A roller coaster designer’s main goal is toproduce as many safe accelerations on the rider’s body as possible. If you'retravelling at a certain speed, and not shifting, you can't feel it, just likeyou can’t feel the rotation of the Earth, despite the large rate at which weare spinning. Humans can't feel speed; we can only feel or sense acceleration.
G loading is expressed as a ratio of theforce developed in changing speed or direction relative to the force felt dueto the earth’s gravity. The smaller the curve radius and the higher the speed,the higher the g force. Thus, a 2g force on a 100 pound body causes it to weigh200 pounds. Race car drivers in the Indianapolis 500 are subjected to more than3g’s in the corners and there are loop coasters that subject passengers to asmuch as 5g’s.
G loading is expressed as a ratio of theforce developed in changing speed or direction relative to the force felt dueto the earth’s gravity. The smaller the curve radius and the higher the speed,the higher the g force. Thus, a 2g force on a 100 pound body causes it to weigh200 pounds. Race car drivers in the Indianapolis 500 are subjected to more than3g’s in the corners and there are loop coasters that subject passengers to asmuch as 5g’s.
Not all g forces increase the weight of thepassenger. As a vehicle goes over the top of a hill the load on the passengerbecomes less than earth’s gravity and, in the extreme, could throw anunrestrained passenger out of the car. Some coasters do subject passengers toslightly negative g’s which cause them to raise off their seats and become“weightless” for a short period. This is often a desirable feature. Coasterswith numerous airtime moments often rank among the best in the world.
Restraint design is directly affected by theg-forces felt during the ride. ASTM standards recommend types of restraintsbased on the range of g-forces. If all rides were geared to the weakest amongthe population, there would be no rides. The more safeaccelerations on a ride the better.
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