Mike+and+Matt

=Six Flags Great Adventure Project= Mike Poleway Matt Ordover


 * Some measurements taken from Six Flags Physics Day Workbook 2012.*

El Toro
Part A) At the Park
 * Estimate Distances and Angles**
 * 1) height of starting point of the roller coaster ride: **0 m**
 * 2) height of top of the first hill : **55.3** **m**
 * 3) height of bottom of the first hill. **2** **m**
 * 4) radius of curve at the bottom of hill: **29 m**
 * 5) angle of the initial incline up: **65 degrees**
 * 6) angle of the initial incline down: **75 degrees**


 * Measure time to travel up and down first hill.**
 * Trial || Up(s) || Down(s) ||
 * 1 || 13.8 || 4.5 ||
 * 2 || 12.7 || 4.7 ||
 * 3 || 14.5 || 4.2 ||
 * 4 || 14 || 4.3 ||
 * 5 || 14.2 || 4.5 ||
 * Average || 13.84 || 4.44 ||

1) FBD of car on the way up 2) FBD of car on the way down 3) FBD of car at the bottom of first hill 4) FBD of mass on a string on the way up 5) FBD of mass on a string on the way down 6) FBD of mass on a string at the bottom of the first hill 7) Labeled Sketches Top View Side View 8) Side View Picture 9) Video media type="file" key="IMG_0017.MOV" width="300" height="300"
 * Diagrams**

Distance vs. Time Velocity vs. Time Acceleration vs. Time Thrill vs. Time
 * Graphs**

> El Toro had a seat belt in addition to a very tight lap bar. This ensured that no rider would be able to leave his/her seat while the coaster is moving. In addition, the turns were banked so the car would not tip over due to the high speeds at which the turns were made. > On the way up I did not feel any different. On the way down, I felt lighter. At the bottom of the first hill, I felt very heavy. It was almost as if something was pushing down on me. > Normally I get very nervous on the way up as I am afraid of heights, but the chain on this ride was very fast which was nice. It was very exciting as we went down the extremely steep first hill. By the time we got to the bottom of the first hill I had my hands in the air and I was screaming.
 * Evaluate**
 * 1) Safety: What features were in place?
 * 1) Describe the weight sensations on the way up, on the way down, and at the bottom of the first hill: did you feel lighter, heavier, or normal?
 * 1) Describe the excitement level:
 * 1) Describe the thrill factors that may contribute to those feelings (besides the #g’s): One thrill factor was the extremely high speeds and the fact that falling so fast makes your stomach drop.

Part B) Back at School Speed at bottom of first hill Acceleration down first hill Power needed to get up first hill (Assume mass of rider is 50 kg)
 * Calculate Experimental Values**

Speed at bottom of first hill Acceleration down first hill Power needed to get up first hill
 * Calculated Theoretical Values**

Speed at bottom of first hill Acceleration down first hill
 * Evaluate Accuracy of the 3 Calculations Above**

Power needed to get up first hill


 * 1) Evaluate Safety
 * 2) Calculate #g’s on the way down the hill and at the bottom of the hill:
 * 3) [[image:g's.png]]
 * 4) Were #g’s within safe limits? yes
 * 5) Was there correlation between #g’s and excitement level? Explain, providing evidence. Yes as the number of g's increased, so did the excitement. I experienced this down the first drop because it was very exciting and that is where the g's go up.


 * 1) Thinking about Physics
 * 2) Explain the behavior of the mass on the string. Did the FBD of the car correlate to that of the mass? Why or why not? As you go up the first hill, the mass hangs toward the rider. At the top, it is straight down, and it hangs away from the rider on the way down. This does correlate to the FBD of the car.
 * 3) Did the #g’s correlate to the sensation of weight? Yes because the apparent weight felt higher as you experienced more g's.
 * 4) Discuss the graphs that you created and why they curve the way that they do. The distance vs time graph steadily goes up at first as we went up the chain and then slows down, changes direction, and eventually speeds up as it goes down the hill. The velocity vs. time graph goes up a little at first as the car goes up the speedy chain. It stays that speed for a little bit before getting to the first hill and gaining speed rapidly. The speed slowly goes down throughout the rest of the ride. The acceleration vs. time graph has no acceleration at first as the cart goes up the incline at constant speed. However, the acceleration then spikes at the car goes down the first hill and picks up speed. The thrill vs. time graph goes up a little bit at first as the tension rises from the height. Then, it goes even higher as you go down the first drop and the speed picks up.

