Roller Coaster Proj.
5/26/15
1. Types of energy in a RC
-Mechanical energy
-Gravitational energy
-Potential energy
-Electric Energy
2. How the energy changes throughout the coaster
3. How do these changes in energy affect how the coaster functions?
4. Similarities and differences between wooden and steel coasters
Similarities: 1. They are both built with the same type of features, (hills, loops, etc). 2. They both have basically the same cars. 3. Usually they both have one big hill in the beginning to get momentum and velocity up.
Differences: 1. One is made of wood, while the other is made of steel. 2. The wooden one needs lots of wooden support beams, while the steel one only needs a few per piece of track. 3. The steel one can have mechanical boosters (for speed) built on it, while the old wooden one cannot.
Ride experience-
Similarities: 1. There are a lot of hills (high and small) and also have turns on the ride. 2. The car's seat belts and safety mechanisms are usually the same. 3. The chain system that is used to take the car up the hill is the same almost always.
Differences: 1. The more modern steel ones have loops and the old wooden ones don't. 2. On the old wooden ones it is really bumpy and some of the quick turns hurt, while on the steel ones the ride is usually smooth and doesn't hurt. 3. The older ones are much faster usually, and the new ones can be faster but no usually.