Some people just love roller coasters. The thrill of climbing that first big hill and falling over the edge is exciting. If you think of it in terms of energy, most coasters are built around the concept that all the energy is built in that first hill, though some now have added some form of input energy in the middle of the ride. The first hill builds up the gravitational potential energy that is then transferred into kinetic energy as the ride continues.
In the matching activity below, you will see the height of the first hill of the top 10 tallest roller coasters in the U.S. If a loaded roller coaster car of 8350 kg gets to the top of the first precipice, find the gravitational potential energy of that loaded car for each hill.
138.99 m
128.02 m
126.49 m
99.06 m
94.49 m
92.96 m
74.68 m
71.63 m
70.71 m
70.10 m
1.138 x 107 J
1.049 x 107 J
1.036 x 107 J
8.114 x 106 J
7.740 x 106 J
7.615 x 106 J
6.117 x 106 J
5.867 x 106 J
5.792 x 106 J
5.742 x 106 J
Directions
To match items, click or tap an item in the left column and then click or tap its match in the right column. If you change your mind, make a different choice. Once you have matched all items, click "Check Answers" to see how you did. Click "Reset" to try again.
Check Answers
Reset
Great job!
