Name____________________
Period ________
Go to: http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics/coaster.html
Read the first page.
To begin the Webquest: go to the bottom of the page and click on “Introduction”!
Read the Introduction, then click on “Rollercoaster” before answering the questions below.
Roller Coaster
Answer the following questions in complete sentences/thoughts. (2 points each)
1. What does a roller coaster lack?
2. What drives the roller coaster?
3.
What is potential energy and kinetic energy?
4. List the different wheels used in a roller coaster.
5. Compare and contrast wooden and steel roller coasters.
Choose “How did coasters come to be? Read more about their history.”
6. Describe the first roller coaster.
1
7. Describe America’s first roller coaster.
8. Why was the Matterhorn at Disneyland significant?
9. Describe the first inverted roller coaster.
Click on the physics glossary for the following terms.
10. Define speed.
11.
Define velocity.
12. Define acceleration.
13. Define centripetal force.
14. Define energy.
Click on the link:
.
Next, in the middle of the page, click on the link:
and design your own roller coaster.
15. Draw and label your roller coaster design that receives two thumbs up.
Continue the Webquest: go to the bottom of the page and click on “Carousel”!
Carousel
17. Are runaway carousels common? _____
2
18. Are some horses moving faster than others? Explain.
19. What does a ride designer have to take into consideration when adding galloping
horses to the carousel?
20. How do you tell the lead horse on a carousel?
21. Define force. (Use the physics glossary)
Continue the Webquest: go to the bottom of the page and click on “Bumper Cars”!
Bumper Cars
22. Why do you feel a jolt when you collide with another bumper car?
23. How do bumper cars work?
24. Define inertia.
25. When do drivers become aware of their inertia?
3
Continue the Webquest: go to the bottom of the page and click on “Free Fall”!
Free Fall
26. Who first described free fall motion?
27. Describe how free-fall rides work.
28. Define g.
29. Define gravitational force.
Continue the Webquest: go to the bottom of the page and click on “Pendulum”!
Pendulum
30. Describe what motion on a swing feels like.
31. What causes the feeling of weightlessness on pendulum rides?
32. Why do riders experience high g-forces on pendulum rides?
33. Describe a trip that you have made to an amusement park and what you
enjoyed about it?
4