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

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 rid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Physics education 2020-11, Vol.55 (6), p.65012
Main Authors: Pendrill, Ann-Marie, Eager, David
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Acceleration
amusement park physics
Damping
Experience
Fysik
Human Body
jerk
Motion
Natural Sciences
Naturvetenskap
Physical Sciences
Physics
Roller coasters
Safety
snap
Vibration
vibrations
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0031-9120
1361-6552
DOI:10.1088/1361-6552/aba732