Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Roller Coaster
3
Dynamics of Roller Coasters: Laasya Patibandla
History of Roller Coasters
History
The idea of roller coasters was first founded in Russia in the early 18th century. These early roller coasters were made of only wood and were constructed on hills of snow. Later on, the first official wheeled roller coaster was created in 1804 in Paris, France and was named the Promenades Aeriennes. Using this as inspiration, Coney Island’s Switchback Railway roller coaster was created and became the world’s first commercial roller coaster in 1884. The popularity of this led to a roller coaster frenzy resulting in many engineering innovations like the switchback, or circular styled tracks for the coasters. Adding to these innovations, Disneyland opened up in 1955 with roller coasters that were made using tubular steel instead of the traditional wood. Although metal coasters are far more popular now, some people still prefer the wooden ones. Wooden roller coasters provide a bumpier and rougher experience while metal coasters are smoother and have more turns.
Newton's First Law
Structure & Function
Newton’s first law states that an object at rest stays at rest, or an object in motion stays in motion until acted on by unbalanced forces. The roller coaster is at rest in the beginning and then a net force pushes it forward. It doesn’t stop until later on at the end of the ride when the brakes are applied and another force makes them stop. Also, the riders face inertia throughout the ride. For example, they rise in their seats at the top of hills and go deeper into their seats at the bottom. They could even fly off of the course if not for the safety precautions. Additionally, riders also sway side to side during the roller coaster turns. The feelings that riders go through due to inertia makes the ride more thrilling and fun.
Newton's Second Law
Netwon's Second Law
Newton’s second law states that the acceleration of an object depends on the object’s mass and magnitude (strength) or the force acting upon it. The coaster cars and the riders bodies have a constant mass. Gravity exerts force on those causing acceleration on the hills. Changes in force cause the changes in the acceleration but the mass remains constant. For example, acceleration is greater going down a hill then going up a hill due to the force of gravity.
Newton's Third Law
Netwon's Third Law
Newton’s third law states that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example in coasters cars, as riders push into their seats, the seat pushes back at them. G-force is the acceleration on a body due to gravity. New coasters have many new things like hydraulic or jet forms, slings and such which are the actions that cause the G-force reaction on the body. Also the action of the initial lift, which is most often the highest, will cause a reaction that helps power the coaster the rest of the way. This shows that Newton’s third law is an important part of the structure and function behind a roller coaster.
Forces
Video made on the forces working on a roller coaster:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQE4imdrhKXwA3DJgjqLqV-yM9dteeLM/view?usp=sharing
Forces
Materials Used
Materials
The noteworthy materials used in wooden roller coasters are wood, bolts, screws and paint. In steel coasters the materials are normally steel, metal, bolts, paint. However, new and innovative roller coasters are using advanced steel, aluminum alloy, urethane wheels, fiberglass, linear induction motors, gyroscopic units, and stator coils. These newer materials should become more common as aluminum is a far better option than steel in terms of how environmentally friendly it is. Also, although people do enjoy wooden coasters, the production of these should be halted because deforestation is a growing issue in our world.
Evolution
As mentioned in the history, roller coasters started off as just wood without even wheels. As more innovators created new designs, roller coasters are continuing to get better and bigger. To create even better roller coasters, it's important to also keep it's environmental impact in mind. Therefore, a good roller coaster should have many forms of thrill in it like hills, and turns but should also be made from environmentally friendly materials.
Evolution
Innovative Model
Video on ideas for an improved model: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-mNerrPExCmdThz9qnuuhN4AcbJOExeN/view?usp=sharing
Model
Positive
Societal Impacts
Roller coasters have a very positive impact on the economy. Popular roller coasters generate millions of dollars for amusement parks very year. People sometimes travel just for these too which generates profit for the state, province, or country the coaster is in. The amusement park is able to make profit off of park entrance tickets, foods and beverages, parking and such just because of roller coasters. Also, roller coasters create many new jobs like engineering jobs as well as jobs in the amusement park industry which in turn, help the economy. In fact there are about 400 amusement parks in America that employ about 60,000 people year round.
Negative Impact
One negative impact of roller coasters is the impact it has on the riders’ bodies. Although people ride roller coasters due to the thrill, it causes extreme and rapid increases in heart rate which has proved to be medically unsafe for some elders. It could also affect the health of people with heart issues or other related medical problems. As well, studies showed that the levels of the hormone cortisol increased during roller coasters too. Cortisol is a stress hormone. This shows that riders experience high levels of stress before and during roller coasters, Although these aren't fatal issues, they can still be harmful to some groups.
Negative Impact
Most people get over their fear and go on roller coasters for the thrill and sense of adventure it provides. Many people, especially teenagers due to their increased recklessness, find the need for at least a little thrill in their lives. Unfortunately, acquiring this in a safe and legal way is often difficult. However, roller coasters allow these people to fulfill their need for thrill in a secured environment. The feeling of feel and thrill when riding a roller coaster satisfies the part of people that seeks for adventure so that they refrain from doing anything truly dangerous or illegal.
Positive
Environmental Impacts
Roller coasters create a positive impact on the environment because of most of the materials they are made with. Most materials put into roller coasters like wood, steel, aluminum are very easily recycled and reusable. Due to this, when a roller coaster eventually must be scrapped, the materials don’t just go to waste. Instead, they are rescued in an environmentally friendly way. For example, wood can be recycled and used in paper production, landscaping and much more. Additionally, the materials themselves are environmentally friendly. In fact, even the paint used on roller coasters is acrylic which is far more eco friendly than oil paint as it’s water based.
Negative
Negative Impact
Although the majority of a roller coaster ride is fueled by gravity and other unbalanced forces, the initial lift uses electricity. Most roller coasters start off with the highest peak so that the force of gravity will be greater. However, to get the coaster cart up this peak, they use electricity. This electricity is generated by fossil fuels meaning that roller coasters do have an environmentally unfriendly impact. It is very possible to replace this electricity with more sustainable methods such as solar energy or the energy from windmills but engineers have yet to do this much leading to the negative environmental impact of roller coasters.
Negative
Negative Impact
Another negative environmental impact of roller coasters is the production of some of their materials. Although the materials and the way the materials are reused are environmentally very friendly, the production of steel itself is highly polluting. Roller coasters require tons and tons of steel to be made which in turn, leads to the burning of many fossil fuels. This process produced much pollution that negatively impacted the ozone layer and environment. Additionally, the use of so much wood in roller coasters encourages deforestation which is a rapidly growing issue in our environment. Therefore, roller coasters cause a fairly large negative impact on the environment.