Roller Coasters

1. Roller Coasters By Austin Brunhoeber

2. Early History • Most historians agree the origin of the roller coaster started in the 17th century with Russian ice slides • Some historians say wheels were put on the coaster in 1784 by the Russians and others say by the French • In 1817, the first coasters were built that had cars locked to the track: in France • In 1846, in France, the first looping coaster was tested and was a success • After this, coasters got bigger and faster: to what we now thing as a roller coaster

3. American History • In 1872 the 1st American roller coaster was made on a mountain by a railroad company: the coaster was put on tracks that was used to bring coal down the mountain • La Marcus Adna Thompson, considered the father of the American roller coaster, opened his coaster at Coney Island in 1884 • Later in 1884 Charles Alcoke created a coaster that was a complete circuit • In 1885 Phillip Hinkle developed the concept for the lift hill

4. Roller Coasters vs. other rides • Roller coasters are one of the most exhilarating rides in a theme park. • Other rides let you feel gravity from different directions • Roller coasters can make you feel like gravity is gone, turned upside down, or greater than it actually is.

5. Roller Coaster’s Acceleration • When a roller coaster accelerates you feel a force in the opposite direction and when it decelerates you feel a force going forwards. • A roller coaster can also accelerate downwards. When this happens the force you feel is upwards which opposes gravity. If the acceleration is fast enough you can feel weightless. • Weightlessness occurs when you are accelerating downwards at 9.8 m/s2.

6. Acceleration Cont. • Since a roller coaster is attached to the track, it can accelerate downward faster than a free falling object. • When this happens you feel like gravity is backwards and is pulling you up instead of down.

7. Single Car: First Hill • Weight, fictitious force, and apparent weight change as the car of a roller coaster moves along the track. • At the top of the first hill the car is basically stationary. The weight and the apparent weight are the same. • When the car begins to go down the hill the fictitious force feels like it is going in the direction you just came from. Your apparent weight feels small and pushing into the track. This is one point when you feel weightless or close to it.

8. Single Car: Loop-The-Loop • At the bottom of the loop-the-loop the fictitious force and weight are going down into the track and feel greater than normal. • On the side of the loop the fictitious force is pushing up and out. Your apparent weight is greater than your actual weight and is pushing out. • At the top of the loop the fictitious force is pushing up and out. Your apparent weight is also going up. • Many roller coaster are made so there is enough acceleration to keep you in your seat without seatbelts on the loops. However, these coasters have seatbelts to make the people and insurance companies feel more secure.

9. Coaster with multiple cars • Fictitious force and weight are basically the same for multiple cars as they are for single cars. • Main Exception: on the first hill the back car does not act like the first car. • This is true because when the first car goes down the hill the back car is being pulled by the first car. So, where the first car was stationary the back car is moving and gathering speed. • Another difference between the first and back car is the experience you get from the ride. The first car has the best views but the back car has the best fictitious forces.

10. References • Bloomfield, Louis A. How Things Work: The Physics of Everyday Life. “Roller Coasters.” Ed. John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001. • Sandy, Adam. http://www.ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/history/. 1996-2002.