How Do Roller Coasters Work?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

HOW DO......... Work?

By Neal Xie

The definition of roller coasters is an amusement ride where the train is on a track and is powered by gravity. Roller coasters are extremely good ways to relieve stress or just have a spectacular time at the amusement park. With the train flying through inversions and airtime hills at high speed, it defiinitely causes a bunch of adrenaline inside you. But, what are it’s origins? Are they safe? How do they even work? Let’s find out!

2 Introduction

History of Roller Coasters!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The ancestors of roller coasters are ice slies built by the Russians in the 1600s (Russian mountains), which were ice covered wooden slopes for sleds to slide down. Then, when the Russians conquered France in the 1800s, the French also began doing this. Then, in 1817, a ride was built in Paris which had cars with wheels in grooves: Promenades Aériennes.

The Promenades Aériennes in 3

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In 1884 Coney Island in New York

City built the Switchback Railway. The designer was called LaMarcus Adna Thompson, and he took inspiration from the Gravity Road, a downhill railway used as entertainment. On the Switchback Railway, you climb up to a platform and ride a car down a track, then do it again. In 1919, upstop wheels were added under the track so the train would stay on the track on a hill. Patented by John Miller, now roller coasters could be more intense, and to this day, new roller coasters still use it.

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Physics of Roller Coasters!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The reason we love roller coasters is because of the forces they exert on our body. To quantify this force, the term G force is used. G means gravitational. 1 G of force is Earth’s gravitational force.

2 Gs is twice the Earth’s gravitational force. A lot of positave Gs would be felt in valleys between hills and on banked turns. 6 Gs is the maximum allowed force.

Positave Gs push you into the sest.

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The opposite of positave gs is negative gs. When you go over a hill, you would be ejected if not for restraints.Instead of the seat pushing you up, it is the restraint pushing you down. This feeling is called airtime, and roller coaster enthusiasts crave it. At 0 gs, you are weightless. In between 0 and -1 gs, enthusiasts call it floater airtime, and under -1 gs, it is called ejecter airtime. You will also get negative Gs on an inversion when you are hanging upside down. This is called hangtime. Airtime is when yoou lift out of your seat into the restraint. It happens on the top of a hill.

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Lateral G forces are sideways. You willl laterals on an unbanked turn or . Laterals are not for everyone. It may be uncomfortable, and that is why turns are banked to lessen the laterals and turn it into positaves. During a launch which is when the train is pushed to speed down some straight track, you will feel forward G force. The opposite is when you hit brakes and are thrown forward.

Unbanked turns produce laterals, which pushes you to the side.

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Safety of Roller Coasters!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Are roller coasters really safe? How likely are you to die o get hurt on a roller coaster? Turns out that roller coasters are extremely safe. The chance of getting hurt is one in 24 million, and the chance of dying is one in 750 million. Roller coaster accidents are so talked about in the news because of their rarity. Plus, many accidents are because the vitcim or someone else fails to follow safety rules, like a smuggled phone flying out of your hand.. So, if you listen to operators and follow the rules, you can enjoy a very fun and safe day at the amusement park.

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But how do roller coasters stay safe?

First, there are restraints. They are the bar or harness that you wear on the coaster. Lap bars go down over your lap. Putting lap bars on a ride that goes upside down is actually perfectly safe. Over the shoulder restraints are bars that go over your head. Many early looping coasters use them. Enthusiasts dislike these because you can bang your head on it, which is known as headbanging. Vest restraints are bars that close from the sides. There are variations of these, but they all keep you in.

These over the shoulder restraints are disliked by coaster enthusiasts as they ccan cause headbanging.

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You may also be wondering if the roller coaster might have a rollback. Launched coasters are designed to roll back safely, and so the train will stop on the launch track if this ever happens. And trains will never roll back on a lift hill because there is a anti rollback system in place. What happens is that a metal chain dog will roll over some teeth so that it can go forward but will get stuck if it goes back. For redundancy, there are always multiple systems in place in case the others fail or don’t work.

The chain dog rolls over the metal teeth going forward.

In cast of a rollback, the chain dog will get stuck. 10

You ma also be wondering how the roller coaster can cycle with more than one train on the track at once and never collide. Well, the coaster track is split into block section. On it, only one train can occupy every block zone at a time. At the end of a block zone is a way to stop a train in case the next block zone still has a train in it. This usuallly comes in the form of a brake run or lift hill. Block sections actually origionated from railways, and it is much more important on roller coasters since they’re unable to stop on their own.

Brake runs are often found at the end of a block zone to stop a train if not a lift hill.

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Before, brake runs were controlled manually, but now, computers are programmed to controll the brake runs and blocks. Theoretically, the maximum amount of trains on the course at the same time is one less than the number of block zones. If there’s more, than there will be no emepty blocks for trains to go into, which would cause a big traffic jam. But if a ride has, say 10 block zones, most parks will not run nine trains because it would cause a lot of long pauses on the block brake, so they may just opf for six or seven trains.

If there are three block zones, then two trains may operate on it to allow for better motion.

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And if you are worried that a roller coaster will fall apart, do not worry too much. Roller coasters, just like buildings, recieve maintainence so they remain sturdy and resistant to external forces such as wind. Every day before the park opens, they will undergo rigorous checks on all the roller coasters to check mechanical issues and also make sure the block zones are working properly. And if there is inclinant weather such as a rainstorm or strong wind, they will also close rides. Also, the park will do a yearly inspection on all of the rides and do annual maintainence. ride closures suck and I understand that it may ruin your day, but trust me, it is in the name of your safety.

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Conclusion

In conclusion, a roller coasters is a complex machine. In order to know and understand them, it takes a lot of knowleadge. But this book shall help youu gain lots more insightful knowleadge on thie topic. From the physics to the safety, roller coasters are extremely fascinating, and next time you go on a roller coaster, you may think about how much insane mechanics and physics it takes for you to enjoy a great and safe ride.

People having a fun time on a roller coaster.