LYCOS RETRIEVER 
Roller Coaster: Tracks
built 275 days ago
Saturday, July 28, 1984 - At the North Dakota State Fair in Minot, North Dakota, a 9-year-old boy was killed after he fell 30 feet from a looping roller coaster ride. The child sustained multiple injuries, including massive head injuries. The boy fell out of his car when it approached an incline immediately after the looping section of track. It was later concluded that the operator failed to properly secure the boy with the ride's safety device.
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Designing a roller coaster requires careful consideration of several physics concepts. Most notably, mechanical energy must be kept track of to ensure the Roller Coaster completes the course. Friction is ... an important consideration, however it is rather complicated to deal with exactly. A simple but poor approximation can be made by assuming a constant drag force resulting in a constant energy dissipation per unit track length. This is not very accurate as shall be seen later, but it is better than ignoring friction all together.
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This new track allowed roller coasters to maneuver in many ways that were previously impossible with a smoother ride. Coasters with this type of track are capable of doing inversions, or loops. With this technology it is possible to do any of 15 different types arieal maneuvers. After this invention Carl Bacon went into business along with two associates and created Arrow Dynamics Inc. of Clearfield, Utah
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People ride roller coasters because they are dangerous, yes they want to die. Roller coasters are often known as the suicidal ride. There are safety systems to give the illusion of safety. All the components of a coaster are controlled by a PLC (Pretty Large Computer) running Windows RG. If the PLC has a problem, the ride breaks down, and the operator needs to restart the ride (usually by hitting Control-Alt-Delete). Other controls that ride operators have include "Stall in loop", "Release restraints", and "Jump track". At Busch Gardens you can always get hit in the head by a goose!
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This simulation is a variation of the Roller Coaster with Spring, please see that page for more information on the physics and how the simulation is done. The difference here is that the other end of the spring is attached to another ball on the track, instead of being fixed.
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Page features a brief QuickTime movie showing the transfer of energy as a roller coaster car moves along the track. Students will see how energy changes from potential to kinetic (or kinetic to potential), while conserving mechanical energy.
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