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Let's Build a Rollercoaster! Trivia Quiz

Meet Bob the rollercoaster designer. He's asked you, the person who knows all about physics, to tell him what you think about his coaster.

A multiple-choice quiz by dudealicious. Estimated time: 5 mins.

Author
dudealicious

Time
5 mins

Type
Multiple Choice

Quiz #
228,571

Updated
Dec 03 21

# Qns
10

Difficulty
Average

Avg Score
7 / 10

Plays
988

Last 3 plays: Guest 107 (6/10), Guest 174 (10/10), Guest 173 (9/10).

One at a Time - Single Page - Timed Game

Question 1 of 10

1. "Hmmm," Bob says to you. "I can't remember any of my lessons from physics class. Will you help me?"
"Sure, Bob," you say.
"What exactly is a rollercoaster?" Hint

"A machine using gravity and inertia to send a car along a track."

"The best thing that's ever happened to amusement parks!"

"A machine using high powered jet engines to send a car along a track."

"Um...I can't remember."

NEXT>

Question 2 of 10

2. Bob looks puzzled. While scratching his head, he asks, "Where does the rollercoaster get its energy from?" Hint

"Its engines."

"The lift hill."

"Spinach, like Popeye."

"A hamster running on wheels. It's a well-kept secret."

NEXT>

Question 3 of 10

3. Bob says to you, "I've designed my first hill to be 50 feet tall. I want to build a loop right after it and I want it to be 60 feet tall."

"Bob, you can't do that," you say. Why? Hint

"Because the loop is the same size as the first hill."

"Because the loop is taller than the first hill."

"Because the loop is smaller than the first hill."

"Because we don't have enough materials to build the loop."

NEXT>

Question 4 of 10

4. "A rollercoaster is basically just mechanical energy? Is that true?" Bob asks.

Yes

NEXT>

Question 5 of 10

5. "I understand mechanical energy," Bob says to you, "but what exactly is kinetic energy?" Hint

"Stored energy."

"The energy of motion."

"The energy that unmoving objects use."

"The energy of doctors."

NEXT>

Question 6 of 10

6. One of Bob's other designers sighs. "I wish we could make our coaster use linear synchronous motors like that rollercoaster I once was on."
"What rollercoaster?" You ask. Hint

"Dueling Dragons from Universal's Island of Adventure."

"Scream from Six Flags New England."

"Space Mountain from Disneyland."

"Superman: the Escape from Six Flags Magic Mountain."

NEXT>

Question 7 of 10

7. Bob stares at his paper. "This coaster will definitely be a steel hyper-coaster. Or should it be a giga-coaster?" He turns to you. "What's the difference?" he asks. Hint

"A hyper-coaster's first hill is 300 ft and a giga-coaster's is 200 ft."

"A hyper-coaster's first hill is 200 ft and a giga-coaster's is 300 ft."

"None. They are both the same height."

"The giga-coaster is suspended, while the hyper-coaster is a stand-up coaster."

NEXT>

Question 8 of 10

8. "I'm thinking about adding some interesting track elements to my rollercoaster," Bob says to you. "But I spilled coffee all over my reference paper! What's a bunny hop again?" Hint

"It's a small or large hill."

"A bunny hop is when a rabbit continuously hops in a straight line."

"It's that cool dance craze, not a track element at all."

"It's a stretch of flat track."

NEXT>

Question 9 of 10

9. Bob says, "I think I understand potential and kinetic energy now. The rollercoaster has its greatest amount of potential energy at the bottom of the highest hill."

True

False

10. You turn to leave. It looks like Bob's other designer can help him the rest of the way. "One last thing," says Bob. "I just want to make sure that I understand rollercoasters. The two major forces that drive them are gravity and centripetal force, but it also uses inertia."

True

False

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Nov 07 2024 : Guest 107: 6/10
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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. "Hmmm," Bob says to you. "I can't remember any of my lessons from physics class. Will you help me?" "Sure, Bob," you say. "What exactly is a rollercoaster?"

Answer: "A machine using gravity and inertia to send a car along a track."

"That's an easy one, Bob," you reply. "A rollercoaster is a machine using basic forces, like gravity. It also uses inertia to send a car along a track. There are all kinds of different rollercoasters besides the standard train on a track. There can be floorless ones and stand-up ones too."

