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A water slide is a type of slide or tube designed for warm-weather or indoor recreational use, typically with water pumped to its top and allowed to flow down its surface, although some may simply be wet. A person is able to sit directly on the slide, or on a raft or tube designed to be used with the slide, and slide to the bottom via gravity. The water reduces friction so sliders travel down the slide very quickly. Water slides typically run into a swimming pool (often called a plunge pool) at the end. Some, however, have long, flat, straight sections at the bottom with a few inches of standing water, frictional material, or rollers attached to the slide designed to slow the slider and allow them to safely exit the slide.
Water slides are popular at water parks and may form alternatives to those who don't like such intense rides at other amusement parks.[citation needed] If these empty into a pool, the pool is usually designed only to catch sliders who must exit the pool immediately after coming to a stop, to prevent sliders entering the pool at high speed from striking other swimmers. These Plunge pools are usually quickly cleared by other swimmers to avoid injury. Smaller water slides may be found at actual swimming pools in water parks, private locations and community recreation centers where larger "thrill" slides are absent.
In some countries, they are more commonly referred to as flumes, water chutes, or hydroslides.
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Types of water slides
Slides may be straight or curvy, zig- zaged or wiggly. Large slides in thrill parks may be otherwise designed to maximize the effect of plunging in to the pool creating a "fear factor" involved with such amusement type rides. Sometimes, to add to the overall excitement of a water slide, names are used which are intended to increase the "fear factor".
Extreme slides
Extreme slides or speed slides are straight, with a near vertical drop in the middle designed to give the rider the most possible speed. These are called "plunge" or "plummet" slides, and are one of the most fearsome slides due to their height. They can accelerate people up to an average of 55 miles per hour[citation needed]. The tallest plummet slide in the world is Spacemaker at 42 meters (137.8 feet), which can bring riders up to 100 km/h (62.1 mp/h)[1], located at Aqualandia, a water park at Jesolo Beach in northern Italy. This slide requires riders to sit on a raft, and thus does not fall into the same category as the highest single rider/raft-free water slide Insano at 41 meters (135 feet), which can bring riders up to 65.24 mph, located at Porto das Dunas Beach, a part of the Beach Park Resort in Fortaleza, Brazil.
Body slides
Other slides wind down a very curvy path which is not as steep, although some slides allow significant speeds to be obtained. The sharpest curves are usually completely enclosed or have high walls on the outside of the curve to prevent users from leaving the slide; thus these slides can be a long tube or alternate between an open chute and closed tube. G-forces experienced in these slides can range from gentle and family-friendly to surprisingly intense. Most riders will be required to lie flat on their backs, and cross their arms over their chest to prevent injury on these types of slides.
Tube/raft slides
Some slides are designed to be ridden with a tube or raft. These are commonly family slides, and some tubes allow up to 8 riders at one time. These are normally slow and include many twists and turns, and sometimes have pools along their length to simulate whitewater rafting.
Uphill slides
A small percentage of slides are hydro coasters. They shoot riders up and down with water or a conveyor belt. This is normally a "high intensity" water slide. A company called pro slide has recently developed a hydro magnetic water coaster. It uses LIMs to push the inner tube up the incline. The City of North Richland Hills, Texas operates a community owned water park that claims to have the worlds largest uphill water slide called The Green Extreme according to their advertising.
Inflatable Water Slides
Inflatable water slides are designed for the home user. They are typically made of a tough plastic material and attach to garden hoses in order to generate their supply of water. Some slides are totally horizontal, encouraging the user to slide 'along' them, rather than 'down' them.
References
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