Roller Coaster Jerk

by Perry Fisher

Submitted : Spring 2013

The purpose of this report is to determine the amount of jerk and g-forces exerted on a passenger/guest who is riding on the Cheetah Hunt roller coaster. To determine this information the derivative of the acceleration (jerk) must be found using the known acceleration provided by the ride information. Based on the results it is possible to determine if the forces are extreme and may be potentially dangerous for guests who have a physical disability or injury. This ride was found to have extreme forces with almost 3 g of force during the initial launch going from 0 m/s² to 15.64m/s² in approximately 2 seconds. These forces would be too great for a guest with a spinal injury but not high enough to be dangerous for a guest in good health.

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