the board?
Drag anywhere on the scene to tilt it, or use the arrow keys. If you want to rotate the camera instead, switch off the Drag tilts the board toggle.
Why does the ball bounce back slower?
Walls take some of the ball's energy on each hit, so it rebounds with less speed. Here the bounce keeps about a third of the impact speed.
Embed this simulation
Drop it into your LMS, blog, or class site — free.
<iframe src="https://kiwibee.io/en/simulations/marble-maze-tilt-3d-simulation/embed" title="Marble Maze | KiwiBee" loading="lazy" allowfullscreen style="width:100%;height:min(70vh,620px);min-height:420px;border:0;border-radius:16px"></iframe>Continue exploring
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