Names:
Rainbow’s End 2009
Off-ride activities
1. In your wanderings around the park, find places that demonstrate the following:
a. Potential Energy  Kinetic Energy ______________________
b. KE  PE ________________________
c. Elastic Collisions _______________________
d. Centripetal Force ______________________
e. KE  Heat _______________________
2. G’s: On the rides you will experience lots of various accelerations. Find a ride where
you will experience the following:
a. Zero G – (this means no acceleration) __________________
b. Negative Vertical G – (acceleration towards your feet when your body is
upright) ____________________________
c. Positive Vertical G – (acceleration towards your head when your body is
upright) ____________________________
d. Positive Inverted Vertical G – (acc. towards your feet when your body is upside
down) ____________________________
e. Positive Horizontal G – (acc. towards your head when your body is sideways)
____________________________
3. Fear Fall Calculations: The fear fall should theoretically accelerate at 9.8 m/s/s.
Estimate the falling distance: ________________
Measure the time it takes to fall: _________________
Use d = ½ a t2 to find the acceleration ___________________

4. Force diagrams: For each of the following, draw a force diagram labelling all the
forces on the rider.
a. Corkscrew at the top of the loop
d. Fear fall during the braking
b. Pirate Ship at the bottom of the e. Go-karts while accelerating
swing
c. Fear Fall during the fall f. Go-karts while going around a corner

On-ride activities
1. Pirate Ship: Lift your arms and legs in the air during the ride. Describe what you
experience during different parts of the ride:
At the top of the swing I felt _____________________________
At the bottom of the swing I felt __________________________
2. Fear Fall: During the fear fall ride, pay attention to the pressure of the seat on your
bum. Describe what you feel during:
The lift up to the top _________________________
The drop __________________________________
The breaking _____________________________
3. Corkscrew: This is a great chance to feel centripetal force in action. Pay attention
to your body at the top of the loop and report on your experience:
I felt _______________________________
4. Go-Karts: Play around with the various paths you can take around a corner as show
below. Report on your experience
a. tight corner – stay as close to
the inside radius as possible
This type of cornering was ________________________
b. Wide corner – Take the outside of the corner
This type of cornering was ________________________
c. Metered Corner – Start at the outside,
move to the inside and then back to the outside
This type of cornering was ________________________