All roller coasters are constructed uniquely but as a whole roller coasters consist of turns, loops, and going fast. All roller coasters are active by the means of gravity, potential energy, kinetic energy, friction, and speed. To our surprise, roller coasters do not typically use engines. If they do, the motor is only used going up the hill and the rest of the ride is motor less. The roller coaster gets energy while it is going up the hills. The roller coaster has the most potential energy when it is located at the first peak which is the highest peak.
The fundamental theory of roller coasters has to do with the law of conservation of energy. The initial peak has to be the highest hill in order to collect sufficient energy …show more content…
The kinetic energy created on the roller coaster can be mathematically expressed as KE=1/2mv2 with v being a variable that represents the roller coasters speed. If there is not any friction lost the energy is preserved. Thus, the gravitational potential energy (W) is equivalent to the kinetic energy. This is mathematically expressed as W=KE.
With this being said the mass of the roller coaster, the acceleration due to gravity, and the height is equal to 1/2 mv2. The mass is canceled out because mass is being divided on both equations and you are left with the speed of the roller coaster v equal to the square root of 2gh. As a whole, the equation is expressed as =√2gh in math. These calculations are convenient due to the fact that we can now know the estimate of the roller coasters speed all with knowing just the vertical falling height of the roller …show more content…
Reason being, the roller coaster has to be built accordingly and specifically so the roller coaster can actually work in the loops twists and turns throughout the ride. In addition we need to be able to calculate the acceleration such as the centripetal acceleration to keep the riders safe and not fly out of the ride. There needs to be a certain and specific amount of everything so that everything can go as planned.
In addition, throughout the ride there is are conversions between potential energy and kinetic energy when the roller coaster encounters hills. The hills need to be calculated a specific height in order for the roller coaster to have enough energy to complete the whole journey of the ride.
To conclude physics plays a huge part behind the scenes of all the roller coaster fun! Generally speaking the fun consists of a combination of gravity and potential energy transformed into kinetic energy. The speed is used to make centripetal acceleration around the track in different parts. The roller coaster must have collected enough energy from each previous hill in order to use the energy to gain enough speed to at least go over the upcoming hill or