No doubt about it: we all love amusement parks. If you’re fortunate enough to live close enough to one to buy a season pass, that’s great! And if a trip to an amusement park involves planning a vacation around it, well, that’s okay too. We still love them.
However, did you ever stop to think about the SCIENCE behind amusement parks? I’m talking about physics, that most mathematical of sciences. Physics play a huge part in designing amusement park rides that are fun, safe, and exciting.
That’s where today’s FamilyFirst site comes into play: Amusement Park Physics.
For instance, let’s take that most dramatic of amusement park rides: the roller coater. Note what the site has to say about the heart-in-your-throat experience of riding a wild coaster:
�The designers of the roller coaster carefully crafted this thrilling ride to be just that, but you’re actually in less danger than you think. You face a greater threat of injury playing sports or riding a bike than you do on a park ride. Amusement park rides use physics laws to simulate danger, while the rides themselves are typically very safe.�
Read about not only what makes roller coasters work, abut also their fascinating history. Did you know the roller coater owes its origin to blocks of ice fashioned into sleds with straw or fur to sit on for comfort?
Of course, roller coaters aren’t the only things at amusement parks that depend on physics. Reade about carousels, bumper cars, freefall rides, and pendulum rides. Find out why you get sick on rides, too. Eww . . .
Have fun at today’s FamilyFirst site. And learn some science in the process!
http://www.learner.org/exhibits/parkphysics
