How do newtons three laws apply to a rollercoaster?

Answer 1

The First Law of motion is: An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion tends to remain in motion. The roller coaster does not move at first until hauled to the top of an incline. The roller then accelerates and remains in motion for several rises and falls, slowed and then accelerated again by gravity, but losing energy only to friction with the track and the air. Once this momentum is used up, it again has to be pulled to the top of an incline, and start down again. To control its speed, and at the end, brakes have to be used to slow it down.

Additionally, riders in the car will experience an apparent increase or decrease in their body weight at the top and bottom of inclines. Their forward momentum will push them down in their seats at the bottom, but as they crest each hill, their bodies will attempt to continue upward, out of the seats. For this reason, a restraining bar is necessary.

The second law is: The acceleration of an object depends on the mass of the object and the amount of force applied. When a roller coaster goes down a steep hill, gravity makes the roller coaster speed up, and going up a hill, it slows down. The higher the incline, the greater its acceleration and the greater its speed becomes by the time it reaches the bottom.

The third law is: Whenever one object exerts a force on a second object the second object exerts an equal and opposite force on the first. Since a roller coaster is on a ramp, the ramp has to support the weight of the roller coaster, especially when it turns it back up against gravity at the bottom of each incline. The rollers on each car also prevent the cars from leaving the track on turns, by exerting a controlling force using the sides and upper half of the track.

Answer 2

Most Roller Coasters rely totally on gravity for acceleration, they are designed so that they accelerate downhill in order to make it to the next peak of a vertical curve, to start the acceleration again, this is repeated over a number of times until the end.

Answer 3

The basis for all amusement park ride designs is "Don't kill the clients"

All rides must be designed to avoid throwing the clients out of the rides or killing them by other physical trauma and prevent the rides from tearing themselves apart during the ride cycle.

To do this the rides must consider:

• For non-enclosed rides (roller coasters): never fall down faster than gravity pulls them down. Falling to do this separates the riders from the rides. ( physics of gravitation and free falling objects)
• Never have rides (roller coasters, drop of death) change direction so the riders are thrown out of the car. Rather have the centrifugal force press them into the seat and the rides down onto the tracks. Laws of Motion
• Always build rides of materials that can withstand the forces applied to them (general strength of materials)
• For rides which spin the clients so they don't fall out when the bottom of the ride pulls away, ensure a good knowledge of centifugal forces vs. Gravity and friction
• Never stop rides instantaneously to prevent riders from being thron forward to their deaths (Conservation of Momentum)
• Make openings in tunnels higher than a riders head or extremities
• Never exceed G forces that might cause riders to have heart attacks, miscarriages, or neck vertebrae failure (F=MA)
• Rides which invert the riders (extreme roller coasters) must use sufficient centifugal force to keep riders in their seats
• Trajectories of rides like reverse bungee cords must be calculated to avoid contact with solid objects
• Modulus of elasticity for bungee cord must be known to prevent jumpers from contacting the ground at high speed

Answer 4

Newton's Second Law states that an object acted on by a force is accelerated, and that the total acceleration is a function of the time the force is applied.

A roller coaster does not get its high speed from driving motors. The roller coaster car is accelerated by gravity after being lifted to the top of a ramp. The higher the ramp, the longer it can accelerate, and the faster the car will be going when it reaches the bottom.

Answer 5

Imagine a roller coaster at the top of a hill. Newton's second law is F=ma. The roller coaster has mass (m) and it is in the earth's gravitational field, which provided the acceleration (a). So this roller coaster experiences a force that pushes it down the hill.

Answer 6

Here I will include Newton's three laws, what they mean, and what they are:

1) INERTIA- The tendency to resist a change in motion. (MORE MASS= MORE INERTIA) EX. An object will keep doing what it is doing unless acted upon by an outside force. (seat belts)

2) FORCE- The smaller that mass, the greater the acceleration, when force is applied. (Force = mass x acceleration)

3)ACTION-REACTION- EX when you put a marker on a table, the table does not collapse. This is because while the marker is using a small amount of gravity, the table is using a larger amount of force to "push up". What if you dropped a truck on the table? It would collapse, because the truck has a greater force pushing on it.

Answer 7

1st law: something in motion will stay in motion unless an external force acts upon it. The cart will always keep moving forward on the rails when it's pushed. Only external forces like friction will stop it once moving.

2nd law: force is equal to mass times acceleration. The cart is pulled back at the start of the ride, now when it is dropped from the very top gravity will try to pull it downward. However it cannot leave the rails, so it just slides downward while accelerating. The rate of acceleration in this case is dependant on the mass of the object (mass of the cart) and the force it's exposed to (in this case a gravitational force, equal to the weight of the cart).

3rd law: Action = reaction. When the cart is at rest, it has an equillibrium of forces acting upon it. The gravitational force is balanced out by the force with which it's held up by the rails so the cart stays still. The cart however doesn't have to be still for the 3rd law to apply. Even if it's moving, the sum of all the forces acting upon it is equal to 0 as long as it's not accelerating.

Answer 8

Al three of newytons laws are the same.....

Answer 9

According to Newton's first law of motion a roller coaster would not get started without an external force.