Roller Coaster Physics
http://www.agame.com/game/rollercoastercreator
Rollercoaster Creator ExpressUphill Rush 6Los Angeles SharkUphill Rush 5
After this activity, students should be able to:
Force: | A force is any push or pull. |
Gravity: | Gravity is a force which draws any two objects toward one another. |
Speed: | Speed is how fast an object moves and is equal to the distance that object travels divided by the time it takes. |
Velocity: | Velocity is a combination of speed and the direction in which an object travels. |
Critical Velocity: | Critical velocity is the speed needed at the top of a loop for a car to make it through the loop without falling off the track. |
Acceleration: | How quickly an object speeds up, slows down, or changes direction; equal to change in velocity divided by time. |
Friction: | Friction is a force caused by rubbing between two objects. |
Potential Energy: | Potential energy is energy stored by an object ready to be used (in this lesson, we will use gravitational potential energy, which is directly related to the height of an object and its mass). |
Kinetic Energy: | Kinetic energy is the energy of an object in motion, which is directly related to its velocity and its mass. |
Gravitational Constant: | The gravitational constant is the acceleration caused by Earth's gravity at sea level and is equal to 9.81 m/s^2 (32.2 ft/s^2). |
G-Force: | Also known as a gravitational force, a g-force is equal to the force exerted on an object by Earth's gravity at sea level. |
Design a Roller Coaster
Try your hand at designing your own roller coaster. You will be building a conceptual coaster using the physics concepts that are used to design real coasters. You won't need to compute any formulas.
You will decide the following - the height of the first hill, the shape of the first hill, the exit path, the height of the second hill, and the loop.
When you're done, your coaster will need to pass an inspection for both safety and fun.
Everything you ever wanted to know about Roller Coasters
This site explains how roller coasters run. The second page has an animation that shows the point when potential energy is converted to kinetic energy. Other topics include forces, gravity, inertia, and acceleration. Note: The site includes advertising.
Amusement Park Physics: Roller Coaster
Design your own roller coaster and see if it passes a safety inspection. Take a look at "Free Fall" and "Related Resources" at the bottom of the page.
Click on the different physics terms to learn more about how they relate to roller coasters. Includes information on both kinetic and potential energy.
Click on this timeline to learn more about the history of roller coasters.
ThinkQuest: The World of Roller Coaster
Learn history, math, and physics of roller coaster. This site also includes quiz to test your knowledge on roller coaster. Many links to other sites related to a roller coaster.
Discovery School: The Ultimate Roller Coaster Contest
This lesson has instructions for building tennis ball roller coasters in the classroom.
Build Coasters online
Easy Cat in the Hat Coaster
http://pbskids.org/catinthehat/games/marblecoaster/index.html
http://www.gamesgames.com/game/RollercoasterCreator.html
http://www.abc.net.au/spark/games/rollercoaster.htm
RollerCoaster Rush
85%
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Ghost Train Ride
82%
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Rollercoaster Creator
82%
|
8.5 / 10 - 20918
Rollercoaster GamesRace around all day long on your very own rollercoaster. You can make the climbs as steep as you like, the corners as fast and be sure to make people really nauseous by including some loopings. |
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Rollercoaster Revolution
81%
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Build Your Rollercoaster
78%
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Lethal Racing 2
74%
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Rollercoaster
72%
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John Doe Adventure
72%
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Rollercoaster Rider
|
http://discoverykids.com/games/build-a-coaster/
Let's Build a model of the coaster we built online