There are two types of rollercoasters that steal the stage in the adrenaline-rush world. There are the steel roller coasters and the wooden roller coasters, each with their advantages and disadvantages. However, what makes a rollercoaster exciting? Maybe it is the flips and twists of the steel rollercoaster, or the depth defying drops and rattling turns of the wooden rollercoaster. There are three criteria that stand out when choosing either ride: the suspense and drop, the twists, turns, and flips, and the many different cars in which the riders can be seated as. I feel that the steel rollercoaster best fits all of these necessary parts of a good roller coaster ride.…
First, to understand how a rollercoaster works, one must understand what exactly defines a rollercoaster. Generally, they have several drops and valleys, loops and turns, which are all traversed through the manipulation of its kinetic andpotential energy. For example, in most situations a roller coaster car will initially be pulled a large hill. As the suspense for the riders grows, so does the potential energy. Once at the top, the ride’s built up potential energy is turned into kinetic energy by the…
You wait in line for what seems like forever and finally you take your seat. You pull the paddle bars so they fit snug against your shoulders. You reach the top and then comes the big drop. You start screaming or if you're daring you put your hands up and enjoy the ride. I'm of course speaking of roller coasters. Today I'm going to go over the history, the different types of roller coasters, the mechanics, and the most important part, safety of roller coasters.…
A roller coaster train going down hill represents merely a complex case as a body is descending an inclined plane. Newton's first two laws relate force and acceleration, which are key concepts in roller coaster physics. At amusement parks, Newton's laws can be applied to every ride. These rides range from 'The Swings' to The 'Hammer'. Newton was also one of the developers of calculus which is essential to analyzing falling bodies constrained on more complex paths than inclined planes. A roller coaster rider is in an gravitational field except with the Principle of Equivalence.…
The very first roller coaster appeared in Russia, called Russian Ice slides. Russian Ice slides, which first appeared in the 1700's were amusement devices found at fairs all over Russia. A slide consisted of a steep drop made entirely of ice. Occasionally to increase the excitement people added a small series of bumps at the end. While these slides became increasingly popular in Russia, a French businessman, decided to build an Ice Slide in France. However, the French climate was not suited to this and the ice soon melted, leaving what some people have called a "slurpee slide". He then decided to build an all weather version of the ride, using a waxed wooden slope and hills, and a wood sled with rollers on the bottom. Sometime during this…
Many Americans have fears of all kinds. One fear is roller coasters. Individuals who have this type of fear may also have the fear of heights and how high the drop is on a loop or how fast the coaster goes. They have the feeling as if they are going to fall if up too high or how queasy their stomach may feel with the thought of approaching the big loop. This type of behavior can come from something as little as tripping off a curb or falling off a bike which triggers them to be afraid or fearful of anything that is high up. When it comes to individuals with the fear of roller coaster there is something in the mind telling them that they are too high up which…
600 years ago, roller coaster pioneers never would have imagined the advancements that have been made to create the roller coasters of today. The tallest and fastest roller coaster in the world is the Kingda Ka, a coaster in New Jersey that launches its passengers from zero to 128 miles per hour in 3.5 seconds (most sports cars take over four seconds to get to just 60 miles per hour). It then heaves its riders skyward at a 90-degree angle (straight up) until it reaches a height of 456 feet, over one and a half football fields, above the ground, before dropping another 418 feet (Coaster Grotto "Kingda Ka"). With that said, roller coasters are about more than just speed and height, they are…
Firstly the physics behind the rides. The acceleration is what makes rollercoasters so fun and enjoyable and I’ll now explain why they accelerate so quickly. The purpose of the coaster's initial ascent is to build up its potential energy. As the coaster gets higher in the air, gravity can pull it down a greater distance meaning the potential energy increases. You experience this phenomenon all the time; think about riding your bike or pulling your sled to the top of a big hill. The potential energy you build going up the hill can be released as kinetic energy (the movement energy that takes you down the hill).…
At various times, roller coasters, or more specifically the trains of these, undergo acceleration, which is defined as the rate of change in velocity. The change may be in speed (magnitude) or direction, or in both. Roller coasters accelerate when they speed up and make the ride faster, slow down, or change direction. It decelerates as, for example, it ascends as if going up a hill. In this case, acceleration is dependent on its mass and the other forces acting on it. It is the acceleration of roller coasters what makes the ride more thrilling and exciting. When riding in a roller coaster a person may at some point feel weightlessness because they do not feel the chair they are sitting in as the roller coaster and yourself move vertically at 9.8 m/s^2. Therefore, you encounter with Galileo and Newton’s principle of free fall, an object moving under the influence of gravity only. Newton’s laws of motion state that the sum of the forces acting on free-falling objects, gravitation and its inertia, equals to zero. Because these forces add up to zero as gravity cancels out with the object’s inertia, then the rider while riding in an arched…
The roller coaster is so fast. It is a roller coaster that is never seen before. When you see some roller coaster have some loops and small turns, well this is the complete opposite. Consequently, You will experience so much during the ride and what is even better is if you chose to ride in a cart that will go twice around for a little bit more so you do not have to wait in line again to ride it another time. The carts are aerodynamic so that he has less air resistance they will have a higher speed. I personally like roller coasters that are fast so with this being more aerodynamic which will allow it not to slow down while allowing it to not decrease in speed. When you are going down the hill you will always feel weightlessness which is when you lift out of your seat like you're flying. It has an acceleration…
The conversion of potential energy to kinetic energy is what drives the roller coaster, and all of the kinetic energy you need for the ride is there once the coaster goes down the very first hill. Once the coaster gets going, there are different types of wheels that help keep the ride smooth. Roller coasters don’t have engines. But they do have energy. Once all passengers are in the coaster, the carts get released and begin to roll down the first hill. The force of gravity makes them accelerate downwards. As they begin to go downwards, the potential energy turns to kinetic energy.The potential energy is there because of gravity. For example, once the ride gets to the top of a hill… gravity begins to take over and the rest of the ride is an…
My lengthy and troubled past with roller coasters stems from my acrophobia and my preference to keep my two feet solidly on the ground. I could never comprehend how some actually enjoyed being tossed around like rag dolls and having their heart leap into their throat. During the entire duration of my first time on a drop tower ride, I had my eyes shut tight and my mouth clamped shut. Surely…
The main energy transfers that happens as a “car” travels along the track from the start of the ride to the end.…
[4] After the roller coaster is drops from the first hill it does two things with its energy. First, it begins to transform that energy from one form to another--from gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy and from kinetic energy to gravitational potential energy, back and forth. Second, it begins to transfer some of its energy to its environment, mostly in the form of heat and sound. Each time the roller coaster goes downhill, its gravitational potential energy decreases and its kinetic…
At thirteen years old, I was the kid that no one wanted to drag to an amusement park with because I strictly stuck to the merry go round and swings. My parents were always eagerly trying to persuade me to at least try a roller coaster but I refused. Deep inside I wanted to be fearless and be able to jump on the attraction like there was no problem, but I was too nervous. All of my friends, including my family were adrenaline junkies, always wanting to get on the roughest and worst rides of them all. This naturally caused me to become even more frustrated when attending Silver Dollar City in Branson, Missouri, which was very often. It wasn’t till one day when visiting the park that I decided I was not just going to take a risk, but I was determined to overcome my first roller coaster.…