Force and Motion

Does providing thrills and excitement sound fun to you? Well, today just might be your lucky day! Our class has been asked to design the fastest, most thrilling and exciting roller coaster known to man! In order to be successful in this task, you will first have to explore topics related to the history and science behind creating and designing roller coasters. Use the resources provided in this Webquest to explore the physics of roller coasters. Remember to visit each site provided and answer all questions as well as take notes in your science journal.

Activity Overview:  In this activity you will determine the roles of potential and kinetic energy in the performance of a roller coaster.  This is a 2-day activity.  On the first day, you will complete a webquest.  During this Webquest, you will collect data that will assist you on the second day of the activity.  On the second day, you will construct a model of a roller coaster and actually attempt to successfully complete a ride on this model.

Task 1: Learn about the History of roller coasters and answer the questions below in your science notebooks:

1. In what country was the earliest ancestor of today’s modern roller coaster created? 
2. In what time frame did the early roller coaster ancestor first appear?
3. Describe the earliest roller coaster ancestor, including how it worked.

4. In the 19th century, what changes did the French make to the early roller coaster design?
5. Where and when did the first roller coaster appear in the United States?  

Task 2: At the bottom of the roller coaster history page, click on the Next icon.  This new page contains the information for your next set of tasks.

1. How does a roller coaster differ from a passenger train?
2. Describe the mechanism that lifts the coaster to the top of the first hill. 
3. As you are climbing to the top of the first hill, what type of energy is slowly increasing? At what point on the hill is this type of energy at its greatest level?     
4. Theorize why the mechanism that gets the coaster up the first hill is not necessary to get the coaster up the second hill.
5. What role do chain dogs play in the function of a roller coaster?
6. How do the roles of potential and kinetic energy differ between the newer catapult-launched coasters and the older style of roller coasters?
7. What is so unusual about the braking system on a roller coaster?

Task 3:  Roller Coaster Physics- Click on the Next icon at the bottom of the roller coaster components page.  This new page contains the information necessary to complete the next set of tasks.

1. How do gravity and potential energy work together to give you a great ride on a roller coaster?
2. How does potential energy become kinetic energy during your ride?

3. Click play on the simulation.  At what point is the potential energy the greatest?
4. Click continue on the simulation.  At what point is the kinetic energy the greatest?
5. Click continue on the simulation.  When the coaster is at the top of the second hill, what is the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy? 
6. Click continue on the simulation.  Why is it necessary to have so much kinetic energy heading into the loop?  
7. Click continue on the simulation.  What is the relationship between kinetic energy and potential energy at the top of the loop?

8. Click continue on the simulation.  What is higher, the kinetic energy at point f or the kinetic energy at point b?  Click continue and reset the simulation if the need to see the reading at point b again.

Scroll down on the page to answer the rest of the questions in this section.    

9. What role do the tracks play in the performance of the coaster?
10. How do the tracks and gravity work together to insure that you have a sweet ride on the coaster? 

11. What role does Newton’s First Law play in the explanation of why a roller coaster is able to keep moving even though it does not have a motor powering it? 
12.  Why, as the coaster ride progresses, do the size of the hills get smaller?
13. Click on the Next icon at the bottom of the page.  Use this new page to help you summarize how inertia, gravity, and acceleration all work together to give you a thrilling ride on a roller coaster.

Task 4:  That Sinking Feeling- Scroll to the bottom of the page and click on That Sinking Feeling.  This new page will help you to gather the information for the following tasks.

1. What effect does acceleration have on an object, such as your body, that is made up of many loosely connected parts?
2. When you are traveling downhill on a roller coaster, you experience a light feeling in your stomach.  Why?

Now it's time to explore! Use the knowledge you just acquired and apply it when using the interactive sites listed below: 

Amusement Park Physics 

Build a Roller Coaster

Watch this video on The Physics of Roller Coasters

Congratulations! Your hard work has paid off and you and your partner have been chosen to design the newest attraction at the local amusement park: The Backbreaker.

You and your partner will design a model for The Backbreaker. You may submit your model as a drawing, a media presentation or a prototype. 

Good Luck!