WT top speed?

I'm confused on WT's top speed.....

From CP's website..." Wicked Twister blasts riders out of its station reaching a top speed of 72 mph in a mere 2.5 seconds"

but WT doesn't reach it's highest point on the towers off of the launch, it reaches this after its 3rd or 4th pass through the station...am I missing something or does WT exceed 72 mph?

Hmmmm....I'm no physics major, but I'm guessing that 72 mph for a fraction of a second generates significantly less momentum than a sustained 72 MPH push and the train is therefore more susceptible to inertia. Something like that.

-'Playa

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The CPlaya 100--6 days, 9 parks, 47 coasters, 2037 miles and a winner.....LoCoSuMo.

Maybe it means that after going through the backward spike the first time, it goes from its current speed to 72mph in 2.5 seconds and out of the station.

Maybe im wrong, but its the only reasonable explanation i can come up with.

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G-Forces: The only positive addiction out there!
CoasterCount: 42

Playa...

Not a physics major here, but an ME who remembers some physics....if acceleration = 0 then velocity is constant and momentum, and therefore inertia, are uneffected. Momentum is equal to mass times velocity (speed) m=M*v. or if we break down v, m=M*d/t (d/t=distance/time).

It's momentum obviously changes then as its velocity increases or decreases (mass stays constant, distance stays relatively constant, only the time through the station changes), therefore the only way momentum can increase is with an increase in velocity.

IOW, suppose two indentical cars exit a tunnel at the same time and speed, one starting from 35 and increasing to 72, the other just keeping its speed at 72. Would you know which car was which? no cuz they're both cars doing 72. Now if one was a truck and one was a car, or one was going 100 and the other 72, I don't have to guess which one you'd rather get hit by. That's momentum.

They neglect to mention that WT is already travelling at somewhere between 50 and 60 miles/hour when it accelerates to 72 on the last backwards pass through the station.

So, it does reach 72 in those 2.xx seconds, it's just not from a full-stop.
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- John
*** This post was edited by Michael Darling 5/19/2003 3:41:38 PM ***

So it's just good marketing then. I wonder what the initial speed out of the station is then? what the 0-?? in xx seconds is?

The website is poorly worded. WT reaches top speed on its third pass, or second time up the front tower.

it seems that the fastest WT launch is the second one up the back tower, that seems to get closest to the top? Is that true or does it get closer to the top because the back spike is shorter?

I believe this applies to all the Impulses. Initial launch and final launch forward is pretty weak. First launch backwards, second launch forwards, and second launch backwards produce the top speed.
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Arena football has arrived in the Windy City. Go "Chicago Rush"
*** This post was edited by Chitown 5/19/2003 4:22:13 PM ***

Final forward launch is no launch at all. The highest Acceleration felt on Twisted Wicker is the second pass forward though the station. The second time backward is equal to this speed.

The original program had the highest speed on both backwards passes.

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God bless Intamin, Company that I love. Stand beside her, and ride her, from the opening to the closing of the day.

w000t! I got my ONE ride on WT before it blew up the night before CM....and it was *full bore*....still didn't provide the rush for me that V2 did, but still nice acceleration. No idea why some Impulses FEEL stronger than others, or even if they really *do* have different rates of acceleration...but it sure felt that way to me...

Also, my *guess* is that WT no longer reaches 72 at all, but it's probably close to that....where's the radar gun from the pitching game when ya need one...;)

bill, saying an Impulse at less than full power is just a *limp-pulse*...
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