How do roller coasters work?

Buildings & Structures

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by Mya Kagan (whyzz writer) >> more about the author

Wheeee! Riding a roller coaster can be thrilling and fun! How do they work??

Have you ever noticed that at the beginning of a roller coaster, the car climbs up and up and up a steep incline before it begins rushing downwards and quickly looping and spinning you all around? This is actually an essential part of how they work! Even though you might feel “pulled along” by a roller coaster, there actually isn’t any machinery or engine pulling you on after the initial climb! By starting you out way up high, the coaster has the types of energy needed once it gets going to keep going until its end! It’s a team-effort of the speed gained during the ride’s very first descent and the pull of gravity that give a coaster its go!

Roller coaster are generally made of either wood or steel. Wooden ones tend to be older while steel tends to be for newer rides. The material they’re built with also contributes to part of how they work: While wood usually can’t undergo as many loops and turns, it has a more thrilling “shaky” feel as you ride. Steel, which usually gives a much “steadier” ride, allows for more upside-down-spinning-around!

The first roller coaster in the United States opened at Coney Island on June 16th, 1884. Imagine that you had never before ridden on a ride and that you went on the first-ever roller coaster! How do you think your experience would be different?? For example, trying out a new invention like that for the first time would probably make it really exciting, and a bit hard to know what to expect!

If you aren’t someone who likes roller coasters, what kind of similar activities do you enjoy? Ferris wheels? Carousels? Water-slides??