All
I could think about was the excitement of rides like these.
All
I could think about was getting sick!
The
best thrill rides are the highest and fastest - you get thrown around more.
I
remembered what it was like on the corners - I was always afraid of being thrown
out!
Loop
the loop rides are just amazing - although I'm still not sure why you don't
fall out when you're upside down.
I
thought a kids' roundabout was pretty tame. But I did see that the principles
were the same as a corkscrew thrill ride.
The
only way to approach this experiment is to be very careful - to be very systematic.
There is a lot going on and you have to work it out one step at a time. Alter
just one thing at a time and see what happens to the velocity. Then change something
else. Work through a number of combinations and see what happens to the velocity.
The final answer is not the velocity itself but it is some combination of mass,
velocity and radius - but it's not a simple combination.
If
everything else stays the same, then the smaller the radius, the faster the
blob revolves - just like the roundabout!"
It's pretty obvious that there is a force trying to push the blob outwards.
When
you are a kid playing on roundabouts you just don't think of the physics. But
I do remember that we did fathom out how to make it go faster and slower - particularly
if we worked together."
Heavier
things move more slowly.
I
know that the outward force - the centripetal force - gets larger with a bigger
blob or when it's moving faster. I even know that the force gets smaller as
the radius gets bigger. But I can't find the exact equation which relates them
all together.
Here
are some comments from other pupils and teachers that may help you to investigate.
heppell.net
