2019 Year 12 IB Extended Essays

THE PHYSICS OF THE ROLLER COASTER

1. Introduction Roller coaster rides often give us experience of heart pounding, fast-paced thrills and

adrenaline surge which is the kind of experience that is admired and loved by many people.

It is a large industry and it remains popular to extreme experience seekers since the first

concept of roller coaster established in the 16 th century in Russian mountains. A wood framed

ice slide sent down sledders down as high as 70 feet was the original inspiration for the most

famous amusement rides in most theme parks. (American Coaster Enthusiasts, Inc, 2018).

However, it does not use engines or at least use engines to move at fast speed. Roller coasters

utilizes gravitational strength of the Earth by placing itself on a high releasing point which

allows the roller coaster to gain gravitational potential energy. With energy conversion, the

roller coaster will gain kinetic energy and travels at a fast speed.

This essay will begin with the background research to explore theories and concepts which

relates to roller coasters. Secondly, there is a section where methods are mentioned and

explained for others to recreate the experiment correctly. The methodology with be followed

by a section containing data collected and a graph representing the trend. The data will be

explained and analysed in the next part: discussion. Lastly, the conclusion will summarize the

report and evaluate the experiment.

2. Background research 2.1 Energy conversion within the roller coaster track Roller coaster does not use motor engines to achieve its movement. Instead, the movement

of roller coasters relies on the conversion of potential energy and kinetic energy (Pearson,

2001). In the beginning of the roller coaster track, there is always a hill. This first hill is always

the highest and its unique feature allows the roller coaster to harvest as much potential

energy it can gain. The potential energy can be transfer from the work done by the motor that

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