Physics Question

If you were to take say, Intimidator's first drop. How would you go about calculating the speed and force at the bottom? How much influence does the angle have on the drop? I'm sure there is a very simple way to do it with Calculus, but I'm a junior in PreCalc and 1st year Physics. I would appreciate it if somebody could show how to go about solving!

[TTD03]

I am thinking you are referring to I305
Lol I know this won't help, but look up the grey out point for human vision, and that's the G force at the bottom cause that always happens to me.
And the speed would be 94 MPH.

[mkingy]

You could go about getting a rough estimated value - ignoring friction and drag due to wind (as things then get very complicated very quickly)

The angle does influence the overall speed as a shallow drop will be subject to more friction forces slowing the ride down. The difference between a 80 degree drop and a 70 degree drop is probably negligible.

Two basic formulas are

Gravitational Potential Energy = Mass x Gravitational Constant (9.81 on earth) x Height

Kinetic Energy = 1/2 Mass x Velocity^2

As I said ignoring friction and drag due to wind this will get a you a rough estimate.

As for the force at the bottom you'd need an idea of the radius of the curve at the bottom of the drop. The equation for Centripetal force (which is when something is forced to follow a curve) is:

Centripetal Force = Mass x (Velocity^2 / Radius of Curve)

This is certainly a very basic model of how a rollercoaster works but its a good place to start. Looking further into it figuring out the frictional effects is the best next step as aerodynamics and turbulence modelling of anything is incredibly difficult (trust me I did a final year university project on it and didn't properly understand what was actually happening)

Interesting! And a bit less complicated than I thought. @TTD03, I actually meant the Carowinds one. I had a good picture but it didn't load with mobile. I meant to put it up but just haven't gotten around to it yet. Thank you!

[TTD03]

You're welcome, even though my answer was pretty much useless