Hyun-ho Shin

Thorpe Park Visit Report

The Venue

The destination of our visit was Thorpe Park, opened in 1979 it is one of the most popular theme parks in
England, accredited to its wide variety of rides ranging from roller-coasters to giant swings, giving me the
opportunity to see and experience for myself; physics in action.
Thorpe park is one of the few places in the world where visitors, young and old alike, are able and encouraged to
experience gravity and other forces in measures that are impossible in every-day life.
At the visit, I saw the human endurance of forces taken to its limit on the various rides and learnt how knowledge
of physics is crucial in designing the roller-coasters in order to maximize thrill while maintaining safety.

The Physics

The physics principles that I observed and which are of utmost importance in this context include: Equations of
motions, Free-fall, Projectiles, conservation of energy, work and power.
The main Ideas that relate to these principles and I saw at work on the rides are:
Equations of constant acceleration, such as s=ut+ at
2

Work Done = Force * Displacement in direction of Force
Acceleration due to gravity = 9.81ms
-1
. This acceleration is the same no matter the mass.
Range of projectiles depending on angle and initial velocity, Range = 2(Velocityinitial * sin* cos)/g
Calculating Power = Work done/time
Conservation of energy, Egpe=Ek

Ideas in Context

I learnt that these ideas and principles were used as an intrinsic part in the process of designing the rides.
For Example, in colossus, a wall was built in front of a hump in the track to make our minds perception of range
of projectiles believe that we will crash in to the wall, but by pulling the cart down out of its normal path, the
passengers get a thrill while remaining safe.
Some rides also manipulate our experience of gravity to make the ride exciting, the ideas of high g and low g are
used to respectively force us down in to the seat and also let us experience instances of weightlessness where we
are lifted out of our seats. The rides also use ideas of lateral-g to force the riders in to the side of the ride and
transition to longitudinal g with banking turns. This variance in the way we feel gravity makes the rides infinitely
more exhilarating and memorable.

Perhaps, the most important part of the application of physics is the assurance of safety of the passengers. An
Idea that I came across is ensuring that the maximum g-force experienced is not placed upon delicate parts of the
body such as the neck, but on parts such as the posterior, which is a great natural shock absorber. Another
principle I saw was establishing a limit on the centripetal force where the head is on the outside of the circular
movement, to ensure not too much blood is forced in to the head.

Physics is also used not only to make the ride exciting but also functional, the loops that make up colossus are of a
tear-drop shape to ensure there is change of direction and thus acceleration at the top of the loop to ensure the
ride does not get stuck and can continue smoothly.
This notion of functionality also relates profoundly to the ride stealth, which I studied in depth due to the nature
of the practical we need to do. Relating to the Idea of acceleration due to gravity, and since the latter part of
stealth involves a virtual free-fall; it was the perfect ride to focus on.





Word count: 571
Hyun-ho Shin


Stealth

Stealth is a Launch Roller-Coaster It relies on the initial launch to
make it up the 200ft climb and have enough momentum to make it
down the other side of the Track.
Ride Details, Weight: 10600kg, height: 62m, length of build-up: 43.7m

The Roller Coaster has a 2.3 second launch time and has launch speed
of 38ms
-1
which means that acceleration is 28/2.3 = 16.52ms
-2
. To
achieve this acceleration, the amount of force needed is 16.52 *
10600 = 175112N. Consequently, work done on the 43.7m track is
175112 * 43.7 = 7652394J. And we can work out power by doing
7652394/2.3 = 3327kw, this means the hydraulic motors need to
work at a power of 3327kw.

The downward acceleration can be determined using the carts mass, track height and time taken using the
formula g=2h/t
2
. We can then use this value with the change in direction at the bottom to determine that
centripetal acceleration experienced at the bottom of the decline is 41.62ms-1, roughly 4.2g which means that
the roller coaster is safe for passengers to ride.

These kinds of calculations not only help engineers in the process of designing and building the ride so that it is
safe, functional and exciting, but also in the maintenance of the rides. The engineers can adjust the power output
of the hydraulic motors according to weather conditions or passenger weight to ensure the ride functions
correctly every time. This is necessary because different conditions will vary the friction between the cart and the
track, cold climates could result in the cart being stuck at the top or rolling back down, since too much energy has
been wasted through friction as heat and not enough was transferred to kinetic energy and thus gravitational
potential energy.

Summary

For every ride in the theme park, physics has been applied in order to help the engineers, design and implement
ideas and parts in the most effective and secure way possible to make the rides exciting yet safe. Previously, in
1898, a roller coaster with a circular loop was built in France called the flip-flap roller coaster. However, the force
needed for the trains to go round this loop successfully was so great that it ended up snapping the passenger's
neck dangerously. The development in understanding of physics has evolved roller-coasters to utilize the tear-
drop loops and brought an end to the hazard with gentler turning force due to natural acceleration at the top,
resulting in less speed and force needed at the beginning of the loop, which means less force on the rider's spine
and neck as the train changes direction up the loop.

These ideas and principles help in production as well as in the designing process of the rides. Having a firm
foundation in calculations and physics will greatly reduce the need for trial and error in the production of the
rides, which means less production time and a quicker launch. Resulting in less negative impact on the
environment due to manufacture and more profit for the producer.

Even though the physics do benefit the engineers in ensuring that their designs are exciting and safe, there are
risks involved as well. Many theoretical calculations may be rendered somewhat inaccurate due to outside
factors that the engineers may not have considered to the full, such as weather conditions and variables such as
weight of passengers. This means that even if the designs are based on physics and calculations, rigorous testing
must still be carried out in many different conditions to ensure that ride is completely safe and no accidents
occur due to complete faith in the physics.

My practical involves determining the acceleration of free fall, and this enjoyable visit has helped me see how
these calculations can be important and even pivotal in the production of rides, such as determining how much g
force is produced by a ride and how much force a human can safely endure. This will not only help me see my
work in a new perspective and understand how these seemingly pointless exercises are actually important, but
also greatly increase my enjoyment of carrying out the experiment as I am now able to put my results into a
relevant and interesting context.

Reference:

The Image of Stealth by Semantics:
http://stealth.thorpepark.com/drawing_board/3d_renders_full_size.asp?css=0&file=2
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