Roller Coaster Physics Resources

Rollercoaster Physics for Middle School --

Subtitled "Thrills and Chills Without the Spills," at this site create your dream roller coaster ride and test it in a virtual amusement park. Explore physics and math through a roller coaster design competition by building a working scale model. Compete on-line with other middle-school students. Also included is a scavenger hunt covering many different facts about roller coasters. The project will run from December 20 - April 17, 2000.

Amusement Park Physics - from the Annenberg/CPB Project collection. Students can use this interactive site to design their own roller coaster. Designed to teach physics principles but doesn't require them to calculate formulas.

The Roller Coaster Lessons --

Teacher Tony Layne has written a 90-page book describing how he uses roller coaster 'theory' and visits to amusement parks to teach physics. Layne documented his work "because I was afraid that a school superintendent, principal, school board or taxpayer might not see the educational value in attending an amusement park fot the purpose of doing lab work." Includes labs, hands-on activities, underlying science. Book free at site.

The Physics of Rides: Theme Park Links - A selection of links about the physics of roller coasters; collected at The Mining Co. site.

Roller Coasters Popular with Teachers - This story from the Detroit News (1996) describes how middle and high school science teachers are using roller coasters to jazz up their physics lessons.

World of Coasters - This site claims to be the world's largest repository of roller coaster information. Oriented toward fans and hobbyists. Includes descriptions of the world's "top five" coasters -- like the "Mind Eraser" at Maryland's Six Flags America.

Yahoo's Amusement Park Physics -- Several good links to gravity-defying pages.

"How to Build a Roller Coaster" -- This paper by a mechanical engineering student is fun to read, illustrated, and includes all the formulas.