Calculating Acceleration of Kings Dominion Drop Tower

  • Thread starter Thread starter suwarna07
  • Start date Start date
  • Tags Tags
    Drop Tower
Click For Summary
SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on calculating the acceleration of the Kings Dominion Drop Tower for a physics project. Participants suggest using the known drop height and final speed to apply equations of motion, acknowledging that air resistance complicates the calculations. The key takeaway is that while gravitational acceleration (g) is the baseline, the actual acceleration will be less due to air resistance, providing a range of values for analysis.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of basic physics concepts such as free fall and gravitational acceleration.
  • Familiarity with equations of motion in physics.
  • Knowledge of how to calculate speed and acceleration.
  • Basic understanding of air resistance and its effects on motion.
NEXT STEPS
  • Research the equations of motion, specifically how to apply them to free fall scenarios.
  • Learn how to calculate the effects of air resistance on falling objects.
  • Explore methods for measuring drop speed in amusement park rides.
  • Investigate how to derive mass from acceleration and force using Newton's second law.
USEFUL FOR

Students working on physics projects, educators teaching motion and forces, and anyone interested in the dynamics of amusement park rides.

suwarna07
Messages
33
Reaction score
0
http://www.flickr.com/photos/39972563@N04/3674854817"



Its for my physics project and i have tried searching everywhere but couldn't find it.
It is drop zone of kings dominion and i want to find the weight of the object people are sitting on. Basically the whole circular thing.

can any1 help me?

thank you
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Physics news on Phys.org
I've had a look, can't find anything on it.

If it's for a physics project, you can get the drop speed and you know it's freefall (well I assume it is) so acceleration = gravity and you know the drop height. So why don't you plug these values into some equations and try to calculate the mass yourself? Now that would be impressive...
 
jarednjames said:
I've had a look, can't find anything on it.

If it's for a physics project, you can get the drop speed and you know it's freefall (well I assume it is) so acceleration = gravity and you know the drop height. So why don't you plug these values into some equations and try to calculate the mass yourself? Now that would be impressive...

yea about that i had tried doing that but the thing is i don't know how to calculate for the air resistance which makes it all difficult. i calculated v0, v1, t assuming no air resistance "sigh" on me :(
 
Well, you know the final speed, height and you know the initial speed, from that you can get it's acceleration (it should be less than g so it will give an approximation for air resistance).
 
jarednjames said:
Well, you know the final speed, height and you know the initial speed, from that you can get it's acceleration (it should be less than g so it will give an approximation for air resistance).

the thing is i used g as acceleration do find initial and final velocity
 
Yes, but if you know initial speed (0) and final speed (whatever value in m/s) and you know the height, you can use the equations of motion to get an acceleration value.

Because the final speed will be a 'real' speed attained with air resistance it will give you an acceleration which reflects it.

It's not perfect, but you should get a value for this and value with no resistance and it should give you some sort of 'grey area' to work within.
 
jarednjames said:
Yes, but if you know initial speed (0) and final speed (whatever value in m/s) and you know the height, you can use the equations of motion to get an acceleration value.

Because the final speed will be a 'real' speed attained with air resistance it will give you an acceleration which reflects it.

It's not perfect, but you should get a value for this and value with no resistance and it should give you some sort of 'grey area' to work within.

darn it y didnt i think of it earlier
thanks bro
 

Similar threads

Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 18 ·
Replies
18
Views
6K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
21K
Replies
13
Views
3K
Replies
8
Views
2K
  • · Replies 17 ·
Replies
17
Views
4K
Replies
12
Views
3K
Replies
4
Views
2K
Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
10
Views
3K