Math in Roller Coaster Design

Introduction:

People love the thrill of any roller coaster ride because it gets their adrenaline pumping and makes their excitement level go up to the extreme. Riding a ride is the easy part. You wait in line until eventually you can board the coaster and ride it for however long it takes. One does not often think about how these rides are able to function properly, though. Safety is a big issue when it comes to designing roller coasters, and math goes hand in hand with figuring out how to make a certain ride the safest as possible.

What goes up...

In the world of physics, there are many equations that go along with finding how fast something is going and at what force something is needed to be moved. For a roller coaster to go up a large hill, it needs some sort of force to pull it all the way to the top. What is being created when the coaster is pulled up the hill is potential energy, which is demonstrated by the equation U = mgh. This equation helps determine how much energy the train will have stored up when it gets to the top, depending on how much it weighs and how high above the ground it is.

Must come down...

At the very top before every drop is the maximum amount of potential energy that can be stored up... but what happens when the train starts to go down the hill? The potential energy that has been stored up turns into kinetic energy which is shown by the equation T = ½mv^2. Calculating kinetic and potential energy is crucial in the design of a roller coaster, because it helps to determine the parameters that the hills can be in order for the coaster to get over them. If these calculations were not determined, the train could get stuck on the tracks with nowhere to go, because it didn't have enough stored energy.

Safety:

Roller coasters, when they are designed properly, can be such a thrill to ride. Most people feel safe and secure riding them because they know that the ride couldn't be up and running if if weren't for that. Some rides include loops which entails going upside down. Surprisingly, even that can be safe when properly calculated. Mathematicians are also able to determine how much g-forces (the opposite force of acceleration) a person if able to handle without feeling overly dizzy or faint. Without mathematicians, these rides wouldn't be nearly as trustworthy as they are today.

Sources:

• MathsCareers
• Prezi