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Speaker 1: Brought to you by the reinvented two thousand twelve camera.

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Speaker 1: It's ready. Are you get in touch with technologies with

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Speaker 1: tech stuff from how stuff works dot com. Hello again, everyone,

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Speaker 1: Welcome to tech stuff. My name is Chris Poulette, and

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Speaker 1: I am the tech editor here at how stuff works

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Speaker 1: dot com. Sitting across from me, as he usually does,

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Speaker 1: is senior writer Jonathan Strickland. Hey there, and hey, Chris,

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Speaker 1: let me ask me something. What do you think when

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Speaker 1: you hear this? I think I probably shouldn't have eaten

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Speaker 1: lunch right before this podcast. I'm not feeling so well. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: and everyone else thought, there's probably thinking roly coasters. Uh,

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Speaker 1: So we decided we wanted to talk about how roller

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Speaker 1: coasters work. Um now, now, Chris, uh, are you a

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Speaker 1: roller coaster fan? Yeah? Is that a lie? No, it's

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Speaker 1: not a lot checking But but I'm not an extreme

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Speaker 1: roller coaster fan. I'm not the kind of person that

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Speaker 1: travels across country or sometimes around the world to find

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Speaker 1: the biggest and fastest and most terrifying roller coaster. I'm

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Speaker 1: I'm generally quite happy with the stuff down at the

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Speaker 1: local amusement park, and honestly, I'm a fan of the

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Speaker 1: wooden roller coaster. Yeah, those are. If they're well maintained,

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Speaker 1: they're great, and if they're not, they will beat you up.

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Speaker 1: I d like it when they beat you up there. Yeah, gosh, Okay,

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Speaker 1: Well I've got a coaster for you to ride. Um.

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Speaker 1: I am also a fan of roller coasters. I would

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Speaker 1: not call myself a die hard fan because I have

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Speaker 1: Also I've only taken trips to like Cedar Point. I'm

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Speaker 1: just gonna say, but that's a good place to go. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's across the country from where we are. I haven't

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Speaker 1: I haven't specifically gone to things like King's Island or

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Speaker 1: anything like that to ride all of the roller coasters

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Speaker 1: out there. But I do love roller coasters, and I

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Speaker 1: love the really super mega coasters too, the really really

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Speaker 1: tall ones love them. So we thought we'd talked a

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Speaker 1: little bit about what makes roller coasters work. Yes, and uh,

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Speaker 1: maybe we should give a little history of the roller

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Speaker 1: coaster first. And this is uh, if you've already seen

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Speaker 1: the the episode that High Speed Stuff did. Uh, they

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Speaker 1: took a little bit different tech on the roller coaster

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Speaker 1: than we're going to I think. Yeah, they talked most

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Speaker 1: They talked mostly about the tallest and the fastest and

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Speaker 1: that kind of thing. Yeah, definitely good check out. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: we're gonna talk more about the actual mechanics behind roller coasters, so, uh,

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Speaker 1: you know, if you want to know about the fastest

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Speaker 1: and tallest ones, definitely check out the High Speed Stuff episode.

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Speaker 1: It's archived, so the history of roller coasters. So we're

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Speaker 1: gonna go to France for this. Yeah. Actually, if you

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Speaker 1: want to go even further back, the genesis of the

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Speaker 1: whole idea of the roller coaster just comes from the

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Speaker 1: fact that human beings we as a whole, are insane,

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Speaker 1: and occasionally we like to throw ourselves down inclines and

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Speaker 1: see how fast we can go before we come to

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Speaker 1: a stop, whether that's sudden or hopefully a nice, gradual,

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Speaker 1: gentle stop. Yeah. You know, I was thinking that very

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Speaker 1: thing when I was watching the ski jumpers at the Olympics. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: not too long ago. What made somebody decide to you know, hey,

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Speaker 1: I wonder how far I can go? Right, this is

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Speaker 1: a really tall, tall mountain. I want to strap some

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Speaker 1: wood to my feet, slide down at a blistering speed

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Speaker 1: and then jump off something. Yeah, that would, I would say,

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Speaker 1: be the same sort of the the thrill seeking part

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Speaker 1: within US that generated roller coasters France that kind of

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Speaker 1: took an idea that had already seen some uh some

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Speaker 1: success in Russia, which was essentially a series of slides

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Speaker 1: that would go down mountains that were you know, those

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Speaker 1: slides were covered in snow or ice and people would

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Speaker 1: slide down them. Um. So that's the you know, the

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Speaker 1: roller coasters based off of just a slide. Now, the

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Speaker 1: roller coaster in France that you're thinking about, I believe

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Speaker 1: is a that was the first one that was a

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Speaker 1: documented case of a cart on a track. Yes, and

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Speaker 1: that was which was an attempt to uh to actually

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Speaker 1: take the Russians idea and make it something that you

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Speaker 1: could do all the time because Russians, as it turns out,

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Speaker 1: in in France, snow is not always on the ground.

