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curator:Tim Erickson
Roller Coasters

Data an some of the world's largest roller coasters, with some smaller ones thrown in.

Attributes:
largest_drop is in feet
height is the maximum height of the coaster in feet
length is in feet as well
top_speed is in miles per hour

The main question is, what determines the top_speed? We can make conservation-of-energy arguments that suggest it might be related to the largest_drop. Do they hold up when you look at the data? How much energy seems to be lost? Do any coasters seem to gain energy?

Also: what assumptions are we making when we expect this energy calculation to match the data? Do the assumptions seem reasonable?

Oh: don't forget (as the curator did) to convert speed into, say, feet per second!

Roller coaster data from http://ultimaterollercoaster.com/coasters/
(found by Bryan Cooley, Oct 2002)

You can also find a lot of roller-coaster data at rcdb.com. Click on "census" and follow your nose.

Name Location Track Type largest_drop height length top_speed
Millennium Force Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH steel hypercoaster
300
310
6595
93
Steel Dragon 2000 Nagashima Spaland, Japan steel hypercoaster?
306
318
8133
95
Goliath Six Flags Magic Mountain, Valencia, CA steel hypercoaster
255
235
4500
85
Titan Six Flags Over Texas, Arlington, TX steel hypercoaster
255
245
5280
85
Desperado Buffalo Bill's Hotel and Casino, Primm, NV steel hypercoaster
225
209
5483
80
Son of Beast Paramount's Kings Island, Kings Island, OH wood looping, twister
214
218
7032
78.3
Mean Streak Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH wood twister
155
161
5427
65
Hercules Dorney Park, Allentown, PA wood double out and back
157
157
4000
65
The Boss Six Flags St. Louis, Eureka, MO wood terrain, twister
150
122
5051
66.3
Rampage Visionland Amusement Park, Bessemer, AL wood twister
120
120
3500
55
Demon Paramount's Great America, Santa Clara, CA steel looping corkscrew
82
95
2300
45
Grizzly Paramount's Great America wood double out and back
88
90
3250
50
Project Stealth Paramount's Great America steel flying dutchman
100
115
2766
51
Skyliner Lakemont Park, Altoona, PA wood double out and back
45
60
2400
40
Cobra Six Flags Marina World, Vallejo, CA steel family, tivoli
25
26
1164
18

<text form of the data>

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Last updated 20 October 2002
supported by NSF award DMI-0216656