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How does a roller coaster continue to move through the twists and turns of a track if it only uses and engine at the very beginning?

As you are approaching the first hill, you build up a lot of potential energy that gets stored in the car.  As you start to go downhill, there is so much potential energy that it converts to kinetic energy, which then lets you soar around the rest of the track.  The first hill is the largest of them all because the car has to build up the most potential energy at that exact point in time.  If the first hill was not the largest, there would not be enough kinetic energy to pull you through the entire ride.  The car would result at rest in the middle of the track, and all of the riders would be bummed out.

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Our Roller Coaster ! (The Loop of Musser)

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Our Roller Coaster ! (The Loop of Musser)

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Height: 206.8 cm

Top track: 165.6 cm

Bottom track 1: 142.5 cm

Bottom track 2: 199.9 cm

Loop height: 26.4 cm

Loop width: 32.3 cm

Length of track: 508 cm

Time: 3.6 seconds

PE: MxHx9.8

PE: (0.0055)(206.8)(9.8)

PE: 11.15 joules

KE: 0.5xMxVxV

KE: (0.5)(0.0055)(19,909.21)

KE: 54.8 joules

S: d/t

S: 508 cm/3.6 sec.

S: 141.1 cm/s

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Kinetic and Potential Energy on Roller Coasters

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Kinetic and Potential Energy on Roller Coasters

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Kinetic and potential energy are the key points for a successful roller coaster.  In fact,  without kinetic and potential energy, all roller coasters would not work!  As you progress up the first hill, a great amount of potential energy is being built and stored.  Once you reach the top of the hill and begin your descent, all of that potential energy that was stored gets converted into kenetic energy, and you race around the tracks.  Both of these forms of energy change a lot throughout the ride, and make riding roller coasters very amusing.

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The history of the roller coaster goes way back to the 15th century in Russian mountains.  These mountains were hills of ice that were designed for people to ride sleds over.  These hills were built approximately sixty to seventy feet tall.  At first, people didn't think to much of the "roller coasters", but overtime, they got quite popular.  In fact, these "roller coasters" were so popular that even some of the very wealthy people in Russia had them built in their backyards.  As roller coasters got more popular, they were built with better materials and better care.  In the 1850's, John Miller created the first ever wooden roller coaster.  This act by Miller got many people from all over the world to travel far and wide, to ride his thrilling coasters.

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Tallest Roller Coaster - Kingda Ka (456 feet)

Roller Coaster with the Largest Drop - Kingda Ka (418 feet)

Longest Roller Coaster - Steel Dragon 2000 (8,133 feet)

Fastest Roller Coaster - Formula Rossa (149.1 mph)

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What is friction? How does friction relate to the roller coasters?

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What is friction? How does friction relate to the roller coasters?

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Friction is a force that opposes motion between two surfaces that are touching.  Friction relates to roller coasters because the less friction, the faster the roller coaster car will go.  Although, friction is required to stop the car when it is coming into the station.

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(Guess who picked out the coaster name!)

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Equations for Potential & Kinetic Energy

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Equations for Potential & Kinetic Energy

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Potential energy is energy that is stored up in an object that is either not in motion, or about to be in motion.  Potential energy determines the height and mass of an object.  Potential energy is at it's greatest when a roller coaster is just about ready to go over a hill.  Potential energy is at it's smallest when the roller coaster is in motion.  Potential energy is measured in joules.

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Kinetic energy is "energy of motion".  The faster the object moves, the more energy is created.  Also, kinetic energy is greatest when a roller coaster is in motion and smallest when it is at a stop.  Two things determine the amount of kinetic energy an object has, mass and velocity.  Kinetic energy is measured in joules.

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A g is a unit of acceleration equal to the acceleration caused by gravity.  Gravity causes free-falling objects on the Earth to change their speeds at rates of about 10 m/s each second.  For example, if a person experiences 2 g's of acceleration, then they change their speed at a rate of 20m/s squared.

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Anything that is in motion has momentum.  Momentum is the amount of motion that an object possess.  If something is moving slowly, than it has less momentum and if something is moving quickly, than it has more momentum.  If an object is not moving at all, than it is at rest and has no momentum.

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Experiencing weightlessness is a very common feeling while on amusement park rides.  Weightlessness is when someone has the feeling that they are lacking an external force that is acting upon their bodies.  Even though the rider has not actually lost weight, they feel this way because of the absence of the seat force.  Weightlessness is only a feeling, and is what makes so many roller coasters so thrilling.

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If you have ever been on a roller coaster that takes you along curves or through circles, then at one point in time, you have experienced centripetal force.  When you are in motion of a loop, centripetal force pushes you inwards toward the center of the loop.  Also while you are in motion of the loop, centrifugal force is in action.  Centrifugal force pushes you up against the seat while you are still in motion.

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When you think of a roller coaster, do you ever wonder what makes then have thrilling turns, speed changes and directional changes?  Well, acceleration is the key.  Acceleration is the rate at which the speed or direction of an object changes.  Roller coasters are usually set apart from all of the other amusement park rides because of there thrilling acceleration.