Terms Used in the Creation of Roller Coasters

·         Speed is a scalar quantity or a quantity that only has a magnitude not direction that refers to "how fast an object is moving." Speed can be thought of as the rate at which an object covers distance.

• Acceleration (a) is a vector quantity that is defined as the rate at which an object changes its velocity. An object is accelerating if it is changing its velocity.

-Equation: 

·         Centripetal acceleration (A_c) is the rate of change of tangential velocity. The direction of the centripetal acceleration is always inwards or center-seeking.

-Equation: a_c =  v² / r

·         Net Forces (also known as resultant force) is the overall force acting on an object when all the individual forces acting on the object are added together.

-Equation: Fnet = F1 + F2 or

·         Normal Force (F_norm) is the support force exerted upon an object that is in contact with another stable object. For example, if a book is resting upon a surface, then the surface is exerting an upward force upon the book in order to support the weight of the book.

·         Friction Force (F_fric) is the force exerted by a surface as an object moves across it or makes an effort to move across it. There are at least two types of friction force - kinetic and static friction.

-Equation: F_frict = µ • F_norm

·         Momentum (p) can be defined as "mass in motion." All objects have mass; so if an object is moving, then it has momentum. The amount of momentum that an object has is dependent upon two variables: mass and velocity. In terms of an equation, the momentum of an object is equal to the mass of the object times the velocity of the object.

-Equation: p=mv

·         Potential Energy (PE) is stored energy of position. There are two forms of potential energy which include Gravitational Potential Energy (PE_grav) and the Potential Energy of a Spring (PE_s). Gravitational potential energy is the energy stored in an object as the result of its vertical position or height. The Potential Energy of a Spring is the stored energy in a spring that is not compressed not stretched.

-Equations: PE_grav = m *• g • h

·         Kinetic Energy (KE) is the energy of motion.

-Equation:

·         Mechanical Energy of an object can be the result of its motion (kinetic energy) and/or the result of its stored energy of position (potential energy). The total amount of mechanical energy is merely the sum of the potential energy and the kinetic energy. This sum is simply referred to as the total mechanical energy (TME).

-Equation: TME = PE + KE