Roller Coasters

When riding on a roller coaster, people don't consider why the roller coaster makes their stomach lurch and fly up into their chest. And no one considers Newton's laws of motion. Those people are just in it for the pleasure and the excitement of the speed and the thrill. Well, the workers and scientists who build these roller coasters most definitely consider these laws. The reason for why a stomach lurches into one's chest, is because of inertia. Inertia is when an object of matter suddenly stops or accelerates at a fast pace and the other object is not stopped, so it continues on at that current speed. For example, when a car suddenly stops, the passengers slide forward because their bodies are not stopped by the force reacting against the car. In our science class, we demonstrated Newton's laws by building roller coasters. Not the kind that you may think of that are fifty feet high, but roller coasters made from toilet paper tubes and recyclable items. Most roller coasters started from a high point, to attain a gravitational force. The marble, which simulated as the roller coaster cart, also gained rolling force which caused it to continue on. When the marble came to a hill in our roller coaster, it would slow or either fall back. This was because the force was not great enough, and the hill was too steep. Because of this, the marble would fall back because of the lack of energy. By having done this project, I have learned the laws of motion clearly. Building a model roller coaster set a model for myself of how these laws applied to what we see as just a ride. When looking at a roller coaster, people just think about how fun it will be, or how scary. Yet, they do not consider why it looks fun or scary. It could be how high the hill is, or the speed at which the roller coaster travels. Therefore, roller coasters are much more complicated than what we think. In fact, building it requires much thought and knowledge of Newtons Laws of Motion.