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Riders experience a continuous change in direction...

For example, riders could be heading left when they begin to turn upwards. They then become rightward moving riders then downward moving ones all before they become leftward moving riders, again.

Research being carried out to improve roller coaster design and use:

  • To create more thrill
  • For example, 100 volunteers tested on by a group of Nottingham university students at Alton Towers Amusement Park. Heart rates etc were measured
  • Robocoaster
  • taking the robotic arms used in manufacturing and turning them into a ride - 9 years worth of research and build before it was successful
  • Using new technology - Virtual Reality and 4-D senstations

Clothoid Loops

In the early 20th century, roller coaster loops were not safe. The loops were circles which required a roller coaster car to go at very high speeds so the car would not fall when at the top of the loop. However, these high speeds were injuring the riders. The solution was to change the shape of the loops---into a tear-drop, geometrically known as a CLOTHOID LOOP.

Clothoid design to the rescue!

  • The radius of curvature of a clothoid gradually decreases from top to bottom.
  • The radius of curvature at the top is much smaller than that of a circular loop, but there is a much larger radius of curvature at the bottom.
  • This larger radius decreases the centripetal force experienced by riders at the bottom of the loop

Since the radius (in the denominator) is larger, the centripetal force required is smaller. This means the normal force required at the start of the loop is reduced and riders do not experience a large sudden increase in apparent weight. In addition, since the radius gradually decreases, the apparent weight is gradually increased, allowing the rider time to adjust without taking away from the excitement of the ride.

Imagine an old roller coaster....It has a horizontal section of track leading into a circular loop not a clothoid shaped one. When the ride enters the loop, riders experience a centripetal force all of a sudden, towards the of the loop. The normal force must suddenly increase, now, not only to overcome gravity but also to create this large centripetal force. This sudden increase in normal force means a rapid increase in apparent weight which can be dangerous to riders.

What is interesting is that gravity still acts on you at this point to keep you moving in a circle, but you lose sense of the gravitational force because you are in free fall.

Apparent Weight

How apparent weight makes roller coasters safer...

Definition -

the magnitude of the normal force acting on an object in an accelerated non-inertial frame of reference

When riding, at the top of a clothoid loop, one feels weightless for an instant. This is due to the normal force dropping down to zero at the top and your apparent weight drops to zero, as well.

What is the impact on individual users and society?

On individual users, there is a chance of accidents and deaths but the majority of riders feel thrilled, amused and great after a ride. Roller coasters are a big fear for many people and riders overcome this fear often by simply riding!

  • Rider moving through a circular loop with a constant speed = centripetal acceleration
  • Rider moving through a non-circular loop at non-constant speed = 2 components of the acceleration
  • 1 component is directed towards the center of the circle ( ) and attributes itself to the direction change;
  • Other component is directed tangent ( ) to the track (either in the opposite or in the same direction as the car's direction of motion) and attributes itself to the car's change in speed.

Roller coasters are good for the society when it comes to tourism and its economic industry. It generates a lot of income (almost $8.2 billion USD in a year for the state of Florida). They create lots of jobs; 600 000 alone in one year in the USA.

"There are 2,398 ROLLER COASTERS in the world. Of those, only 164 are made of wood. The rest are steel. The newest steel coasters cost more than $20 million to build." - Fast Company

Normally the cost of a major coaster today will be anywhere from 10-30 million dollars. This cost includes design, materials, and building costs.

How costly is a roller coaster?

Related Careers and Jobs:

How common are roller coasters?

  • Roller Coaster Designer
  • Roller Coaster Engineer
  • Electrical and Mechanical Engineer
  • Theme Park Manager
  • Amusement Industry (Theme Park Front Office, Maintenance, Ride & Roller Coaster Designers)

Hundreds of roller coasters can be found on every continent except for Antarctica. The most elaborate of them are situated in the western world, however, primarily in the United States with other places such as Europe and Asia following.

Why are roller coasters so amusing and fun to ride?

