Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

A REALLY big roller coaster

As of April, 2004, the biggest roller coaster in the world was the Millennium Force at Cedar Point Park in Ohio. (As of Jan 2011, tallest roller coaster in the world is Kingda Ka, at Six Flags in New Jersey, which has a vertical drop of about 420 feet)

The first drop falls 305 feet at an 80-degree angle:


Image copyright Joe Schwartz and courtesy of www.rcdb.com

At the bottom of the drop, the track rises into a second hill of height 180 feet, which includes a 180-degree turn. The turn is very roughly half of a circle with a radius of about 150 feet.


Image copyright Mark Rehak and courtesy of www.rcdb.com

If we ignore friction and air resistance,

  1. how fast are riders going at the bottom of the first hill?
  2. how fast are riders going at the top of the second hill/turn?
  3. what is the lateral acceleration at the top of the second hill/turn?

The FASTEST "roller coaster" in the world

Where should you go in order to experience the fastest ride on a roller coaster these days? 







            Guess -- go on, guess
The answer can be found here:

Yes, it's Ferrari World in Abu Dhabi!


Image courtesy of Car Advice

One of the attractions at this amusement park is the Formula Rossa roller coaster. The basic layout is pretty simple:


Image courtesy of cartelli.ie

The top speed for this ride occurs at the very start, along a flat, straight section which leads to the first hill.


Image courtesy of geek.com

A hydraulic system accelerates the passengers from rest to a maximum speed of 240 km/hour in just 4.9 seconds.

  1. What is the maximum speed of this coaster in mph? In m/s?
  2. What is the average acceleration during this stage of the ride? Express in meters per second squared, and in terms of gees.

Creative Commons License Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.