The Physics of Roller Coaster

Jide Williams PhD student University of Denver 2020

The motivation for this article is to provide a basic physics behind the excitement that stems
from the movement of cart along the track of a roller coaster. The interesting thing about this
excitement is that it varies along the track, at one point, one feels heavy, at another point, one
feels light, and at extremities, one feels normal. People sometimes puke at the end of a thrilling
ride. Here’s the math behind the feeling.
Assumptions
From a theoretical standpoint, we will assume the following
 The tracks a small line segment
 Frictional forces are absent for the first analysis and will be included later
 The track a made of geometries, a parabola – loop the loop, a straight line and arcs or
segments of a circle which may then be assumed to be line segments in the analysis

Motion on an incline plane.

This motion can be described by two quantities

I. Velocity
II. Acceleration
These quantities depend on position and time. Position at any point on the track or an incline
plane is vector quantity, time however is a scalar at least in this analysis.
In summary, there’s only one scalar we won’t have to worry about in terms of direction in the
analysis.

Beginning with acceleration,

Sum of forces on the ball must be zero

∑ F=0
In the X-direction there is just on force component if friction is neglected
I. Component of force along B along x
On the local axis, along the incline plane

∑ F localx=mg∗sinθ
Can be seen below schematically as

This then need to be resolved along global axis X-Y

X
∑ F X =0 , i. e . m a X =cos θ mg∗sinθ −friction(if there is friction)
Friction is μk N where N is thenormal force ,resolved ∈the global Y
Therefore,
m a x =mgsin θ cos θ ,

a X =g sin θ cos θ

Similarly,
In the y-direction
There are two forces which must be equal and opposite;
I. the normal force
II. The component of the weight along y-axis
Normal force=N TY =mg cos θ

Normal force is always perpendicular to the cart.

Meanwhile in terms of Y- direction

X
∑ F Y =0 , i. e . m aY =sin θ mg∗sinθ
∑ F Y =0 , i. e . m a y
m aY =mg sin θ sinθ

a Y =g sin 2 θ

The confusion.
There are two frames, the x-y coordinate system, and the X-Y coordinate system. The x-y
coordinate system is called local coordinate, while the X-Y coordinate system is called global
coordinate system

Then velocity.
This is computed from Newton’s equation of motion
i.e.
v x =v 0 x +a x t
v x =v 0 x + g sinθ cos θt

In a similar manner,
v x =v 0 y + a y t
v x =v 0 x + g sin2 θ t

Now we can estimate the time, and break it down to time segments in dt .

Loop the loop.

At the top of the loop

∑ Fr Y =0 ∑ of the centripetal∨radial forces

m v2
but F r =
r
Therefore,

m v2
N T + mg=
r

m v2
NT= −mg
r
This give a weightless sensation

At the bottom of loop the loop

∑ Fr Y =0 ∑ of the centripetal∨radial forces

Forces towards center of loop is positive, opposite direction is negative

m v2
N T −mg=
r

m v2
NT= +mg
r

Feeling of weightfulness at the bottom

Somewhere in the loop the loop