the-BA : Life's a rollercoaster

A rollercoaster cart builds up speed by accelerating down a track. The cart travels fastest once it’s reached the bottom of the track. The higher the cart is pulled up initially, the faster it will travel when it gets to the bottom. With the exception of a motor to lift the cart up to the top, traditional rollercoasters don’t use any form of power – it’s gravity that supplies the thrills.

Have you ever wondered how the speed of a roller coaster is controlled?

You might like to …

• investigate how the speed of a toy model car down a track varies with the initial height that the car is released from
• investigate how the angle of the track affects the speed of a toy car
• build a toy rollercoaster that works continuously (you will have to use a motor to pull the cart to the top of the ride); think carefully about what materials you will use – you might like to investigate British Standards that need to be followed when manufacturing toys.

Further links:
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/

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