Roller Coaster Thrill Ride

by Francisco Magro

Submitted : Fall 2016

The problem presented an interesting challenge as one had to take both the mathematical and physics aspect into account in order to achieve the correct results. In order to obtain a better understanding of what the thrill ride would be like, I plotted over 200 points onto AutoCAD and made a simple 3-D model. One of the first steps that I took was organizing all of the equations in a manner that I knew what they represented and how integrating them would change their use. For example, I integrated an equation that was for solving acceleration and instead used it to find the final velocity. I also found the distance of the track using integration. At various points throughout my work, I also took derivatives of the equations that I had integrated in order to check that the work was accurate and precise.

Ultimately, this project forces one to understand the crucial relationship between velocity, acceleration, distance, and time.

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