  • When riders climb upward on the loop, they begin to slow down. Why? In order to conserve the mechanical energy, an increase in height (and in turn an increase in potential energy) results in a decrease in kinetic energy and speed and vice versa.
  • So the rider experiences the greatest speeds at the bottom of the loop - both upon entering and leaving the loop - and the lowest speeds at the top of the loop.

...and changes in speed!

  • is directed opposite the direction of the car's motion as its speed decreases (on the ascent towards the top) and in the same direction as the car's motion as its speed increases (on the descent from the top).
  • At the very top and the very bottom of the loop, the acceleration is primarily centripetal.
  • At the top, this would be in the downward direction and at the bottom of the loop it would be in the upward direction.
  • See position C and D in previous diagram

Centripetal Acceleration

The instantaneous acceleration that is directed toward the centre of a circular path

It's not because of the long lines we need to wait in before riding one. It's not because of how long the ride is (60 seconds max for a ride). Is it because of their speed? Turns out that it is not the speed that makes roller coasters so exhilarating for us....It's their ACCELERATION!

Whether they go down all of a sudden and shoot up the next or make a sharp turn, the thrill behind roller coasters is all because of acceleration. For clothoid loops, centripetal acceleration is the reason behind the amazing thrill.

References

  • Amusement Park Physics. (n.d.). Retrieved July 14, 2017, from http://www.physicsclassroom.com/class/circles/Lesson-2/Amusement-Park-Physics
  • Bruni, Dan et al. (2012). Nelson physics 12. Toronto: Nelson Thomson Learning. Retrieved July 15th, 2017
  • Caston, R. (2015, July 10). How Economic Impact of Theme Parks Creates Revenue-Generating Thrill Ride for US. Retrieved July 16, 2017, from http://www.theparkcatalog.com/blog/theme-parks-economic-impact-growth/
  • Lidsky, D. (2012, July 30). Wheeeeee: The Business of Roller Coasters. Retrieved July 16, 2017, from https://www.fastcompany.com/1615245/wheeeeee-business-roller-coasters
  • Roller coaster. (2017, July 10). Retrieved July 14, 2017, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roller_coaster
  • The thrill engineers. (n.d.). Retrieved July 16, 2017, from http://www.sciencefocus.com/feature/tech/thrill-engineers
  • J. (2011, January 27). Top 3 Day Jobs for Roller Coaster Enthusiasts. Retrieved July 16, 2017, from http://www.coastercritic.com/2011/01/top-3-day-jobs-for-roller-coaster-enthusiasts/

Height check and ride exception chart at Canada's Wonderland

Roller coasters are used for amusement and thrills. Thus, they are mostly found at . fairs, theme and amusement parks all across the globe. Known for their elevation, tight turns, steep slopes, and sometimes inversions, people ride along to enjoy. Users include riders of all ages and exceptions depend on each individual ride.

Image Sources

Uses & Users

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  • http://images.clipartpanda.com/coaster-clipart-RiG68MGMT.svg
  • http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circles/u6l2b2.gif
  • http://o.quizlet.com/jqCAmZilaZUwmCJDYrLt1A_m.png
  • http://www.physicsclassroom.com/Class/circles/u6l2b3.gif
  • https://static-communitytable.parade.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/roller-coaster-ftr.jpg
  • http://s.hswstatic.com/gif/roller-coaster-force.gif
  • http://www.ux1.eiu.edu/~cfadd/1150/05UCMGrav/Images/elevator.gif
  • https://thatsmaths.files.wordpress.com/2014/04/rollercoasterloops.png
  • http://15557-presscdn-0-41.pagely.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Best-Roller-Coasters.png
  • http://www.ninjamommers.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/wpid-2014-07-07-09.56.461.png1.png
  • https://d3knbu6191stae.cloudfront.net/binaries/content/assets/cw-en-ca/general-information/help/cw---guest-assistance-guide.pdf
  • https://www.canadaswonderland.com/help/rider-height-safety
  • https://amusementparksandfun.files.wordpress.com/2015/02/engineer.jpg

Circular Motion Technology: Roller Coasters

By: Aisha Khan

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