Amusement Park Physics by: Cory Dellinger and Jordan Flawd

Ride Safety 1. Designers calculate the forces that will be acting on the rider. They adjust them so that they feel dangerous but are actually safe. This calculations are made with the rider in mind and when they calculate it they expect that the riders are not doing anything foolish. 2. Some people die on roller coasters but they are actually quite safe. 3. Yes riders are safer on a roller coaster then they are riding a bike or playing sports. For every 250 million riders one will die due to complications out of 270 million will receive minor or major injuries. 4. Accidents occur mainly because of people not following some of the rides rules. An example of this is a small child riding a ride that he is to short for or a person who suffers with back pain riding the ride.

Roller Coasters 1. The first real roller coaster was created in 1884 at an amusement park. The roller coaster was a gravity switchback train. In 1912 the first concept for a roller coaster was created by John Miller. Eight years later construction of huge roller coaster began. 2. An example of a roller coaster is matterhorn, it was the first tubular steel coaster. Matterhorn was introduced at Disneyland in Roller coasters go up and down hills because of the conversation of potential and kinetic energy through out the ride. 4. Wooden coasters do not have loops, they also are not as fast. Steel coasters also provide steeper hills, wooden coasters do not.

Acceleration (in g’s) 1. Acceleration is a change is velocity. It is measured in meters per second per second (m/s/s) 2. A g is defined as an objects acceleration relative to freefall. 3. The average ride produces 2-4 g’s of acceleration at any given moment. 4. The human body can withstand 18 G’s of Force 5. Beyond 18 G’s of force, all of the blood on the human body travels to the back of the body and severe trauma begins to occur. The capillaries burst, severe hemorrhaging occurs, contusions occur in the collarbone, and the ribs begin to crack

Circular Motion 1. When in a loop, you don’t fall out of your chair because at the same time you begin to move out of your seat, you are drawn back to the seat by the revolving “centripetal” force. The force that lifts you off the chair in one direction brings you back into the chair in the other direction. 2. The shape of the loop on a roller coaster is a tear shape also known as clothoid shape. This shape is used because the radius is constantly changing which allows the coaster to speed up as it goes up the loop, and slow down as it travels down. 3. On a carousel, all the horses travel around the circle in the same amount of time. However, since the horses on the outside need to cover more space, they travel faster than the horses on the inside. 4. A ride such as the pendulum gives the rider a “weightless feeling” because the force is being directed towards the center of the circle and the rider, when at a 180 degree angle lifts off their chair and feels as if no force is against them. But by traveling in a circle they remain in their chair and spin back down.

Seat Location 1. Depending on how the ride is designed will determine whether sitting in the front or the back will result in a faster ride. 2. The cause of this difference is that to bring the entire coaster over a hill, the ride must slowly bring the entire coaster over while maintaining a constant speed. At a certain point the front is over and acceleration occurs. When this occurs the front of the coaster is slowly beginning to move while the back is jerking forward causing more acceleration in the back. Vice versa when the coaster reaches a hill and the back travels slower than the front. 3. In the front of the car in the beginning you seem to be dangling over the hill until you slowly fall into the ride. When you reach another hill however, you are at the fastest point in the coaster and will feel the most acceleration. 4. When in the back of a roller coaster you experience the most acceleration in the very beginning because while everyone in front of you feels a slow drag over the top of the hill, you feel a sudden jerking motion that throws you into the ride. However, this also means that when you reach another hill, you are the last person to get there and are at the lowest point, which puts you at the slowest acceleration. 5. In the middle of the car you are the point where the coaster reaches its peak and begins to fall down the hill. You feel the beginning of the acceleration at the highest point in the ride which puts you in a position to feel most of the acceleration. Every time you reach a hill and the coaster slows down, it will be at your point that the coaster reaches its peak and accelerates at you.

Works Cited state.edu/voshell/gforce.pdfhttp://csel.eng.ohio- state.edu/voshell/gforce.pdf sics/coaster.htmlhttp:// sics/coaster.html /mmedia/circmot/rcd.htmlhttp:// /mmedia/circmot/rcd.html