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Name: alexandria
Status: N/A
Age: 17
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 1999
Question:
I conducted an experiment using an accelerometer w/ a 90sec interval on a rollercoaster. the accelerometer was started b4 the 1st initial drop. I'm not sure the # are accurate. is it possible to send me numbers from a previous experiment. if not thanks for trying. i appreciate it.

Replies:
I do not know if you are using a mechanical accelerometer (spring or protractor) or an electronic one (such as TI/Vernier). Without that information, it will be difficult to give you an exact answer. I find that the electronic ones are very difficult to analyze since roller coasters accelerate in three dimensions. It is usually very difficult to correlate the postions on the track where a paarticular acceleration occurred. Without knowing the specific roller coaster, it is hard to tell what the maximum accelerations might be.

In general, rollercoasters have an acceleration in the range of 20 m/s^2 to 38 m/s^2 at the bottom of the first drop. This depends on radius of the curve at the bottom, height of drop, and position in the train.

I hope this helps!

---Nathan A. Unterman---


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