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-THE PHYSICS OF AMUSEMENT RIDES-

RONAN CARROLL
INTRODUCTION

Across the world, amusement parks and their various rides create fun and happiness for children and
adults alike. In order to meet this desired purpose, a lot of thought and consideration goes into the
design and construction of these rides. Most of this thought occurs in the realm of physics, as this area
particularly can make the difference between not only fun and boredom but also life and death, where
safety is concerned. This report concerns the physical thought that goes into the creation of three
amusement park rides:

 The Ferris Wheel (circular motion)


 The Pirate Ship (simple harmonic motion)
 Dodgems (2D translational motion)

FERRIS WHEEL

BACKGROUND

The Ferris Wheel concept originated in 17th century Bulgaria,


and the first official “Ferris Wheel” debuted in Chicago in the
1893 World’s Columbian Exposition. Since then, the Ferris
Wheel has been a staple of almost every popular amusement
park.

A Ferris wheel is a large structure that rotates around a central


Fig. 1 - A standard Ferris Wheel. axis. Riders seat themselves in gondolas, which range from
seats attached to the wheel to enclosed capsules. The Ferris Wheel then rotates around vertically,
allowing riders to see the sights from the apex of the wheel before returning to the ground. As opposed
to most amusement park rides, the Ferris Wheel is not intended to create thrill from high speeds or
unorthodox motion; rather, it allows riders to see the sights of the park and surroundings at a slow
pace.

PHYSICS CONCEPT

The physics concept inherent in this ride is vertical circular motion.


Apart from stopping to let riders off or on, the Ferris Wheel travels at a
constant speed. As the gondolas are travelling in a circle, the velocity is
constantly changing direction, therefore each gondola is constantly
accelerating. However, due to the influence of gravity, the rider will feel
different weights at each point on the Ferris Wheel as gravitational
acceleration varies.
Fig. 2 - The key points on a Ferris Wheel
At Point F, the gondola and rider are at the bottom of the wheel. Gravity
pulls the weight of the gondola and the rider downwards, creating
weight force FW oriented downwards. As well as this, there is a constant
centripetal force FC towards the centre due to the circular motion of the
gondola. The tension force has to counteract both the centripetal force
and the weight force. As they are travelling in opposite directions at the
bottom, the two vectors are added together, meaning that the resulting
tension force FT equals Fc + FW. The resulting tension force, then, is quite
large. As ΣF = m.g, and the mass of the gondola/rider combination stays
Fig. 3 - Vector Diagram. the same, then the acceleration due to gravity must increase with the
W=Weight Force net force. This means that the rider will feel heavier at the bottom of the
T=Tension Force Ferris Wheel than they actually are.
v=Tangential Velocity
At Point D and Point H, the gondola is midway in its ascent/descent. This means that the centripetal
force is horizontally directed, as it is always towards the centre of the wheel. This means that the
tension force is also directed towards the centre of the wheel, thus the only force directed downwards
is the weight force of the gondola and the rider. Due to this, ΣF = FW, and the rider feels gravitational
acceleration equivalent to normal. At this point, the rider will feel their true weight.

At Point B, the gondola and rider are at the apex of the Ferris Wheel. As always, the weight force is
directed downwards. However, in this particular instance, the centripetal force, which is directed
towards the centre, is also directed downwards. As the two forces are in the same direction, then vector
subtraction is created, meaning that FT = Fc - FW (note the subtraction symbol). This means that the
resulting tension force is at its smallest at Point B. This also means that, in accordance with ΣF = m.g,
the gravitational acceleration at Point B will be lessened. This means that the rider will feel like they
weigh less than they really do.

A typical Ferris Wheel is the one at Luna Park, Sydney. It has a height of 20m and a radius of 9m, and
the period of rotation is roughly 20 minutes, or 1200 seconds. The average person weighs 75kg.
𝑚𝑣 2 2𝜋𝑟 2𝜋⋅9
At the bottom of the Ferris Wheel, FT = Fc + FW. 𝐹𝐶 = .𝑣 = = = 0.047123𝑚𝑠 −1.
𝑟 𝑇 1200
75⋅(0.047123)2
Therefore 𝐹𝐶 = 9
= 0.01850 N. FW =𝑚 ⋅ 𝑔 = 75 ⋅ 9.81 = 735.75 N. This means that the
resultant tension force is 735.7685 N at the bottom of the Wheel.

At the top of the Ferris Wheel, FT = Fc - FW. This means that, as all values stay the same, the resultant
tension force at the top of the Ferris Wheel is -735.7315. The negative value is due to the tension force
being in the opposite direction to the other value. The difference between the two forces is 0.37 N,
which is in fact a negligible force, one that the rider would not feel at all. This is because the scale of the
Ferris Wheel is far too large for the values to make any difference – on a smaller-scaled model, perhaps
the difference would be more noticeable.

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PIRATE SHIP

BACKGROUND

The Pirate Ship first made its debut as The Ocean Wave at the
Marshall Bros. Circus in 1897 and is credited to Charles Albert
Marshall. The ride consists of a gondola attached to a frame that acts
as a pendulum as it swings back and forth, creating a sensation not
unlike that of a rollercoaster.