=Activity B=
 * Superman**

Part A) At the park

Height of top of loop: 35.05 meters Heigh of first hill: 30.48 meters Length of car: .938 meters Radius of loop: 15 meters
 * Estimate Distances and Angles**


 * Measure Time**


 * **Time (s)** ||
 * 4.2 s ||
 * 3.9 s ||
 * 4.4 s ||
 * 4.5 s ||
 * 4.2 s ||

FBD of car at top FBD of mass on a string at top Labeled sketch (top) Labeled sketch (side) Picture
 * Diagrams**

Video []


 * Graphs**

v vs t Force v t a vs t Thrill vs a

Safety features: In this ride, you are strapped in so you are hanging, looking down like you're flying like superman. They strap your legs into cuff-like things so that your legs don't dangle and hit something. The bar goes over your head and you also have buckles to keep you tight and unable to move.
 * Evaluate**

Excitement level at the top, side and bottom of the loop: The excitement level on this ride is highest at the bottom of the loop since that is where you are going the fastest and that is where the most g's are present. You're upside down at this point and pretty much on the ground, so that also adds to the excitement. At the top of the loop, you feel more weightless though, and that contributes to the stomach drop you experience when going down the side loop.

Thrill Factors: This ride is very fast and the loop is a very tall loop, so the speed and height are definitely factors. You go upside down in the loop, so when you do a flip that adds to the thrill. Moreover, dangling like you're superman flying definitely adds to the thrill, and I can say for a fact it made the ride a lot more fun and thrilling.

Weight sensations at the top, side and bottom of the loop: At the top I felt weightless, at the bottom i felt the most heavy, and on the side of the loop i felt normal. This is expected though and it is mostly the same for every ride where at the top you feel lightest and at the bottom you feel heaviest. = = =Activity C=
 * Jolly Roger**

Part A) At the park
 * Estimate Distances and Angles**

1. length of car: 1.22 m 2. radius of circular path: 6.4 m 3. angle of seats: 90 degrees


 * Measure Time**


 * **Period (s)** ||
 * 6.71 ||
 * 6.53 ||
 * 6.4 ||
 * 6.62 ||
 * 6.27 ||
 * Avg. Period: 6.5 ||


 * Diagrams**

FBD of car at max height:

FBD of car at min height



FBD of mass on a string at max height FBD of mass on a string at min height Labeled sketch of ride (top): Labeled sketch of ride (side):

Picture:

Video: media type="file" key="IMG_0014.MOV" width="300" height="300"


 * Graphs**

Force vs t: a vs t: Thrill vs a:


 * Evaluate**

a. Describe the safety features of the ride: This ride doesn't go fast at all, so the safety features compared to others are simple. When you sit down in the car, a bar is put over your leg so you can't move.

b. Describe the excitement level that you felt at the min and max height (if vertical), or at mac speed (if horizontal): There was no excitement for me on this ride, as it is a calm, family friendly ride. The whole time you are going a constant speed and you are barely moving up or down. You feel a little more excitement at the max height than the min height, but not much. The most exciting part is when you accelerate at the beginning.

c. Describe the thrill factors that may contribute to those feelings: The small change from min height to max height changes your weight, and at the top you feel lightest. When you feel lightest, you are most excited. This is more true for roller coasters though over this ride.

d. Describe weight sensations: You feel lighter at the top and heavier at the bottom, yet you don't feel it that much in this ride since the height change is so small

Part B) Back at School


 * Experimental Values**

Average Speed

Centripetal Acceleration

Apparent Weight

Jolly Roger has an rpm of 10 http://www.greatadventurehistory.com/JollyRoger.htm
 * Theoretical Values**

Average Speed

Centripetal Acceleration

Apparent Weight


 * Accuracy**

Average Speed

Centripetal Acceleration

Apparent Weight

All our percent errors weren't terrible, with our highest reaching 14.69%. This was expected though because the times we took experimentally at the park were very similar to the given times online. In addition, we already knew that apparent weight would have a percent error of 0% because there is no acceleration on the y-axis, so there is not change in anything on that axis. Since force and weight are the only two factors in that equation, then nothing changes.


 * Safety**

This ride is very safe because it is below 4 g's, and whenever a ride is below 4, it is considered safe.

Since there was such a low number of g's in this experiment, it is not surprising that the ride was barely exciting. As the number of g's approaches four, you get that feeling where your stomach drops, which adds to the excitement of this ride. Jolly Roger doesn't have that feeling, and the low number of g's shows that.


 * Thinking about physics**


 * a)** The mass on the string swung, while the mass on the car was held in place by its centripetal force and the friction involved in the ride. Because of the inertia from the ride, the mass swung in a tangential path from the center.

b) The force vs time graph stays constant throughout the whole graph because once you get to max speed on this ride, which is relatively quick, then the force remains the same for the rest of the ride.

The acceleration vs time graph stays mostly constant too throughout the graph. It increases a little in the beginning to show the acceleration at the beginning of the ride, but once it reaches max speed, it stays at the speed for the rest of the ride. It doesn't accelerate anymore, so the graph shows a straight line.

The thrill vs acceleration graph shows that the thrill went up and down throughout the whole graph. This is because during the ride, you were constantly changing heights. As you changed heights, you were becoming lighter and then heavier. When you were lighter (at the top), the thrill would go up, and when you were heavier (at the bottom) your thrill would go down. The peak of the graph was very low though because there was barely any thrill on this ride at all because the height differences were very small.