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Velocity, acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration : Forces in our bodies during a roller coaster ride

Pendrill, Ann Marie LU orcid and Eager, David (2020) In Physics Education 55(6).
Abstract

Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, F = ma, every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication is that not all parts of the body accelerate in the same way when the acceleration is changing, i.e. when there is jerk. Softer parts of the body provide varying levels of damping, and different parts of the body have different frequency responses and different resonance frequencies that should be avoided or reduced by the roller coaster designer. This paper discusses the effect of acceleration, jerk, snap... (More)

Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, F = ma, every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication is that not all parts of the body accelerate in the same way when the acceleration is changing, i.e. when there is jerk. Softer parts of the body provide varying levels of damping, and different parts of the body have different frequency responses and different resonance frequencies that should be avoided or reduced by the roller coaster designer. This paper discusses the effect of acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration on the experience and safety of roller coaster rides, using authentic data from a dive coaster as an example.

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Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
acceleration, amusement park physics, jerk, roller coasters, snap, vibrations
in
Physics Education
volume
55
issue
6
article number
065012
publisher
IOP Publishing
external identifiers
  • scopus:85092212651
ISSN
0031-9120
DOI
10.1088/1361-6552/aba732
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
57df6171-ef56-4ef3-a8fd-0c1d8dcad2d5
date added to LUP
2020-10-29 16:01:31
date last changed
2022-04-19 01:26:50
@article{57df6171-ef56-4ef3-a8fd-0c1d8dcad2d5,
  abstract     = {{<p>Changing acceleration and forces are part of the excitement of a roller coaster ride. According to Newton's second law, F = ma, every part of our body must be exposed to a force to accelerate. Since our bodies are not symmetric, the direction of the force matters, and must be accounted for by ride designers. An additional complication is that not all parts of the body accelerate in the same way when the acceleration is changing, i.e. when there is jerk. Softer parts of the body provide varying levels of damping, and different parts of the body have different frequency responses and different resonance frequencies that should be avoided or reduced by the roller coaster designer. This paper discusses the effect of acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration on the experience and safety of roller coaster rides, using authentic data from a dive coaster as an example.</p>}},
  author       = {{Pendrill, Ann Marie and Eager, David}},
  issn         = {{0031-9120}},
  keywords     = {{acceleration; amusement park physics; jerk; roller coasters; snap; vibrations}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{6}},
  publisher    = {{IOP Publishing}},
  series       = {{Physics Education}},
  title        = {{Velocity, acceleration, jerk, snap and vibration : Forces in our bodies during a roller coaster ride}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1088/1361-6552/aba732}},
  doi          = {{10.1088/1361-6552/aba732}},
  volume       = {{55}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}