How Do Roller Coasters Work?

Many of us like to go on roller coasters, but how many of us know how they work? The best part of being on a roller coaster is to have a feeling like you are about to fly out of your seat, but why don't you? In this article we will go step by step of how the fun ride works.


First of all, we have to get to the top. So we start going upwards, and the first hill is always the tallest one (for more excitement!), which means that the potential energy is at its highest when the ride is at its highest. Meaning that at that point the ride is at its' highest point and after the drop, the roller coaster will be doing the most work and the energy that the roller coaster will build up from that first drop will be enough to take you until the end of the ride.

After the cheap roller coaster makes it to the top of that first hill, the gravity will take over. The ride will be pulled downwards with the gravitation pull of 9.8m (or 10m). As the ride accelerates down the "hill," the potential energy converts into kinetic energy, also known as motion energy as object that has kinetic energy must be in motion.

Now, how does the roller coaster ride http://bestonrollercoaster.com/ come to an end? Well, it all has to do with inertia, the law that states that an object will stay in motion until acted by an equal but opposite force. When the roller coaster is at the bottom of the "hill" its' kinetic energy is at its highest. While the ride is going around the loops and other hills, the energy is being lost to an energy like friction. So when the roller coaster gets to an end it has used all of its energy (but of course there are also breaks that help the ride with coming to a stop, which also convert the kinetic energy into heat).

So you know the feeling like you are going to fly out of your seat that we talked about earlier? The reason you do not fly out of your seat is because you are being pushed down by your safety bars, even though you are going up the hill. When you go down the hill, you are still being pushed downwards even though the roller coaster starts pushing you up again. The combination of these two "feelings" keep you safe in you seat and make sure you do not fly out and enjoy your ride.


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