ROLLER COASTER

Your Roller Coaster's Name: _______________________________

DATA

Before you ride

Time for the entire ride: ___________

Length of Track: _____________ Average Speed: _________________
(Grizzly: 975 m, Demon: 700 m, Vortex: 585 m, Top Gun: 689 m)

While you ride

Maximum vertical acceleration (in g's) _____ experienced at ____________

Minimum vertical acceleration (in g's) _____ experienced at ____________

 

QUESTIONS

Answer below and on the back of this page. Write legibly.

1. Did you sit in the front or back of the train? ____________ How does your position in the train affect your ride? (Ask a friend who sat in a different part of the train to share their measurements.)
   
2. Describe the forces acting on you as you went down the first hill.
   
3. Where on the ride did you experience the greatest acceleration? In which direction was it? Why there and not another place?
   
4. Was there a place on this ride where you felt like you were being lifted out of your seat? Where was it? How did the ride create that feeling?
   
5. Where was the highest hill on the roller coaster? Why was it located there?
   
6. What are the elements (in physics terms) that make a roller coaster "scary"?

    

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   Click here to download an MS Word document for this activity - newrollercoaster.doc.

   Posted May 2002