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Speaker 1: So if you don't have snow, you don't have something

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Speaker 1: to uh to make that trip down the hill at

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Speaker 1: least a little pleasant. Then you have to build tracks

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Speaker 1: and have a cart with wheels on that track so

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Speaker 1: it goes down the predefined Um tut well, I was

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Speaker 1: going to use a word other than the track, but

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Speaker 1: on that track. And the first American coaster was a

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Speaker 1: it was a converted coal train. Yes, it was not

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Speaker 1: the saxophone player. No, no. So this this coal train

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Speaker 1: would go up a really nice picturesque mountain in Pennsylvania

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Speaker 1: and then um, once it got to the top, while

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Speaker 1: it was only one way to go back, and that

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Speaker 1: was back the way you came. So they would just

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Speaker 1: essentially kind of a roll backwards, screaming all the way

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Speaker 1: down as people held on for dear life. And I'm

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Speaker 1: sure it was very bumpy and chaotic ride. And I

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Speaker 1: would go on at five times so that I'm sure, however,

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Speaker 1: that it had not been inspected every day like modern

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Speaker 1: day roller coasters. Yeah, I definitely would have. I would

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Speaker 1: have been taking my life into my own hands, especially

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Speaker 1: after ride number one. Uh So this leads us to

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Speaker 1: the Wooden roller coaster, which is kind of the basis

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Speaker 1: of all coasters that followed. And the Wooden coaster is

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Speaker 1: a is a thing of beauty. I'd say, you know,

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Speaker 1: the famous one in Atlanta is the Great American Screen Machine. Yes, yes,

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Speaker 1: my my favorite would be uh thunder Road at Paramounts

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Speaker 1: Caro Wins near Charlotte, which is where I grew up.

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Speaker 1: I have not written that one, so let's bumps and

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Speaker 1: and and jolts on that one, right, Yeah, well then

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Speaker 1: the wooden ones, dude, tend to build that up. So

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Speaker 1: it's based on the principle of gravity pull stuff down. Yeah.

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Speaker 1: Well there's some other stuff in there too. Yeah, but

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Speaker 1: basically gravity is one inertia shore cy triptal force if

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Speaker 1: you want to get technical. But blah blah blah blah.

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Speaker 1: So the basis of our roller coaster is that some

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Speaker 1: sort of mechanism pulls you up to the top of

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Speaker 1: a very tall hill and then the and you must

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Speaker 1: raise your hands in the air as this is happening, apparently,

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Speaker 1: I mean you have to do it, all right, We're

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Speaker 1: gonna get mailed about that, and you get the answer

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Speaker 1: it so aren't you supposed to raise your hand? And

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Speaker 1: I always wondered that, Okay, it's gonna take a good

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Speaker 1: seven minutes to get to the top of this hill.

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Speaker 1: Why is everybody raising their hands? Now, well, it's people

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Speaker 1: who are nervous. I assume at any rate, the once

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Speaker 1: you get to the top of the hill and you

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Speaker 1: start going down, then gravity pretty much does the rest

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Speaker 1: of the work for you, and you are pulled along

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Speaker 1: the track. You might depending on the older coaster have

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Speaker 1: a second hill that will there will be some sort

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Speaker 1: of mechanism to pull you up the second hills that

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Speaker 1: you've finished the rest of the trip, or if the

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Speaker 1: first hill is tall enough, that might be it. That

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Speaker 1: might be the enough to generate the h the the

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Speaker 1: energy you need to complete the entire ride. Now, in

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Speaker 1: the case of most wooden roller coasters, this energy is

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Speaker 1: generated through a chain lift, which it's just the sound

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Speaker 1: of the that's part of it. Yeah, that's part of it.

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Speaker 1: There's there's actually a second element that also can make

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Speaker 1: that ratcheting noise. But uh, the way a chain lift

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Speaker 1: works is that along the first hill there is a

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Speaker 1: length of chain that's and sort of a conveyor belt configuration,

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Speaker 1: and it's being turned by a very large engine and

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Speaker 1: and some wheels. So the underneath the coaster train itself

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Speaker 1: are a series of hinged hooks and uh, the the

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Speaker 1: term for this is chain dogs. So the chain dogs

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Speaker 1: hook into the chain the loop of chain. The chain

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Speaker 1: as it turns or as it is propelled up the

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Speaker 1: hill through the turning gear, pulls the coaster up to

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Speaker 1: the top. And as the coaster gets toward the top,

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Speaker 1: the hinged hooks unhooked from the chain, and uh, the

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Speaker 1: coaster is pushed over the very top of the hill

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Speaker 1: and it goes down and then gravity does the rest. Right.

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Speaker 1: So it's a very simple mechanism really when you look

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Speaker 1: at it, I mean, there's there's not a whole lot

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Speaker 1: to it beyond that. Um, as far as getting the

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Speaker 1: train started, now, stopping the train is a different matter.

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Speaker 1: Well not entirely in a way, because you're moving basically.

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Speaker 1: For those of you who have taken physics yet, I

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Speaker 1: know some of you probably haven't yet because we have

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Speaker 1: some younger listeners. Um, going up the hill, you've got

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Speaker 1: lots and lots of potential energy, energy that's being built

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Speaker 1: up or or just waiting to be released, I should say.

