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WOW! Soon we'll be going
to Dreamworld for a day. I bet you can't wait to get there and go
on the Thunderbolt
or the Eureka
Mountain Ride. First you should find
out how a roller coaster works.
Try this experiment. Roll a marble down a slope until it reaches a flat surface. Does the marble stop rolling as soon as it reaches the bottom of the slope? Why? We call the energy which the marble contains at the bottom of the slope 'potential energy'. This means it has the potential to move further. This energy is converted into 'kinetic energy', which is the energy of movement. Kinetic energy means the marble can keep rolling. That's how a roller coaster works! It rolls down a very big hill (stores lots of potential energy) and uses kinetic energy to get up the next (not so big hill) and then stores potential energy by coming down the next hill, etc., etc. Before we go, you could even have a go at designing your own roller coaster. Here's another place where you can have a go at roller coaster design. |
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Let's not forget about bumper cars. Who can't wait to start bumping into their friends on those bumper cars? Out of my way! Ouch!!! Keep your seat belt on, or the inertia will throw you right out of your car! 'Inertia' just means that your body keeps travelling, even though your car has stopped. You should find out more about how bumper cars work. You might like to guess what happens in these bumper car collisions. |
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Read these interesting facts about the Tower of Terror. Find out about the science of Free Falls, and then think about the following questions: What is the force that is pulling the Tower of Terror cars to the top? Why is the ride 'L' shaped? Of course The Giant Drop also uses free fall science but it stops by using magnetism. Watch this magnetism movie and think about how magnets might help propel (move forward) The Giant Drop and stop The Giant Drop. |
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Then there's the Gravitron. Children gravitate towards this ride (joke!) so they can stick to the side walls without holding on. Check out this comic from Cassie and Rita on gravity. You had better watch this gravity movie too because gravity is an important part of all rides at Dreamworld. |