Mathematics in Rollercoasters
There are several different types of math used in building and creating roller coasters. Some of them are: angles, heights, velocity, slope, gravity, rotation, and more. Below, I will be explaining some of the equations and mathematical ways of figuring them out.
First there are angles, which is “the space measured in degrees between two intersecting lines or surfaces at or close to the point where they meet.” To figure them out, the engineers use machines, models, and test coasters to come up with the perfect angles. They need to make sure the measurements and angles work right before they can go back to designing the actual coaster. Roller-coasters do not have engines, but they are controlled almost completely by the angles and velocity it reaches after the first big drop goes down.
Heights are “something figured out by measuring from the base to the top. Specifically, for the roller-coaster, the engineer usually measures the highest point of the coaster, from the ground to the top of it.
Next, is speed or velocity, which is “the speed of something in …show more content…
This method also goes along with the first angles section. Slope is basically “a surface of which one end or side is at a higher level than another; a rising or falling surface.”
After a roller coaster climbs up the first big hill using a lift or cable to get to the top, the way down is controlled by gravity, or “a force of attraction between masses.” Then, the stored energy is released as kinetic energy, which is “the mechanical energy that something has while being in motion,” this will get the rollercoaster up the next hill. As the cart travels up and down the rest of the rides hills, the motion is constantly switching between potential, “mechanical energy that something has while being still” and kinetic