Early roller coasters used a circular loop along their track, but nowadays modern roller coasters utilize a clothoid loop as opposed to a circular loop. A clothoid loop can be described as an upside down teardrop shape, where the bottom radius of the loop is larger than the top radius of the loop. Roller coasters switched to a clothoid loop when people realized that to send a cart through a clothoid loop it takes a less amount of energy in comparison to the more circular loop. To send a cart through a circular loop a large amount of force is needed to make sure it can complete the entire loop since you are constantly turning, but to send a cart through a clothoid loop you require less energy since there is not a continuous change in direction. So, the reason modern roller coasters switched to using the teardrop-shaped loop is because it requires less energy to send a cart through one.
Question 10 “G-force stands …show more content…
Roller coasters also use centripetal force while they’re doing loops and cause a lot of health problems due to how the drops affect the rider’s body. On the other hand, swing carousels are basically circular ride which mostly uses centripetal force, speed, and acceleration. The chairs are attached to a circular rotating metal top, and are suspended by metal chains, which allow the riders to be literally spun around like a pendulum. The speed in which the motor is going, allows the riders to be lifted off from the ground and be spun around in the air while the ride is on. Since the swing carousel uses centripetal force the physiological symptoms that the riders feel would be similar to what roller coaster riders would feel. For instance, both riders would be pushed back into their seats. Also, due to the centripetal force the riders would feel weightless on certain parts of each