Introduction
Section 1: Roller Coaster History
1. In what country was the earliest ancestor of today’s modern roller coaster created?
Russia was the earliest ancestor.
2. In what time frame did the early roller coaster ancestor first appear?
It appeared in the 16th and 17th centuries.
3. Describe the earliest roller coaster ancestor, including how it worked.
The earliest roller coaster ancestor was a monumental ice slide and riders went down the slope in sleds made out of wood or blocks of ice, landing and crashing in a sand pile.
4. In the 19th century, what changes did the French make to the early roller coaster design?
France has a warmer climate and so it usually melted the ice and then the French built waxed slides instead. They then added wheels to the sleds.
5. Where and when did the first roller coaster appear in the United States?
The first roller coaster was called the Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway and was built in the mountains of Pennsylvania in the mid-1800s.
Section 2: Roller Coaster Components
1. How does a roller coaster differ from a passenger train?
The roller coaster has no engine or some sort of power source of its own, unlike the passenger train that does have these things.
2. Describe the mechanism that lifts the coaster to the top of the first hill.
Chain lift is the mechanism that lifts the coaster to the top of the first hill. It's a long (in length) chain that runs up the hill under the track. The chain is fastened in a loop, which is wound around a gear at the top of the hill and another one at the bottom of the hill. When the bottom gear at the hill is turned by a motor, the chain loop is turned, continually moving up the hill. The rollercoaster grabs onto the chain using chain dogs (sturdy hinged hooks).
3. As you are climbing to the top of the first hill, what type of energy is slowly increasing?
Potential energy is slowly increasing.
4. At what point on the hill is this type of energy at its greatest level?
Potential energy is the greatest level at the highest point of the roller coaster.
5. Theorize why the mechanism that gets the coaster up the first hill is not necessary to get the coaster up the second hill.
To build up momentum, the train needs to get to the top of the first hill (the lift hill) or give it a powerful launch. This big force in the beginning enables the rollercoaster to travel with ease and so it does not have to build up as much potential energy in the later hills (second hill).
6. What role do chain dogs play in the function of a roller coaster?
The chain dogs grab onto the chain links when the train is going towards the bottom of the hill and when the chain dog is hooked, the chain pulls the train to the top of the hill. The chain dog becomes released and the train starts to go down the hill.
7. How do the roles of potential and kinetic energy differ between the newer catapult-launched coasters and the older style of roller coasters?
The systems create a plentiful amount of kinetic energy that starts the train off instead of building up potential energy by dragging the train up a hill.
8. What is so unusual about the braking system on a roller coaster?
The brakes are built into the track rather than into the train itself.
Section 3: Roller Coaster Physics
1. How do gravity and potential energy work together to give you a great ride on a roller coaster?
As the coaster gets higher in the air, gravity can pull it down a greater distance. When going downhill gravity takes over and all the built-up potential energy changes to kinetic energy. Gravity applies a constant downward force on the cars.
2. How does potential energy become kinetic energy during your ride?
The potential energy you build going up the hill can be released as kinetic energy, which is the energy of motion that takes you down the hill.
3. Click play on the simulation. At what point is the potential energy the greatest?
At point A, or the top of the first hill, the potential energy is the greatest.
4. Click continue on the simulation. At what point is the kinetic energy the greatest?
At point B, or the bottom of the hill, the kinetic energy is the greatest.
5. Click continue on the simulation. When the coaster is at the top of the second hill, what is the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy?
The kinetic energy pushes the train up the second hill, or point C, and this builds up the potential-energy level.
6. Click continue on the simulation. Why is it necessary to have so much kinetic energy heading into the loop?
When going downhill, the potential energy is converted to kinetic energy making the cars go faster. Kinetic energy is necessary when heading into the loop because the speed is greater, giving more potential to go through the loop completely.
7. Click continue on the simulation. What is the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy at the top of the loop?
The potential-energy level builds up as the train goes to the top of the loop at point E,, but is soon converted back to kinetic energy as the train departs from the loop.
8. Click continue on the simulation. What is higher, the kinetic energy at point f or the kinetic energy at point b? Click continue and reset the simulation if the need to see the reading at point b again.
The kinetic energy at point b is higher.
9. What role do the tracks play in the performance of the coaster?
The coaster tracks control the way the coaster cars fall. If the tracks slope down, gravity pulls the front of the car toward the ground, so it accelerates. If the tracks tilt up, gravity applies a downward force on the back of the coaster, so it decelerates.
10. How do the tracks and gravity work together to insure that you have a sweet ride on the coaster?
The coaster tracks control the way the coaster cars fall. If the tracks slope down, gravity pulls the front of the car toward the ground, so it accelerates. If the tracks tilt up, gravity applies a downward force on the back of the coaster, so it decelerates.
11. What role does Newton’s First Law play in the explanation of why a roller coaster is able to keep moving even though it does not have a motor powering it?
Since an object in motion tends to stay in motion (Newton's first law of motion), the coaster car will maintain a forward velocity even when it is moving up the track, opposite the force of gravity.
12. Why, as the coaster ride progresses, does the size of the hills get smaller?
This is necessary because the total energy reservoir built up in the lift hill is gradually lost to friction between the train and the track, as well as between the train and the air.
13. Click on the Next icon at the bottom of the page. Use this new page to help you summarize how inertia, gravity, and acceleration all work together to give you a thrilling ride on a roller coaster.
Normally, gravity pulls us toward the ground; however, we notice the force of the upward pressure of the ground. The ground pushes up on our feet and so on the rollercoaster, this gravity pulls us straight down. Acceleration is another force that acts on us during the rollercoaster that is travelling at a constant speed. As the coaster slows down or speeds up, we either feel “stuck” to the seat or the bar in front of us. We feel this kind of force because our inertia is not the same as the roller-coaster’s.