Roller Coasters Essay

Have you ever ridden a roller coaster and felt the weird feeling in your stomach when the cart goes downhill very quickly? The physics of roller coasters are the reason for this. Roller Coasters have gone through many different designs and built different ways in the past. Engineers working on these coasters have to consider the many ways gravity and acceleration affect the riders and the coaster. This author recently has experienced this very process of creating a roller coaster, and had an interesting experience. Throughout the history of roller coasters the many designs have evolved. Roller coasters had long seep wooden slides with ice back in the 16h century Russia. These wooden slides could be as high as 70 feet. The French started building waxed slides and added wheels to the sleds to their versions of roller coasters. “In 1817, the Russes a Belleville became the first roller coaster that the train was connected to the track.”,(Thomas Harris, How Roller Coasters Work.) The French used the concept of the Russes a Belleville coaster and came up with more track layouts, with multiple cars and complexity.The first American roller coaster was the scenic ride called “Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway”, it was
The initial ascent is what builds up the coasters potential energy. That potential energy is then turned into kinetic energy as it goes downhill. Gravity is also pulling down on the cart as the energy changes.The acceleration of the coaster is what makes the ride fun. The roller coaster fluctuates from acceleration to deceleration with each hill, twist or loop. Air time is experienced when on roller coasters due to our body parts accelerating at different times. When on a “loop-the-loop” “...your inertia not only produces an exciting acce­leration force, but it also keeps you in the seat when you're upside down.”,(Thomas Harris, How Roller Coasters