Roller Coasters

8th grade/Mrs. BixlerRoller Coasters: The HistoryHistory of Roller CoastersThe origin of the Roller Coaster dates back to the Russian Ice Slides built in the 17th century throughout Russia.

History continued.The structures were built out of lumber with a sheet of ice several inches thick covering the surface.

During the winter festival season slides were built between seventy and eighty feet high.Wheels AddedHistorians say it was the French who added wheels to the slides.One of the firstIt is known that by 1817 two coasters were built in France called the Les Montagues Russes a Belleville (roughly translated: the Russian Mountains of Belleville) and Promenades Aeriennes (The Aerial Walk), both of which featured cars that locked to the track in some manner.

One of the first:The Aerial Walk was located in France was one of the world's first roller coasters. This early version featured a heart-shaped layout with two tracks that flowed in opposite directions from a central tower.

The first looping coaster was located in Frascati Gardens in Paris, France. The hill was 43 feet high, had a 13 foot-wide loop and was tested with everything under the sun before humans were allowed on.

The First Loop.The first loop:The layout was simple: the rider rode down the gentle slope on a small cart and through a small metal circle. First U.S. Roller CoasterA man named La Marcus Thompson would create the first roller coaster in the United States and change the amusement industry forever. The Mauch Chunk Switchback RailwayThe first American roller coaster was not built at an amusement park or city, but in the mountains of Pennsylvania. The Mauch Chunk Switchback Railway, which was more like a runaway train than a modern coaster, is considered the forefather of today's Roller Coaster.

La Marcus Adna ThompsonThe father of the American roller coaster

He was a Sunday School teacher who was discouraged by all of the depravity found at places of amusement during his time.Switchback Railway at Coney Island 1884

Le Marcus Thompson's Switchback Railway at Brooklyn's Coney Island opened in Spring 1884. This was America's first Roller Coaster. The Switchback Railway was an instant success and made the inventor hundreds of dollars per day.

Other Coasters that led the wayLate in the 1884 season Charles Alcoke created a coaster that was a complete circuit.

The spring of 1885 Phillip Hinkle developed the concept of the "lift hill. (A lift hill was the initial hill that often began a coaster and it was here the train was often pulled up by a chain or cable. )Oldest Surviving Roller CoasterOne of the few surviving coasters from this period of coaster history is the Leap the Dips at Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania.

The coaster was built in 1902 by E. Joy Morris and featured a height of 48 feet, a drop of 9 feet and a top speed of 10 m.p.h.Famous Roller CoastersOn May 21, 2005 Six Flags Great Adventure introduced Kingda Ka, the tallest, fastest roller coaster on the planet to the public.

Uses hydraulic motors to launch the trains along a horizontal section of track from zero to 128 mph in an impressive 3.5 seconds.

Kingda Ka StatisticsIt holds the record for:1- Largest Drop2- The Tallest Height: 456 feet Drop: 418 feet Angle of descent: 90 degreesTop speed: 128 mph Launch: Hydraulic Length: 3,118 feet Ride time: 50 seconds Trains: 4 - 18 passengerOther Famous Steel Roller CoastersLongest:The length is determined by measuring the entire track length of the complete roller coaster circuit.

Roller Coaster: Steel Dragon 2000Length: 8,133 feetLocation: Nagashima Spaland Mie, JapanYear: 2000Famous Record HoldersAngle of Descent

The steepness is determined by measuring the steepest angle of descent on any part of the roller coaster.

Roller Coaster: Vild-Svinet Angle: 97 degrees Location: BonBon Land Holme-Olstrup, Demark Year: 2003http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xP-Zny3Vgog

Famous Wooden Record HoldersLargest Drop, Tallest, & Fastest

Roller Coaster Son Of Beast Drop 214 feet Tallest 218 feetTop Speed 78.3 mphLocation Paramount's Kings Island Cincinnati, OH Year 2000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e7wRvjbWnmQ

SHUTTLE ROLLER COASTERS

To qualify for this category the Roller Coaster track must be an incomplete circuit requiring the train to travel both forwards and backwards.

TallestCoaster: Superman the EscapeAngle: 90 degrees Location: Six Flags Magic Mountain Year: 1997

The world's tallest, floorless dive coasterBusch Gardens Europe's latest steel marvel drops its riders 205 feet, 90 degrees straight down, at speeds as fast as 75 mph.Timeline of Record Breaking Roller CoastersIn order what were the World's Tallest Roller Coasters?1964 - Serpent of Fire, 100-feet (La Feria Chapultepec Magico, Mexico City)1973 - Great American Scream Machine, 105-feet (Six Flags Over Georgia)1978 - Colossus, 125-feet (Six Flags Magic Mountain)1978 - Gemini, 125-feet (Cedar Point)1988 - Shockwave, 170-feet (Six Flags Great America)1989 - Magnum XL-200, 201-feet (Cedar Point)1994 - Desperado, 209-feet (Buffalo Bill's Hotel & Casino)1994 - Pepsi-Max Big One, 213-feet (Blackpool Pleasure Beach)1997 - Fujiyama, 259-feet (Nagashima Spa Land)2000 - Millennium Force, 310-feet (Cedar Point)2000 - Steel Dragon 2000, 318-feet (Nagashima Spa Land)2003 - Top Thrill Dragster, 420-feet (Cedar Point)2005 - Kingda Ka, 456-feet (Six Flags Great Adventure)

Ultimaterollercoaster.comAndScience.howstuffworks.com/roller-coasterANDwww.science-class.netInformation provided by: