Coaster

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Welcome to the death defying Funderstanding Roller Coaster!

This simulator is designed for people who want to design their own thrilling coaster and educators who want to use a cool activity to simulate the application of physics by using an exciting interactive tool and access to a wonderful reference source.

It is your mission to design the coaster so that you can achieve maximum thrills and chills without crashing or flying off the track (unless that’s how you like your coaster to work!).

If you accept this mission you must decide on a number of factors. You are responsible for setting the controls for the height of hill #1, hill #2, the size of the loop, the initial speed of the coaster, its mass, the gravity at work and the amount of friction on the track.

This tool offers a great way to play a roller coaster game, and learn while doing it. Hopefully you’ll enjoy this simulation and it will encourage you to think about how simulations can help you improve the way you teach.

If you need help, click on the ‘?‘ that relates to each slider. A second browser window will open to display the information. You can also get help on the topics listed below.

• Acceleration
• Centripetal Force
• Energy
• Force
• g’s
• Inertia
• Momentum
• Sir Isaac Newton
• Velocity
• Weightlessness
• Weight
• Work

Contact us for more information.

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