2. Bob looks puzzled. While scratching his head, he asks, "Where does the rollercoaster get its energy from?"

Answer: "The lift hill."

"The lift hill gives the rollercoaster its energy for the entire coaster. The purpose of the lift hill is to build up potential energy. As the coaster moves along the track, the potential energy changes back to kinetic again. When the coaster goes down a hill, there is increasing kinetic energy. When it goes up a hill, there is increasing potential energy," you tell him.

3. Bob says to you, "I've designed my first hill to be 50 feet tall. I want to build a loop right after it and I want it to be 60 feet tall." "Bob, you can't do that," you say. Why?

Answer: "Because the loop is taller than the first hill."

"Bob, you can't do this because the loop is taller than the first hill. Having the loop smaller than the first hill would be much safer, because if the loop was taller than the first hill, or the lift hill, then the train wouldn't have enough energy to get around the loop and would probably stop in the middle, which wouldn't be good. Remember, rollercoasters have no engines after the chain that drags you up the first hill, so there isn't an engine to keep you going.

It's all physics."

4. "A rollercoaster is basically just mechanical energy? Is that true?" Bob asks.

Answer: yes

"That's right, Bob."
"I think I get it now. Mechanical energy is the energy which is possessed by an object due to its motion! So anything moving can have mechanical energy. Some examples are a moving car, moving air or water, or a thrown baseball."
"Not so fast," you say. "Mechanical energy can also be stored energy--or potential energy. An object like a fan that's shut off could also have mechanical energy."
"I see. Because it could possibly have moving air, which is mechanical energy."
"Exactly, Bob," you answer.

5. "I understand mechanical energy," Bob says to you, "but what exactly is kinetic energy?"

Answer: "The energy of motion."

"Kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Anything that moves uses kinetic energy. There are two basic kinds of energy: one is kinetic, and one is potential. Potential energy is the stored energy."
"Oh, I see." Bob says to you.

6. One of Bob's other designers sighs. "I wish we could make our coaster use linear synchronous motors like that rollercoaster I once was on." "What rollercoaster?" You ask.

Answer: "Superman: the Escape from Six Flags Magic Mountain."

"Superman: the Escape," he answers. "It was at Six Flags Magic Mountain. It was awesome! The linear synchronous motors (or LSM for short) make the rollercoaster go super fast!"
Bob shudders. "That kind of rollercoaster would make me sick!"
"Me too." You agree.

7. Bob stares at his paper. "This coaster will definitely be a steel hyper-coaster. Or should it be a giga-coaster?" He turns to you. "What's the difference?" he asks.

Answer: "A hyper-coaster's first hill is 200 ft and a giga-coaster's is 300 ft."

"A hyper-coaster's first hill is 200 ft and a giga-coaster's is 300 ft. That's the only difference. It's quite simple, really. They could be different in other ways, but this one is the primary difference."
"That's really cool," Bob says.

8. "I'm thinking about adding some interesting track elements to my rollercoaster," Bob says to you. "But I spilled coffee all over my reference paper! What's a bunny hop again?"

Answer: "It's a small or large hill."

"It's a small or large hill, Bob." says Bob's other designer. "It results in the sensation that you're in the air, so it's a very popular way to end a ride. I think that's where we should have ours."
"Okay. That sounds good," replies Bob.

9. Bob says, "I think I understand potential and kinetic energy now. The rollercoaster has its greatest amount of potential energy at the bottom of the highest hill."

Answer: False

"No, Bob. That's not right," you say. "The rollercoaster has the greatest amount of potential energy at the top of the highest hill, not the bottom. You see, kinetic energy is the energy of motion. Potential energy is stored energy. As the train goes down the first hill, the potential energy decreases and the kinetic energy increases.

The rollercoaster has the greatest amount of kinetic energy at the bottom of the first hill."

Answer: True

"Exactly, Bob," you say. "The two forces are gravity and centripetal forces. It uses inertia too. Inertia is when objects at rest tend to remain at rest or an object in motion tends to stay in motion in a straight line unless acted on by an outside force. This is Newton's First Law of Motion. Gravity is the force of attraction between two objects, and centripetal force is the force acting on an object moving in a circular motion. It is a state of constant acceleration."
"Thanks for all of your help. I really appreciate it."
"You're welcome, Bob. I can't wait to ride your rollercoaster."

Source: Author dudealicious

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