Roller Coasters Research Paper
Roller Coasters
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 …show more content…
This idea was quickly shut down by wary government officials who stopped its introduction after one accident. The next significant attempt at a looping roller coaster did not come along until 1895. This is when Lina Beecher designed the Flip Flap. However, The Flip Flap had a very terrible flaw, its 25-foot vertical loop amounted to a nearly perfect circle, and the tight curve coming in and out of the loop exerted high G-forces-enough to break riders' necks. The Flip Flap was soon shut down. However, roller coaster loops in the early 20th century lived to see another day. In 1901, Edmund Prescott designed a vertical loop with an elliptical curve, allowing a great reduction in G-forces at the bottom of the loop. The first roller coaster to introduce the elliptical curve design was Prescott's Loop the Loop roller coaster on Coney Island. In 1975, Arrow Dynamics designed and built one of the most important roller coasters in history: The Corkscrew. The Corkscrew opened at Knott's Berry Farm and became the first modern-era roller coaster (since the early looping coasters of the 19th and early-20th century) to turn its riders upside down. The Corkscrew featured two corkscrew loops and operated for
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 …show more content…
This idea was quickly shut down by wary government officials who stopped its introduction after one accident. The next significant attempt at a looping roller coaster did not come along until 1895. This is when Lina Beecher designed the Flip Flap. However, The Flip Flap had a very terrible flaw, its 25-foot vertical loop amounted to a nearly perfect circle, and the tight curve coming in and out of the loop exerted high G-forces-enough to break riders' necks. The Flip Flap was soon shut down. However, roller coaster loops in the early 20th century lived to see another day. In 1901, Edmund Prescott designed a vertical loop with an elliptical curve, allowing a great reduction in G-forces at the bottom of the loop. The first roller coaster to introduce the elliptical curve design was Prescott's Loop the Loop roller coaster on Coney Island. In 1975, Arrow Dynamics designed and built one of the most important roller coasters in history: The Corkscrew. The Corkscrew opened at Knott's Berry Farm and became the first modern-era roller coaster (since the early looping coasters of the 19th and early-20th century) to turn its riders upside down. The Corkscrew featured two corkscrew loops and operated for