Finding a good explination of the physics of rollercoasters

piareround

So I was helping my friend with some homework when I realized that his book didn't have any good examples of the rollercoaster loop problem about showing the differences between linear and rotational kinetic energy.

So I was wondering, does anyone know any good websitel, besides this one lol, that goes into detail about explaining how the forces change, rotational kinentic energy, and kinetic energy change as you go around the loop of a roller coaster?

Thanks a bunch,

piareround

PhanthomJay

I suppose why not google on "loop coasters"? Be careful though, when talking about 'rotational' and 'linear' kinetic energies. In loop-the-loop roller coaster problems, or other problems involving uniform or non uniform circular motion, it is easiest to work in linear kinetic energy, using tangential velocities along the circular path, and applying conservation of energy and centripetal force/acceleration methods.