PHYSICS

The physics concept at play in this ride is simple harmonic


motion, or SHM. The pirate ship acts as a pendulum attached
to the frame that swings back and forth, due to being pulled by
a motor, creating simple harmonic motion for the pirate ship
and the riders. The pendulum swing has a rollercoaster-like
effect on the passengers, which creates the thrill and
amusement of the ride. Each swing of the pirate ship will have
a greater amplitude than the last until the climax of the ride,
which is dictated by the designers who program the ride. At
this point, the ship will be at its maximum amplitude and will
only have gravitational potential energy (Ep). This means there Fig. 4 - A SHM diagram of a pendulum in motion
is a restoring force (FNET), which causes the pendulum to swing
back towards the centre, which is the sum of the tension force in the frame (FT) and the gravitational
force (FW) acting on the pendulum. This is the nature of SHM – the object in motion is always
accelerating towards the centre of the motion, or equilibrium position. When the ship is at maximum
displacement, then it is stationary for an instant. At this point, the acceleration is at its maximum and
velocity is at its minimum. The ship then accelerates towards the centre, due to gravitational
acceleration, and at equilibrium position, its lowest point, velocity is at its maximum, and since the
velocity cannot go any higher, the acceleration is at 0. At the equilibrium position, since the ship is at its
lowest point, all of the potential energy will have been converted to kinetic energy (EK). As the ship
moves through the equilibrium position and towards the maximum amplitude again, the acceleration
towards the centre causes it to decelerate until the velocity is again 0 at maximum displacement. When
the ship has returned to its original position, one oscillation has occurred. Eventually, friction will
dampen the SHM through air resistance and friction in the frame, but the pirate ship counteracts this by
having motor propulsion that gives the ship a little extra push each time so that the forces of friction are
discounted. However, the nature of the ride means that the oscillation is not constant, as the maximum
amplitude grows throughout the ride. In a normal pendulum (discounting friction) the displacement
would form a sine or cosine curve, depending on where the ship is started from. However, the growing
amplitude of the ride means that the curve will vary throughout the ride.

As 𝐹 = 𝑚 ⋅ 𝑎, and the mass of the pirate ship doesn’t change, then the acceleration must occur due to
the resultant force acting on the ship. This resultant force, or restoring force in SHM, is borne from the
tension force and weight force acting together, and depends on the direction of the tension force, as

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the weight force is always directed downwards. The tension force is always attached to the pivot point,
which means that the tension force is always directed towards the centre. This is why the ship always
accelerates towards the centre. At the centre, the tension force is directed straight upwards, which
means that there is no resultant force, which explains why there is no acceleration at the centre.

DODGEMS

BACKGROUND

Invented by Victor Levand, dodgems are small electric cars


which are powered by the ceiling or floor on which they
drive. The ride basically consists of the dodgems being
driven around by fairgoers bumping into each other until
the ride stops. Dodgems are one of the most widely used
fairground rides and are one of the most child-friendly, as
they do not cause nausea or any of the risks that big-scale
rides do.

PHYSICS CONCEPT

What makes the dodgems fun is that they can safely crash, which demonstrates 2D momentum
concepts. If an object has both mass and velocity (as a dodgem in motion does), it has momentum. A
regular dodgem has a mass of around 200 kg and can travel at a maximum of 2.23 ms-1. As 𝑝 = 𝑚 ⋅ 𝑣
(where p is momentum), then the maximum momentum of the average dodgem is 446 kgms-1.
Momentum has to be taken into careful consideration for an aspect which is key to both the
amusement and the safety of dodgems – a collision between two or more dodgems.

The main concept at play in a collision is the conservation of momentum 𝑝𝑖 = 𝑝𝑓 , which states that the
total momentum before and after a collision must be the same. The fact that the dodgems are free to
move in any direction means that only a fraction of collisions are 1-dimensional. As most collisions are
2D, then, momentum needs to be
incorporated as a vector quantity. When
two dodgems with separate momentums
collide, the total momentum must be
found and thusly a vector triangle is
formed. From this triangle, given certain
values, we can find the total momentum for both before and after the collision, which can enable us to
find the direction that each dodgem would travel in.

A key safety aspect of the dodgems, with the very essence of the ride being collision, is to reduce the
amount of force exerted on each dodgem in a collision, and thusly the driver. The concept of
momentum is also key in this respect. Change in momentum is known as impulse and is given by the
𝛥𝑝
equation 𝛥𝑝 = 𝐹𝛥𝑡 , which can be manipulated to show that 𝐹 = 𝛥𝑡
. This means that in a standard
collision, the amount of force exerted on the car can be reduced by increasing the time that the collision

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takes. This course of action is taken in many ways across many industries, and in the dodgem ride it
manifests itself in the form of the rubber ring around the dodgems, where the collisions take place. The
rubber rings increase the time taken in each collision, and since a time increase causes a force decrease,
less force will be applied to the car and rider, making the ride much safer.

CONCLUSION

Physics is very important in the amusement park industry, and is taken into consideration to create
maximum fun and minimum danger. Three examples of this are the Ferris Wheel, the Pirate Ship and
the Dodgems. The application of these physics concepts are just the tip of the iceberg of the real-world
applications of physics concepts, our knowledge of which make the world a better, safer and more fun
place to live.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

DATA/RESEARCH

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_ship_(ride)
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferris_wheel
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bumper_cars
 http://www.observationwheeldirectory.com/ferriswheelarticles/ferris-wheel-physics/
 https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091102135743AAa3Gte
 http://bestonbumpercars.com/how-much-do-bumper-cars-weigh/

IMAGES

 http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/questions-and-answers/common-amusement-park-
ride-ferris-wheel-drawn-scale--riders-sit-chairs-pivots-remain-level-q2427353
 http://cnx.org/contents/FS-RnSOR@2/Simple-Harmonic-Motion
 https://www.fantasyislandresort.co.uk/rides-and-attractions/the-dodgems/
 http://pediaa.com/how-to-solve-momentum-problems/
 https://www.bransontracks.com/rides/ferris-wheel/
 http://www.hussrides.com/en/classic-rides/pirate-ship

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