MollyKendrick

Mrs.Wines,Mrs.Fricke
English1,Science
21October2013

Youarealmostatthetopofthevasthill,thinkingtoyourself,shouldIscream
andcryorshouldIthrowmyhandsupintheair?Rollercoastersaresomepeople's
biggestfear,theyarefast,high,andverythrilling.Thewayrollercoastersflip,turn,
squeal,twist,andfinallycometoasuddenstopisthefunpartthatpeoplelove(Fricke
n.pg.).Thereareover335millionpeoplethatgotoamusementparkseveryyear(How
RollerCoastersWork10).Tokeeptheparksintheirbestconditionstherearemany
differentpeoplethatdoavarietyofjobs.Anengineerhastofindtheinformationofthe
coaster,thecostandsafety,andthesciencebehindrollercoasters(Fricken.pg.).
TherollercoasteriscalledCaspersThrillittakesyoudownamagnificenthill
standingat107cmofftheground.ThisHalloweenthemedcoastertakesyoudowna
hillwithaslopeof33/18,itthenswooshesintoanellipticalloop,whichsendsyouflying
downtwoquickbatwings,ontothegroundlevel,andendsyourridewithtwoflawless
camelhumps.Thetotaltimeforthisghostlyrideisonaverage3.2secondsasyoure
goingabreathtaking133.33centimeters/seconds.Tofindthespeedtakethetotal
distanceoftherollercoasterwhichis400cmanddividingitbythetotaltimewhichis
3.2seconds,comingupwithaspeedof133.33cm/s(s=d/t)(Fricken.pg.).When
learninghowrollercoastersworkitseasiertoseeavisuallikeavideoorpicture.Some

pictureslabeloutalltheforcesorpartsandsomeevenmovetoletyouseehowit
works(HowRollerCoastersWork4).Thevideosareofpeopletalkingaboutthe
differentparts,differentjobs,orevenofpeopleonarollercoaster(HowRoller
CoastersWork1).
Buildingmonstrousrollercoastersisntcheapandittakesalotofhardwork,on
averageawholesteelcoastercostaround25milliondollars(MostExpensiveRoller
Coastersn.pg.).Whenarchitectsaredesigninganewrollercoastertheyhaveto
designeachpartandthatmeansseparateprices.Onaveragethetrackcosts20million
dollars,thepricechangesaccordingtothesizeofthetrack(

HowMuchDoesthe
AverageCoasterCosttoBuild
n.pg.).Thecarsoftherollercoastercostaround15
milliondollars(

HowMuchDoestheAverageCoasterCosttoBuild
n.pg.).Theprice
changesaccordingtothesize,howitconnectstothetrack,andthesafetyfeatureson
it.Therearetwomaintypesofsafetyfeaturesalapbarandashoulderharness(How
RollerCoastersWork9).Shoulderharnessesareusedwhentherollercoastergoes
throughalooportwistwhereyouareupsidedown(HowRollerCoastersWork9).On
CaspersThrilltherewillbeshoulderharnessesbecauseitgoesupsidedown,a
shoulderharnessisthesafesttypeofsafetyrestraintforloops.Thelawofinertiawould
keepyouinyourseateveniftherollercoasterdidnthaveanytypeofrestraints(How
RollerCoastersWork9).Therearepeopleeverydaycheckingthecoasterstomake
suretherearenoproblemsandifthereareproblemstheyhavetofixthemsopeople
dontgethurt(EverythingYouEverWantedtoKnowaboutRollerCoastersn.pg.).
Overthewinterwhentheparksareclosedmaintenancepeopleworkontheroller

