Midway Physics Day Ride Analyses

Feuerball

Drop of Fear

Himalaya

Enterprise

Ferris Wheel

Rainbow

Starship 2000

Swing Chairs

Wild Cat Roller Coaster

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The Swing Chairs

check out a movie of the Swing Chairs in action!

Ride Description

Riders are in seats that are suspended from a circular ceiling that rises, spins, and tilts. Because the seats are small and open, this ride has an exciting feel.

The graph below shows a measurement of the acceleration in the vertical direction as a function of time. Once the rides motion is stable (after about 20 seconds), the up and down motion that the riders feel as they twirl around in circles is clearly visible as an oscillation of the acceleration around the central point of 1 g.

It should be noted that it was difficult to position the sensor precisely in the vertical direction for this measurement.