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Speaker 1: And as soon as you get to the top of

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Speaker 1: the hill and it the train starts to go over

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Speaker 1: the hill, it's it changes into kinetic energy, which is

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Speaker 1: you know, who look out, we're moving, but very good stopping.

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Speaker 1: I think that's actually in most textbooks, who look out

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Speaker 1: we're moving? It Well, it wasn't mine, although I have

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Speaker 1: to admit it was written in blue ink next to

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Speaker 1: the text, so maybe it wasn't put there by the publisher.

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Speaker 1: But that said, getting to the to the end of

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Speaker 1: the line. Um, you know, by by putting hills in

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Speaker 1: strategic places, you can use those to slow the train

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Speaker 1: down by converting that kinetic energy back into potential energy,

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Speaker 1: right and through things like friction, that's always going to

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Speaker 1: take away some of your energy. You lose energy in

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Speaker 1: the form of heat, so the coaster will generate he

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Speaker 1: does it's moving around, and that that also means that

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Speaker 1: you have a net loss of of energy. So your

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Speaker 1: your coaster is going to slow down over the course

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Speaker 1: of the track, unless, of course, you were to somehow

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Speaker 1: maneuver it so that it hit a infinite hill going downward.

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Speaker 1: But um, no one's figured out how to do that yet,

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Speaker 1: or else I would have written it already. Actually you'd

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Speaker 1: still be on it. Yes, technically I would still be

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Speaker 1: writing it. I'm calling you from the infinite roller coaster

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Speaker 1: and so anyway, um, so yeah, you've got Now. Now

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Speaker 1: here's a couple of things for us to talk about.

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Speaker 1: The breaking system. I mean, there is usually a breaking

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Speaker 1: system at the end of the track, because other ways

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Speaker 1: you just have to wait for its a coast to

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Speaker 1: an end. Um. But I imagine that would be far

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Speaker 1: less effective if you didn't use other methods to slow

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Speaker 1: the train down enough to let the breaking system. Sure,

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Speaker 1: but you know most coasters have been on there's a

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Speaker 1: there's a very audible and physical breaking moment where you

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Speaker 1: you're actually thrown forward a little bit from the coaster

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Speaker 1: coming to a stop. Is that that explains the permanent

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Speaker 1: indentation I have across my forehead from from the seat

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Speaker 1: in front of you. Um. So, the the coaster has

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Speaker 1: these fins that go down below the the coaster to swim.

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Speaker 1: The fins are used as part of the breaking mechanism. Now,

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Speaker 1: there are a couple of different ways you can use

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Speaker 1: the breaking mechanism. You could have one that just uses

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Speaker 1: physical friction. So the the brakes are all built into

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Speaker 1: the track, not into the train. So the right Yeah,

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Speaker 1: so the track has this this breaking section along part

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Speaker 1: of it. As the train passes through the brakes, UH

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Speaker 1: initiate and then close in on the fins and then

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Speaker 1: slow or and slow the train and then stop it. Um.

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Speaker 1: But it doesn't have to necessarily just be physical like that.

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Speaker 1: You can also use magnets. You could have a you

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Speaker 1: can have fins on the coaster that have a metal

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Speaker 1: that reacts to magnets, and then you use very powerful

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Speaker 1: magnets which will gradually slow and and then stop the

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Speaker 1: train from moving, sort of the the opposite of a

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Speaker 1: magleev train, Not literally an opposite, but the magnets to stop.

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Speaker 1: There are coasters actually use magnets to to push a train,

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Speaker 1: but there there aren't a whole lot of coasters like that,

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Speaker 1: but we'll talk about those in a second. So, um,

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Speaker 1: the other thing you have to remember is that there are, uh,

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Speaker 1: there are other wheels on the coaster itself that helped

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Speaker 1: prevent it from flying off the track. Yes, so you

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Speaker 1: usually have a set of wheels. First of all, there's

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Speaker 1: the set that's on the track itself. There's usually a

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Speaker 1: set that's on either side of the track to keep

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Speaker 1: it from slinging off to the left or right, and

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Speaker 1: then there's a set underneath the track to keep it

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Speaker 1: from flying off when you go uphills. That would be

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Speaker 1: sort of a buzz kill. Yeah, there's nothing quite like

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Speaker 1: having your coaster corene off the roller coaster track to

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Speaker 1: really ruin your time at the fair. Yes, that would

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Speaker 1: that would need to do that. As a friend of

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Speaker 1: mine once said, I will ruin your whole day. So

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Speaker 1: that's the traditional coaster chain lift. That's what you see

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Speaker 1: on wooden coasters most of the time. And wooden coasters

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Speaker 1: have a lot of limitations because they need, you know,

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Speaker 1: you need to build that that really strong support to

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Speaker 1: keep the coaster stable. That's where you see all that

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Speaker 1: lattice work, where all the cross beams that are supporting

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Speaker 1: each other, which is why most wooden coasters don't have

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Speaker 1: things like inversions and version of course, will be any

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Speaker 1: time where the coaster is turned upside down. Um, you

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Speaker 1: don't see many of those in wooden coasters. I've heard

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Speaker 1: there have been a couple that have done it, but

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Speaker 1: it's it's not easy to do just from the the

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Speaker 1: standpoint of you have to be able to support the

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Speaker 1: track also, of course, would is something that ages with

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Speaker 1: the the environment. You've got a lot of you know,

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Speaker 1: heating and cooling, expands and contracts the wood plus you know,

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Speaker 1: rain and other things termites. I mean, these are things

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Speaker 1: that you have to be wary of because when you're

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Speaker 1: building the infrastructure for a roller coaster, obviously you want

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Speaker 1: to keep it safe, so you're uh, you know, no

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Speaker 1: one gets hurt, so it requires quite a bit of maintenance. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's that's why most coasters, wooden coasters take a formation

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Speaker 1: of what I always heard as an out and back.