coastersandridestomakesuretheyareintheirbestcondition(EverythingYouEver
WantedtoKnowaboutRollerCoastersn.pg.).
Theseentertainingridesworkbecausethelawsofscienceandphysics(How
RollerCoastersWork1).Gravity,inertia,acceleration,velocity,centripetalforce,
potentialenergy,kineticenergy,andgforcesareallthingsthatcoastershave(How
RollerCoastersWork1,4).Thesearethelawsthatletrollercoasterstwistandflip
whilekeepingyousafe,thesearealsothethingsthatmakeitfastandthrilling(How
RollerCoastersWork1).Gravitykeepsthecoasteronthetrackanditpullsyoudown
anyhill,gravityisaforcethatattractsonethingtoanotherlikethecarandthecoaster
oryouandyourseat(HowRollerCoastersWork4).Inertiaisalawthatsaysobjects
willstayintheirgivenstateuntilacteduponbyanoutsideforce,inertiaisdirectional
meaningobjectswillstayinonedirectionuntilacteduponbyanoutsideforce(Fricke
n.pg.).Inertiakeepsyouinourseattoobecauseyourinertiaisdirecteddowntowards
theseat,ifyouweregoingfastenougharoundaloopyourinertiawouldnthavetimeto
changedirectionanditwouldstaygoingtowardstheseatthereforeyouwouldstayin
theseat(EverydayMysteriesn.pg.).Italsokeepsthecoasterinmotiongoingforward
becausetherearenooutsideforcesthatstopitandmakeitgobackwards(Fricke
n.pg.).Accelerationisthespeedandvelocityisthespeedinonedirectionusuallyona
coasteryouonlygoinonedirectionsotheaccelerationandvelocityaresimilarwhen
talkingaboutarollercoaster(Fricken.pg.).Whengoingdownthehillyouracceleration
isatitspeak(fricken.pg.).Centripetalforceistheforcethatgetsyouaroundtheloop,
itsaforcethatseeksthecentersoitmakesacirclewhenitsgoingaround(Fricke

n.pg.).Potentialenergyisenergythatisstoredyoucanfindtheamountofpotential
energyby(m)(G)(h)=pE(Fricken.pg.).Kineticenergyisenergyinmotionyoucanfindit
by(m)(v)^2=kE(Fricken.pg.).Thereisalotofpotentialandkineticenergyonaroller
coaster,atthetopofthehillisthemostpotentialithasallthisenergythatwasbuilding
up,andithasthemostkineticenergyrightbeforeitgoesintotheloopatthebottomof
thehillthatsbecausetherollercoasterisgoingthefastestatthatpoint(Fricken.pg.).
Anotherforcethatactsonthecoasterisgforces,thesecanbenegativesandpositives
(Fricken.pg.).Whenyouaregoingupahilltheyincreaseinthepositives,sopositive
gforcesarewhenyouaregoingupandtheymakeyoufeelheavier(Fricken.pg.).
Whenyougodownthehilltheydecreaseinnegatives,sonegativegforceshappen
whenyougodownahill(Fricken.pg).Yourbodycanonlyhandlesomanygforcesso
designershavetobecarefulandtesttheircoastersmanytimes(Fricken.pg).Ahuge
forcethatisactingontherollercoasteratalltimesisfriction,frictioniswhentwoobjects
touchitcanalsocauseheat(Fricken.pg.).Coastershavetowatchbecausetoomuch
frictioncanmaketoomuchheatandtherollercoatercanoverheat.Theamountof
frictioncanchangebecauseofalotofthingsliketheweightofthecarorthespeed
(Fricken.pg.).Whenthecarsgoingupthehillitsslowerbecausetheresmorefriction,
frictionmakesthingsslower(Fricken.pg.).Whenthecoastergoesfasttheresonlya
littlebitoffriction.Frictionslowsthingsdownbecauseitactsintheoppositedirection
thattheobjectismoving(Fricken.pg.).Theresevenfrictionwhenthecoastersnot
movingcalledstaticfriction(Fricken.pg.).
Engineershavetobuildthecoastersandeverythinggrowsovertimeincluding

coasters,sotheycanonlygetfasterandbiggermaybeevenaddsomenewforcesto
themtomakepeopleweightlessorfloat.Thefutureofrollercoasterswillpushthelimits
andgototheextremejusttogivepeopleathrill.Theywillbebiggerandfasterthan
ever,scienceonlyevolvesmakingrollercoastersbetter.Oneofthemostimportant
factorsinarollercoasteristheheightofthehill,peopleliketoridethetallestand
fastestcoastersaround(Elvinn.pg.).Engineersareimportantbecausetheyarethe
onesthatactuallyfollowthroughwiththeideasandbuildthecoaster.Withoutthe
engineerstherewouldbenoonetobuildthecoasters,andthentherewouldbeno
amusementparks.Todaytheyarelookingforkidsinterestedinbeingrollercoaster
engineers(CoasterMann.pg.).

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