SS Connection

In my demonstration of rolling the ball down the apparatus "Loop the Loop", we see a strikingly similar resemblance in our world when we go to amusement parks. Yes, the roller coaster is the best example of seeing the conversation of mechanical energy and centripetal force at work together. Before we combine the two, let's take a look at each concept individually.

Centripetal Force

Centripetal force is the force that makes objects travel in a circular motion. This force revolves around the center of a body that the object is traveling around. The greatest example of centripetal force is our solar system. Centripetal force prevents planets from falling while they orbit the sun and prevents moons from falling as they orbit their planets. The force that keeps these planets in a round orbit is the sun's

gravity (the planet's gravity when speaking about moon orbits). However, if it was the only sun's gravity on the planets acting as the force, the planets would just go into the sun. The force that counter acts is the centripetal force making sure the round orbit continues keeping everything in equilibrium allowing the Earth to exist in its form today.

Conversation of Mechanical Energy

Now we move onto the fun part of roller coasters. Before we look at loops in the roller coasters, let's look at their ability to move up and down. Prior knowledge of energy shows us that potential energy is the energy at rest while kinetic energy is the energy in motion. But the transfer and conversion between them is where the real stuff happens, in the form of mechanical energy. The most extreme and my favorite example is the Kingda Ka roller coaster in Six Flags Adventure located in New Jersey. With a height of 456 ft and a drop of 418 ft, both world records, (that's almost 30 adult giraffes lined up) , the Kingda Ka is the highest roller coaster and offers a bird's eye view that no other roller coaster gives. But how does it work???

The roller coaster starts off low and at rest with potential energy. Once it starts moving that potential energy becomes converted to kinetic and gains speed as it moves. But slowly, as the height increases that kinetic energy becomes potential at the top causing a stop. Then the potential at the top drastically converts to kinetic and with the force of gravity helping, you roar down the coaster.

But to maintain this balance between kinetic and potential energy, we use the formula of conservation of mechanical energy so objects don't fly off the circle nor fall down,which is the sum of potential and kinetic energy, giving us