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Speaker 1: It goes out through the park and then comes back

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Speaker 1: to where started. Um, there aren't. It's the thrills of

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Speaker 1: the ride are all based upon the hills. You know,

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Speaker 1: how high you go up on that first hill, how

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Speaker 1: fast you're going when you hit the bottom. Yeah, the

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Speaker 1: angle of the drop so that it you know, makes

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Speaker 1: your stomach feel like it's dropping out right, right, So

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Speaker 1: those would be where all the thrills are come from

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Speaker 1: from those, But then came tubular steel coasters. Now these

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Speaker 1: are the monsters that let you do things like inversions,

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Speaker 1: cork screws, em molment's, uh loops, that kind of stuff.

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Speaker 1: And uh, these are the coasters I love. Yeah. Well, uh,

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Speaker 1: the steel being you know, certainly more weather resistant um

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Speaker 1: than the wood, and uh, of course it can be

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Speaker 1: made into all kinds of shapes, um, so you can

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Speaker 1: you can do all kinds of things. And it also

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Speaker 1: allows you to do in addition to uh, you know,

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Speaker 1: things simple the bends and things, you can also do

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Speaker 1: different kinds of you make different kinds of cars, like

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Speaker 1: the stand up and sit uh. You know, the inverted

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Speaker 1: and suspended cars right where the track is above you. Yeah. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: the ones that make you feel like you're flying through

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Speaker 1: the air. Yeah. But you can't do that with a

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Speaker 1: wooden coaster, because you have to you can. You can

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Speaker 1: do all these things with the track and subsequently build

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Speaker 1: the cars to take advantage of that. Right, so you

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Speaker 1: can also put in new forms of launching your coaster.

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Speaker 1: So some some tubular coasters still use the the chain

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Speaker 1: lift method, which is, you know, the same way they

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Speaker 1: all the wooden ones do. Well, it works, but a

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Speaker 1: lot of them also use, or rather instead will use

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Speaker 1: something like a catapult launch, yes, which, as you would

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Speaker 1: imagine it, it is, uses a device to launch the

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Speaker 1: train very quickly from a standing position to full speed. Um.

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Speaker 1: And there are various ways of doing that. Some of

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Speaker 1: them use linear induction motors uh. And that's where you

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Speaker 1: generate an electromagnetic field to uh to move the coaster

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Speaker 1: along the track. Now, there aren't very many of these

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Speaker 1: there only I think maybe half a dozen to a

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Speaker 1: dozen or something like that, just because it's i mean,

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Speaker 1: that's a very technical way of doing it, and there

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Speaker 1: are other ways that are not as technical as people

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Speaker 1: have found to be easier, so you don't see those

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Speaker 1: uh that often. But another method just uses a series

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Speaker 1: of wheels on either side of the coaster. Yeah. Can

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Speaker 1: I tell you a story? Go ahead. So the very

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Speaker 1: first time I got on the Hulk ride UM down

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Speaker 1: in Orlando, Florida. UM, I we my wife and I

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Speaker 1: were sitting in the car and looking up the hill

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Speaker 1: and we saw, you know, of course we're at that point,

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Speaker 1: we were on a chain lift, so because they were

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Speaker 1: sort of man, you know, doing that to do the

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Speaker 1: bulk lifting, if you will, to get us started up

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Speaker 1: the hill. So we're looking up and I see all

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Speaker 1: these wheels spinning on either side of the track, and

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Speaker 1: suddenly my mind flashes back to this hot wheels set

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Speaker 1: of my brothers, which had a little rubber wheel on

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Speaker 1: either side of the track, and I said, oh, yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's the the wheel they use to you know, propel

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Speaker 1: the cars around the hold on. That was about the point.

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Speaker 1: That was about the point at which we caught those wheels,

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Speaker 1: and the wheels spin in opposite directions of from one another,

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Speaker 1: and just the car takes off exactly the same principle

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Speaker 1: that you see and things like like automatic baseball pitching

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Speaker 1: machines where it's just it's using that amazing amount of

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Speaker 1: friction to propel you forward. And uh so that's that's

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Speaker 1: what it works. Yeah, it does work. And then there

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Speaker 1: are hydraulic and pneumatic launch systems. Now, hydraulic launch systems

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Speaker 1: these are pretty cool. They use the hydraulic hydraulic pumps

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Speaker 1: which pump fluid into a piston. Right, So you've got

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Speaker 1: one side of the piston, the wet side, which is

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Speaker 1: where the hydraulic fluid is pumped in, and you have

