Roller Coasters Lab Report

A motor or chain pulls the roller coaster cart up a large hill in order to gain potential energy. This energy is dependent upon the mass of the cart and the height of the cart. Once the cart goes down the hill and begins to descend onto the first loop most of the potential energy is lost and is converted into kinetic energy. This energy is dependent on the mass of the cart and the speed of the cart. Due to the fact that roller coasters are constantly going up and down the energy is continuously changing between potential and kinetic energy. When the roller coaster gains height than the speed decreases which represents the change from kinetic to potential energy. Whereas, when height decreases the speed increases in the transformation of potential

The work in this equation relates to outside forces such as air resistance. When the roller coaster ride begins the forces acting on it are the force of gravity, normal force, and dissipative forces (which is the work done externally on the cart). The force of gravity and the normal force both have no effect on the work done on the carts. This is due to the fact that the force of gravity is internal and the normal force is perpendicular to the motion. However, the dissipative forces do. Through this, a small amount of the initial energy is taken through the dissipative forces, which is why the W is included in the equation. However, this amount of energy is very small so it can sometimes be neglected. When this occurs than the combination of potential and kinetic energy (mechanical energy) is conserved throughout the ride, meaning no energy is

The roller coaster has 10 cars attached to it and each car is single-car. It has a mass of 950 kg. Each passenger will weigh approximately 75 kg. On this ride the height of the first hill will be 100 meters tall. The bottom of this hill will have a slight curve so it similar to a free fall. The next hill would be 90 m tall in order to give the cars the maximum amount of possible energy. The loop would be an elliptical loop that is 55 m tall. In order to find out if potential energy is converted into kinetic energy the equation stated above about roller coasters will be