Sidewinder+II

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The Sidewinder roller coaster at Hershey Park is a boomerang multielement shuttle type coaster built by Vekoma International located in Holland. Multielement means that there are multiple inversion elements to the ride. one full length train of cars weighs 8260 kg. The total duration of the ride lasts one minute and forty five seconds. The coaster has a total height of 116 feet and a 105 foot drop. There are six inversions (loops) traveled during one ride cycle including three frontwards and three backwards. The ride begins when the train of cars is pulled backwards up an incline. Once the cars reach a certain point they are released and they travel down the incline and back through the loading station. After passing through the loading station the cars go through a series of three loops and following the third loop the cars are caught by a a mechanism that retards their motion and draws them up another incline equal to the previous one. Once the cars reach a certain height they are released just as they were at the beginning of the ride and they then travel the three loops backwards before coming to a stop in the loading station.



Data was taken using a Pasco glx that was secured in the lovely blue vest pictured above. Attached to the glx was a sensor that served as both an altimeter and an accelerometer. The data was then analyzed using Data Studio and was used to make the following calculations.

**1.**
Using conservation of energy to find max. velocity. Use the altitude graph in Data Studio to get the max. altitude, then subtract the min. altitude to find the total height which will be needed to calculate the PE.

PE + KE = PE + KE PE = KE mgh = 1/2 mv^2 gh = 1/2v^2 9.8 (27)=1/2v^2 v=23 m/s

Max. velocity value found on Hershey's website: 48 mph = 21.5 m/s

Percent Difference= |(23-21.5)/22.25|x100=6.7%

**2.**
Using max y acceleration from Data Studio divide by acceleration due to gravity in order to find the number of g's experienced during the duration of the ride.

51.7/9.8=5.28 g's

G's value found on Hershey's website: 5.2

Percent Difference= |(5.28-5.2)/5.24|x100=1.5%

**3.**
Finding force needed to pull the train of cars up the incline initially

F=ma F=8.5(8260) F=70210 N

**4.**
Finding angle of the incline which the cars are pulled up initially (angle from the horizontal)

g sin θ = a 9.8sin θ = 8.5 sin θ = 0.8673469388 θ = 60.15 degrees from horizontal

Above: Acceleration vs. Time graph produced using Data Studio displaying the data from the ride



Above: Altitude vs. Time graph produced using Data Studio displaying the data from the ride