The physics of roller coaster rides are based on the laws of classical physics or Newtons laws of motion.

Imagine a roller coaster that goes upside down with the head pointed downwards. We all know that if we try to hang ourselves upside down we will fall down. Then why do we not fall when the roller coaster goes upside down? There are two forces, one is the force of gravity that would pull the body downwards, and there is an opposing force caused by the rotation of the coaster that balances the downward pull due to gravity.

Similarly roller coasters are not propelled by an external force when they go upwards. When a coaster travels upwards it has to travel against gravity that would pull it down. But the coaster does not use any motors or any fuel to propel it upwards against the gravitational force. In fact when the roller coaster travels downwards it gains speed by virtue of the free fall. When it is at is lowest point there is enough energy that it gains via its natural downward motion, that it completes the upward segment without any further external force supply such as a motor or burning fuel. In other words the kinetic energy of motion at the lowest point is sufficient for it to exceed the potential energy at the highest point. In fact Initial velocity needs to be carefully set so that the kinetic energy of the motion at the lowest point due to the free fall from the highest point provides enough energy to complete the next semi circular path back to the highest point where once again it would fall freely and so on and so forth.

The beauty of the roller coaster is that it follows natural laws of classical motion. Only initially some external force needs to be supplied, after that only natural laws of motion prevail.

Article written by Srinivasa Gopal
The author is an Ezine Expert on Computers and Technology and can be contacted on srinivasa32@hotmail.com. Would love to hear from my readers and publishers

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