Physics behind roller coasters

Everyone should at least ride on a roller coaster once before he dies, to experience the excitements physics bring. You may question, why do I say physics? Aren’t the roller coasters driven by electricity? In fact, it is driven only using potential energy and kinetic energy.

Potential energy is the energy stored in an object or in a system due to its position in a force field or due to its configuration. For example, a text book will create a very laud sound when it is dropped on the floor. Where does that sound energy come from? Well, gravity gives energy to all objects on this planet, the higher the text book is from the ground, this greater the energy it is stored. Therefore, gravity is the driven force of the roller coaster. When the train is released from the top of the lift hill, gravity pulls it down. Potential energy is the greatest when it is at the highest point of the roller coaster, as is the lowest at the lowest point. Kinetic energy is the energy which it possesses due to its motion. As it slides downwards, the potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, because according to Einstein’s conservation of mass, energy cannot be created or destroyed, but it can be converted from one form to another. However, every roller coaster system will have friction force between the wheels and the rail, which is one of the major factors that cause the coaster to slow down.