Analyzing Amusement Park Graphs California’s Great America 2012 Clarence Bakken Teacher Steering Committee.

Analyzing Amusement Park GraphsAnalyzing Amusement Park Graphs

California’s Great America 2012California’s Great America 2012

Clarence BakkenClarence Bakken

Teacher Steering CommitteeTeacher Steering Committee

Goals of this ActivityGoals of this Activity

• Help students understand graphs they obtain Help students understand graphs they obtain via electronic data collectionvia electronic data collection

• Help teachers assist students in Help teachers assist students in understanding their dataunderstanding their data

• Attain greater understanding of graphical Attain greater understanding of graphical informationinformation

The Ride: VortexThe Ride: Vortex

Complete Set of GraphsComplete Set of Graphs

Complete Set Complete Set SmoothedSmoothed

Altitude vs. Time

Ride ProfileRide Profile

Corkscrew

Lift

hill

Loop

Vertical Acceleration/ForcesA

ltit

ude

(m)

Ver

tica

l (m

/s/s

)

Vertical ForcesVertical Forces

Bottom of Hill(Start of loop)

Dip at end of initial section

Corkscrew

Alt

itud

e (m

)L

ater

al (

m/s

/s)

Lateral ForcesLateral Forces

Left turn at end of run-on

Corkscrew

Left turn thru corkscrew

Left turn top of lift hill

Right turnbefore corkscrew

Lateral Acceleration/Forces

Longitudinal Acceleration/Forces

Longitudinal ForcesLongitudinal Forces

Lift Hill

Held back -Pitching forward…

Pushed forward -“Falling” backward

The Ride: OrbitThe Ride: Orbit

Vertical & Longitudinal

Ver

tica

l (m

/s/s

)L

ongi

tudi

nal (

m/s

/s)

Vertical and LongitudinalVertical and LongitudinalMaximum Longitudinal Force - mid-level Vertical Force

Maximum Vertical Force –zero Longitudinal Force

Vertical Acceleration/Force

Vertical ForcesVertical Forces

44.9 sec / 11 periods = 4.1 sec/period

~2g’s

~1.8 g’s

Longitudinal Longitudinal AccelerationAcceleration

+ 1g

- 1g

Longitudinal Acceleration/Force

The Ride: CentrifugeThe Ride: Centrifuge

Complete Set of GraphsComplete Set of Graphs

Lateral Forces

Longitudinal Forces

Lateral Acceleration/Force

Lateral ForcesLateral Forces

30 periods = 33 sec

T = 1.1 sec

Midpoint = 10 m/s/s = 1 g

The Ride: Drop TowerThe Ride: Drop Tower

Ride Profile & Vertical Force

Alt

itud

e (m

)V

erti

cal (

m/s

/s)

Complete Set of GraphsComplete Set of Graphs

Parabolic

3 sec

Vertical ForceVertical Force

Coupling change

Exponential decay

3 sec

ConclusionConclusion

• Need to know direction of accelerometer(s)Need to know direction of accelerometer(s)

• Relate to orientation of riderRelate to orientation of rider

• Relate to location on the rideRelate to location on the ride

• Give students opportunity to scour over data, Give students opportunity to scour over data, too!too!

• Smooth the data for easier analysisSmooth the data for easier analysis

Have a great time Have a great time at Great America!at Great America!