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Speaker 1: the dry side, which has gas in it. Alright, So

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Speaker 1: as you're pumping fluid in, it's pushing the piston towards

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Speaker 1: the the gas end, which is compressing the gas, and

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Speaker 1: you create and credible amount of compression. Yes, Now, when

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Speaker 1: you've built up that compression to a certain amount, you

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Speaker 1: are able to release that compression, which then uh generates

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Speaker 1: enough energy to move some a winch very very very quickly. Now,

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Speaker 1: the winch pulls a line which is attached to the

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Speaker 1: the the base of the coaster itself forward. So the

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Speaker 1: winch is turning really really fast. It's pulling a line

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Speaker 1: kind of like if you were reeling in a fish, right,

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Speaker 1: but reeling in a fish faster than any human being

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Speaker 1: could ever reel a fish in. This pulls the coaster

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Speaker 1: forward and launches it from the standing still to oh

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Speaker 1: my god, I can't believe how fast we're going. Yes,

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Speaker 1: they've been on several of these. Then there's also the

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Speaker 1: pneumatic one, which uses air compressed air to launch vehicles.

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Speaker 1: It's kind of similar in a way, although it doesn't

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Speaker 1: you know, there's no there's no hydraulic fluid there. There

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Speaker 1: aren't very many pneumatic launch coasters. Most of the catapult

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Speaker 1: ones that you, okay, uh find in amusement parks today

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Speaker 1: are of the hydraulic launch variety or use the wheels

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Speaker 1: on either side the friction method. Uh So, I was

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Speaker 1: gonna talk a little bit about a very specific um

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Speaker 1: launch coaster just because it's a good example, the top

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Speaker 1: thrilled Dragster at Cedar Point. Okay, this coaster is a

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Speaker 1: very simple coaster in a way. Uh. It has a

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Speaker 1: straight track from the launch point that then shoots straight

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Speaker 1: up four d and twenty feet. You turn ninety degrees

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Speaker 1: and you come back down that that hill and then

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Speaker 1: you come to a stop so uh at launch when

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Speaker 1: you when by the time you are starting to go

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Speaker 1: up that hill, the coaster is going approximately a hundred

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Speaker 1: and twenty miles per hour UM. It's pretty fast. What's

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Speaker 1: really interesting is that there are computer systems that judge,

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Speaker 1: based upon the weight of the train, how much energy

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Speaker 1: is going to be needed to to propel the train

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Speaker 1: up and over the hill. Now, ideally you're going to

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Speaker 1: use just enough energy for that to barely happen, right,

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Speaker 1: because you don't want to use too much. You don't

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Speaker 1: want to propel them too quickly or else they're gonna

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Speaker 1: be coming down that hill faster than they are supposed to. However,

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Speaker 1: if you don't use enough, well, then you start to

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Speaker 1: slide backwards. So sometimes it does happen. I actually saw

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Speaker 1: that I've written this this coaster. I'm sure several of

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Speaker 1: our listeners have also written it UM and I have

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Speaker 1: seen while waiting in line a coaster come back down

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Speaker 1: the hill. It's not as scary as you would think.

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Speaker 1: There are permanent magnets in the track that activate after

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Speaker 1: the train goes by that slow the descent, so it's

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Speaker 1: not like it's not like you're hurtling down a hundred

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Speaker 1: twenty months per hour. They had to have been prepared

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Speaker 1: for such an eventuality if they were, you know, concerned

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Speaker 1: enough to put in a system that would automatically detect.

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Speaker 1: So the magnets are are what save you in that sense.

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Speaker 1: And their permanent magnets are not electro magnets because of

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Speaker 1: course they were like tromagnets and there was an electricity failure,

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Speaker 1: you wouldn't have the electricity to generate the magnetic field.

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Speaker 1: So with permanent magnets, they're all there's always a magnetic

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Speaker 1: field involved. They don't have to worry about, you know,

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Speaker 1: the somehow losing the ability to generate the electromagnetic field. Um.

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Speaker 1: It's a great coaster, by the way, especially if you

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Speaker 1: can ride in the very front car. I'll take your

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Speaker 1: word for it. I wrote it twice. Um, not my

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Speaker 1: favorite coaster, but it is a pretty good one. Um.

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Speaker 1: Let's see that pretty much covers the basis the basics

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Speaker 1: of roller coasters. Uh. I mean, as you mentioned, there

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Speaker 1: are those that are suspended coasters where the track is

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Speaker 1: above you, but they work pretty much on the same

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Speaker 1: principles as the ones where you're you're on top of

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Speaker 1: the track. That's the beauty of roller coasters is that

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Speaker 1: while you can put in new tricks and twists and

398
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Speaker 1: things like that, the the basis for the entire ride

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Speaker 1: is still grounded in physics. Pretty neat it is. Indeed. Um,

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Speaker 1: you know, you can get very technical and talk about

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Speaker 1: inertia and all that stuff from the science lab. I

402
00:22:07,520 --> 00:22:09,480
Speaker 1: will thank you to keep your science out of my

403
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Speaker 1: tech stuff, just like I just like the fact that

404
00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:17,720
Speaker 1: we have another podcast where I can I can conveniently

405
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Speaker 1: so uh. And I was also going to mention, uh.

