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Physics of Rollercoasters
- Essay length: 2587 words
- Submitted: 01/04/2012
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Marked by teacher:
Helen Forbes
Teacher essay summary
4: This is a generally well written piece of work. The physics content is clear - and the author seems to have a good understanding of the topic in general. However, the essay suffers from a confused structure at time, and there are one or two points that would benefit from further clarification. Many of the descriptions of forces could be significantly simplified with a more extensive use of diagrams. The range of resources used is limited, but the author has considered resources that are appropriate for the given level.
Marked by teacher Helen Forbes 01/12/2012
The first 200 words of this essay...
The Physics of...
Rollercoasters
Gravity . Acceleration . G-forces . Inertia . Centripetal force = Thrilling Ride.
Rollercoasters illustrate some of the most fundamental principles of physics, these specific forces and motions are manipulated to create a great ride for our amusement. The direct ancestors of rollercoasters were monumental ice slides; long, steep wooden slides covered in ice, some as high as 70 feet that were popular in Russia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was only in 1817 that the first rollercoaster was born when a train was attached to the track.
Galileo already knew many of the basic physical principles that underlie today's rollercoasters. That a rollercoaster train going down a hill represents, a complex case of a body descending an inclined plane. Newton developed the rest of the fundamental physics needed to understand rollercoasters, by giving an improved understanding of forces.
Isaac Newton initiated ideas about gravity during the early 16th century, but modern work in gravitational theory began with the work of Galileo a century later. He discovered that freely falling bodies, heavy or light, have the same, constant acceleration and that this acceleration is due to gravity. He
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MbT essay summary
4: This is a generally well written piece of work. The physics content is clear - and the author seems to have a good understanding of the topic in general. However, the essay suffers from a confused structure at time, and there are one or two points that would benefit from further clarification. Many of the descriptions of forces could be significantly simplified with a more extensive use of diagrams. The range of resources used is limited, but the author has considered resources that are appropriate for the given level.
