The Dower Tower is a stomach turner Drop Tower. The mass of the tower is 10,000 kg. (Empty Seats), followed by a height of 430 ft. and reaches up to a speed of 90-100 mph. There's only one row of seats (it circles the tower), and it fits 50 people at a time. The Potential Energy is 2,150 joules, the Kinetic Energy is 22,562.5 joules, and the Mechanical Energy is 24,712.5 joules. The Dower Tower starts off by telling its passengers and many of the people around that these are the people that will be the "first" to ever experience what will happen when entering a black hole. The ride is just like a drop tower, but better. It starts off going slowly half way up, but then shoots you up the rest of the way to give you that adrenaline boost you’ve been waiting for. When you finally reach the top, the Dower Tower will scare you with its fake counter. The number it decides to drop you at is always a surprise. On your way down you experience 0 Gs', but just when you think it's over, you go shooting back up to the top. When you reach the top you go shooting down for the last time, ending your journey.
Where Does Newtons First Law Come In?
Newtons First Law is seen in this ride when the ride is going up, when it falls and comes to a complete stop. The reason why a cart can go up the tower is because of a gear pulling the cart to go upwards (a pulley system). When the cart ends up reaching the top, it suddenly drops towards the ground. However, the braking point is the most important. If the cart did not stop at the bottom many people would get hurt, and no one would want to ride drop towers. The brake causes the cart to gain friction, and is able to slow down the cart. So we can thank Newton's First Law and friction for keeping us safe when riding drop towers.
Where is Newton's Second Law Located?
Newton's Second Law is almost seen in any object that is accelerating. The second law's basic definition says that: In the presence of a net force, an object experiences an acceleration. So, lets find out the force that the cart going down generates. First, we have to know the mass of the cart and the acceleration of the ride. The mass of the cart is 2,000 kilograms and the acceleration of the ride is 10.5 m/s. In the end when we multiply these two numbers we get 21,000 . So all together it should look like this: 2,000 kg × 10.5 m/s = 21,000 of force.
Last, but Not Least... Newton's Third Law
Newtons Third Law is mainly seen on or around the ride. For example, when you sit down on your seat, the seat pushes back at you. Don't get it, I'll explain. Newtons Third Law says that: For every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction. So to get even more into depth, when you sit on the seat your body puts a downwards force on it, causing the seat to give an upwards force onto your body. Other examples would include the lever being pulled at the beginning of the ride. When the operator pulls the lever, the lever is pushing back at the operator.
It's More Important Than You May Think...
It's very important for roller coaster designers to consider Newton's Laws because without them, many people would be in danger. These laws are used in many different aspects of a rollercoaster from the blueprints, to the structure of the ride, to the bolts that hold the ride together. Newtons Laws are mainly the bolts that hold everything together. Building a roller coaster without Newtons Laws in mind can become a very serious problem. An example being, making a ride too tall, which could end up with people falling out of the ride or getting very sick to the point to where people don't want to get on anymore. In all, Newton's laws are the key to success when building not only a roller coaster, but to building any amusement park thrill ride.
Credits:
Created with images by AgentAkit - "Giants County Fair: Drop Ride" • Roller Coaster Philosophy - "DelGrosso's Amusement Park 025" • Benimoto - "Swirly lights"