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Speaker 1: Suspended coasters also have a pivoted joint. Many of them

407
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Speaker 1: have a pivoted joint so that when you go yeah,

408
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Speaker 1: so that when you go around turns, you swing out.

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Speaker 1: Like we're doing this stuff. It's too bad this isn't

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Speaker 1: a video podcast. But yeah, when you go around, when

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Speaker 1: you go around curves, because it's a pivoted joint, you

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Speaker 1: swing out due to centripetal force and that that also

413
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Speaker 1: those can be a lot of fun. Not all of

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Speaker 1: them have the pivoted joints. Some of them are more

415
00:22:48,320 --> 00:22:53,760
Speaker 1: or less locked into place. Um. Now we also can

416
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Speaker 1: talk a little bit. There are most of these these

417
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Speaker 1: modern roller coasters have very sophisticated computer systems in them,

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Speaker 1: which have sensors along the track that can tell the

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00:23:03,480 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: master computer system where each train is, how fast it's going,

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Speaker 1: and uh, if there's a problem, can activate the various

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Speaker 1: braking systems along the tracks so that there are no collisions.

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Speaker 1: So when everything's working fine, Uh, if something were to happen,

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Speaker 1: like let's say that a train stalled out for some reason,

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Speaker 1: maybe the chain lift uh stopped, or maybe a train

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Speaker 1: for some reason did not make a hill that it

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Speaker 1: was supposed to. Um, the operator can shut down the ride.

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00:23:31,480 --> 00:23:33,960
Speaker 1: Some cases it's all automated and the operator has even

428
00:23:33,960 --> 00:23:38,159
Speaker 1: taken out of the equation. Uh. But these are just

429
00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:43,520
Speaker 1: pretty basic sensors, really proximity sensors. They're usually very sensitive.

430
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,080
Speaker 1: But it's not like there are anything special, you know,

431
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:52,200
Speaker 1: that's unique to the roller coaster industry. UM. And of course, uh,

432
00:23:52,240 --> 00:23:55,960
Speaker 1: you know, the state regulators and I'm pretty sure every

433
00:23:56,000 --> 00:23:59,840
Speaker 1: state are required to go out and check these. Motion

434
00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:02,440
Speaker 1: pretty much takes care of that. Yeah, yeah, well it

435
00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:05,440
Speaker 1: depends on the I don't think OSHA actually does the

436
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,359
Speaker 1: roller coaster inspections, do they? Well, they definitely come in

437
00:24:08,400 --> 00:24:11,160
Speaker 1: if there's ever any problems Okay, because that was under

438
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:13,520
Speaker 1: the impression that in most cases is the state that's

439
00:24:13,560 --> 00:24:16,080
Speaker 1: responsible for that. But I am well, I know that

440
00:24:16,200 --> 00:24:19,159
Speaker 1: I know that whenever there's a I know that whenever

441
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:23,840
Speaker 1: there's an incident making air quotes that that OSHA does

442
00:24:23,880 --> 00:24:27,560
Speaker 1: come in and does an investigation. So if nothing else,

443
00:24:27,760 --> 00:24:31,240
Speaker 1: you do the the you know, administrative work so that

444
00:24:31,280 --> 00:24:33,840
Speaker 1: you don't ever have to endure that because it only

445
00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:36,000
Speaker 1: is a legal nightmare, it's a pr nightmare. And plus,

446
00:24:36,000 --> 00:24:38,000
Speaker 1: I mean, people just no one wants anyone to get

447
00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:43,440
Speaker 1: hurt while they're operating stuff for boxers, UFC fighters. Okay,

448
00:24:43,480 --> 00:24:45,919
Speaker 1: some people do, but not in roller coasters, right, And

449
00:24:46,080 --> 00:24:49,480
Speaker 1: of course uh and of course, um, you know, make

450
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,200
Speaker 1: sure that when you're interested in writing one of these

451
00:24:52,240 --> 00:24:56,000
Speaker 1: machines that you follow the instructions because you know, people

452
00:24:56,000 --> 00:24:59,119
Speaker 1: of a certain height, people of a um you know,

453
00:24:59,160 --> 00:25:02,200
Speaker 1: if you have and medical conditions, you shouldn't be writing

454
00:25:02,200 --> 00:25:05,800
Speaker 1: these things because especial forces can be a lot. Yeah,

455
00:25:06,600 --> 00:25:08,800
Speaker 1: and and the safety equipment on these things is designed

456
00:25:08,880 --> 00:25:11,359
Speaker 1: for for a pretty wide range of people. But if

457
00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:14,200
Speaker 1: you fall outside that range of people, you definitely shouldn't

458
00:25:14,200 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: be on the coaster because there's no guarantee that safety

459
00:25:17,760 --> 00:25:19,919
Speaker 1: equipment is going to work for you. Yes, and so

460
00:25:20,960 --> 00:25:24,760
Speaker 1: um yeah, as as some like when I was very little,

461
00:25:25,080 --> 00:25:26,720
Speaker 1: I know that I wasn't allowed to go on a

462
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,240
Speaker 1: certain roller coaster because I didn't quite make the height requirement.

463
00:25:30,520 --> 00:25:32,000
Speaker 1: When I was bigger and I got the ride that

464
00:25:32,119 --> 00:25:34,240
Speaker 1: I saw why because I had the shoulder harness thing

465
00:25:34,240 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 1: and it would have gone right over my face, Like

466
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:39,479
Speaker 1: my face would have been partially blocked by the shoulder

467
00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:41,399
Speaker 1: harness coming down because it was one of the the

468
00:25:41,600 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 1: U shaped ones and that would not have been a

469
00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,240
Speaker 1: very comfortable ride. So it was fault for the best.

470
00:25:47,000 --> 00:25:50,040
Speaker 1: So what's your favorite roller coaster of all time? Um,

471
00:25:50,600 --> 00:25:53,160
Speaker 1: keeping in mind that, uh, you know, I'm not into

472
00:25:53,200 --> 00:25:56,680
Speaker 1: the super duper preaky cool coasters like you like the

473
00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:02,440
Speaker 1: kiddie coasters already established that, Um, just going by by

474
00:26:02,440 --> 00:26:04,399
Speaker 1: my personal favorite, like by how much I enjoyed it.

475
00:26:04,440 --> 00:26:08,320
Speaker 1: I think the dueling dragons down at Universal Studios. That's

476
00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: not kidding coaster. Well, no, it's not good. It's not

477
00:26:10,480 --> 00:26:14,679
Speaker 1: like you know, it's not like the you know, I

478
00:26:14,720 --> 00:26:17,160
Speaker 1: like both of them. I like the fact that that

479
00:26:17,400 --> 00:26:19,440
Speaker 1: they can make it feel like that's one of the

480
00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:21,320
Speaker 1: cool things about coasters is they they like putting you

481
00:26:21,400 --> 00:26:23,040
Speaker 1: in these tunnels where you feel like you're gonna lose

482
00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:25,200
Speaker 1: your head, even though it's way there's no way you

483
00:26:25,280 --> 00:26:27,400
Speaker 1: could ever do that. And when you're when they raise

484
00:26:27,720 --> 00:26:29,879
Speaker 1: the Fire and Ice Dragon coasters, you feel like you're

485
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:31,600
Speaker 1: gonna touch You see the feet of the people on

486
00:26:31,600 --> 00:26:33,919
Speaker 1: the ride and it looks like you're gonna, you know,

487
00:26:33,960 --> 00:26:36,760
Speaker 1: smack into them. My favorite is whichever side ends up

488
00:26:36,760 --> 00:26:39,080
Speaker 1: going up a wall at one point, and I can't

489
00:26:39,080 --> 00:26:42,440
Speaker 1: remember which side. Didn't remember now it's been ten years,

490
00:26:42,440 --> 00:26:44,920
Speaker 1: it's been a while since ever. My favorite is the

491
00:26:44,960 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 1: Millennium Force at Cedar Point. Yeah, fantastic roller coaster, and

492
00:26:48,880 --> 00:26:52,480
Speaker 1: it's mainly for the first drop, which is really really intense.

493
00:26:53,080 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 1: Goliath over at six Flags is pretty good to it.

494
00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:57,880
Speaker 1: If you can't ride the Millennium Force and you're in Atlanta,

495
00:26:58,520 --> 00:27:02,640
Speaker 1: go ride Goliath over six Flags because it's not I'm

496
00:27:02,640 --> 00:27:05,280
Speaker 1: not gonna say it's equivalent because I'm letting them force.

497
00:27:05,320 --> 00:27:07,400
Speaker 1: I think it's still a superior coaster, but it's it's

498
00:27:07,440 --> 00:27:10,520
Speaker 1: a good coaster, especially if you you know, you're like

499
00:27:10,640 --> 00:27:13,879
Speaker 1: me and you don't mind the mind numbing drops if

500
00:27:14,000 --> 00:27:17,400
Speaker 1: enjoy those, That explains why never mind. Well, I guess

501
00:27:17,440 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 1: that wraps it up for roller coasters. Why don't we

502
00:27:20,200 --> 00:27:26,760
Speaker 1: go on to a little listener mail. This listener mail

503
00:27:26,840 --> 00:27:29,320
Speaker 1: comes from George, and George says, Hey, I have an

504
00:27:29,359 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 1: iPhone three G and I'm wondering which is safer three

505
00:27:31,880 --> 00:27:34,840
Speaker 1: G or G p r S because I'm always hearing

506
00:27:35,040 --> 00:27:38,520
Speaker 1: that phone signals cause radiation. But I kind of believe this,

507
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:40,480
Speaker 1: So could you please tell me which is safer or

508
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,639
Speaker 1: gives out less radiation? Thanks? Love the podcast. Well, George,

509
00:27:44,600 --> 00:27:47,399
Speaker 1: I hate to break this to you, but cell phones

510
00:27:47,480 --> 00:27:50,760
Speaker 1: work on radiation. It's all the frequencies that are coming

511
00:27:50,760 --> 00:27:52,679
Speaker 1: in and out of your cell phone that that's energy

512
00:27:52,800 --> 00:27:56,359
Speaker 1: that is radiating from your phone going to your phone.

513
00:27:56,720 --> 00:28:00,320
Speaker 1: All cell phones give out radiation apparently, or when you

514
00:28:00,359 --> 00:28:02,679
Speaker 1: talk then when you listen. I found out the other day. Now,

515
00:28:03,320 --> 00:28:07,600
Speaker 1: radiation does not necessarily mean that it's harmful. Radiation is

516
00:28:07,680 --> 00:28:11,199
Speaker 1: just that's energy moving out. That's it doesn't necessarily mean

517
00:28:11,240 --> 00:28:15,280
Speaker 1: it's harmful energy. Now, as far as cell phones go,

518
00:28:15,720 --> 00:28:18,920
Speaker 1: these studies are inconclusive right now as to whether or

519
00:28:19,000 --> 00:28:23,040
Speaker 1: not cell phone use Extended cell phone use causes any

520
00:28:23,200 --> 00:28:27,160
Speaker 1: kind of physiological effect, like whether it would be uh

521
00:28:28,040 --> 00:28:32,560
Speaker 1: a cancer or if it would uh negatively affect your

522
00:28:33,680 --> 00:28:37,000
Speaker 1: brain functions. There's just not enough information there for anyone

523
00:28:37,080 --> 00:28:40,240
Speaker 1: to really say for sure. The information we do have

524
00:28:40,440 --> 00:28:43,560
Speaker 1: so far suggests that if there are any harmful effects,

525
00:28:44,120 --> 00:28:46,320
Speaker 1: it's gonna have to come after years and years of use,

526
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:48,560
Speaker 1: because there's just not a lot of documented cases of

527
00:28:48,640 --> 00:28:50,840
Speaker 1: it out there. I wouldn't worry about it too much.

528
00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:53,480
Speaker 1: And really, when it comes down between three G and

529
00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: gprs not a whole difference, because you're just talking about

530
00:28:56,920 --> 00:28:59,959
Speaker 1: two different frequency bands, and most of of the information

531
00:29:00,040 --> 00:29:03,160
Speaker 1: and I've seen suggests that depends more on the cell

532
00:29:03,240 --> 00:29:07,320
Speaker 1: phone than it does the frequency on which it is broadcasting.

533
00:29:08,320 --> 00:29:10,960
Speaker 1: Some cell phones are gonna be powerhouses, and some cell

534
00:29:11,000 --> 00:29:14,760
Speaker 1: phones are not gonna be able to transmit through cardboard.

535
00:29:15,280 --> 00:29:18,040
Speaker 1: Although the location of the antenna apparently does make a

536
00:29:18,080 --> 00:29:22,000
Speaker 1: difference to some cellphones have the antenna farther away from

537
00:29:22,040 --> 00:29:25,200
Speaker 1: your head, some closer. Um, I'm sure that the people

538
00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:27,400
Speaker 1: who are most worried about it will tell you that

539
00:29:27,440 --> 00:29:29,160
Speaker 1: it doesn't matter. It's all radiation and it's right next

540
00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:34,280
Speaker 1: to your head. Um. So well, George I guess what

541
00:29:34,360 --> 00:29:37,200
Speaker 1: we're saying is that keep looking for studies about it,

542
00:29:37,280 --> 00:29:41,200
Speaker 1: because no one's really uh definitively come down and said

543
00:29:41,240 --> 00:29:45,200
Speaker 1: whether or not they cause any harm in the future. UM.

544
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:48,840
Speaker 1: I'm I'm still using my three G cell phone. I'm

545
00:29:48,840 --> 00:29:52,880
Speaker 1: not too worried about it. Uh. So you know, keep

546
00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:55,400
Speaker 1: an eye out. You've got an iPhone. There's probably an

547
00:29:55,400 --> 00:29:59,120
Speaker 1: app for that. Um and uh if we hear anything

548
00:29:59,160 --> 00:30:01,040
Speaker 1: else will up to it, will probably do an episode

549
00:30:01,040 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 1: about it. So if any of you have any questions, concerns, criticisms,

550
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:07,400
Speaker 1: you want to tell us what your favorite roller coaster is,

551
00:30:07,480 --> 00:30:09,959
Speaker 1: you can write us. Our address is tech stuff at

552
00:30:10,040 --> 00:30:12,440
Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Remember we have a live

553
00:30:12,480 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 1: show every Tuesday at one pm Eastern and you can

554
00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:17,800
Speaker 1: find that at our blogs blogs dot how stuff works

555
00:30:17,840 --> 00:30:19,720
Speaker 1: dot com. And Chris and I will talk to you

556
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:22,440
Speaker 1: again really soon. Come on, let's go, let's go, right,

557
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:28,720
Speaker 1: Okay for moral on this and thousands of other topics,

558
00:30:29,000 --> 00:30:31,280
Speaker 1: is a how stuff works dot com and be sure

559
00:30:31,320 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 1: to check out the new tech stuff blog now on

560
00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:40,200
Speaker 1: the how Stuff Works homepage. Brought to you by the

561
00:30:40,280 --> 00:30:43,480
Speaker 1: reinvented two thousand twelve camera. It's ready, are you