X- The Fastest Coaster with Inversions

I don't think there is anyway SOB can get above 80 mph. I just checked out the numbers and here is what I got:

214 foot drop starting at 10mph, 80.66 mph in PERFECT conditions (i.e. no air, friction).

214 foot drop starting at 15 mph, 81.43 mph in perfect conditions.

214 foot drop starting at 20 mph, 82.5 mph in perfect conditions. Keep in mind, these are max. conditions.

stljason1, funnything is I even RODE Steel Phantom...(perhaps that's why I didn't remember it, the *mild head trauma* from the OSTR's)....can't wait to get a shot at its *offspring*.

*** This post was edited by rollergator on 11/8/2002. ***

A couple of notes:

Mass can effect the speed of a coaster train, but we are talking 1 or 2 mph on top speed. This can be a somewhat larger number at the end of the run, but I don't know of any coasters that hit there top speed then.

Mechanical friction is divided into two forces the first, and ususally smaller, is independant of the normal force. The second is a linear function of the normal force. The aerodynamic drag force is a function of the square of the velocity and independant of the normal force or mass.

A frictionless train in a vacuum would have the same speed at the bottom of the first hill no matter how steep it is or what the mass of the train is. In real world conditions, a heavier train with a steeper hill will go faster, but only 1-3 mph.

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Some people here don't know who they're talking too ;-)

Colossos has a new trackdesign and special designed trains, which give the rides a steelie smooth ride.
Almost no friction. And the steep drop (60°, steeper dan Son of Beast) also affects the speed.
And last but not least, the chain lift speed...Colossos goes up quite fast.

It runs normal in the morning, but before the trimbrakes, with a hot and wet track, it ran amazing. You should search some offride videos and watch this amazing ride fly over the hills.

Belgian, Here are the stats

http://rcdb.com/installationdetail988.htm

I am not saying it is not a amazing ride, Everyone I know that has ridden it says it is awesome. All I was saying it it dosn't and can't do the 89mph you quoted.

Chuck, who says read no more into it than that. :)

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Charles Nungester.
Is it about coasters or friends? I say both!

Belgian said:

Some people here don't know who they're talking too ;-)

And some people here don't know what they're talking about (or correct grammar for that matter). A 170' drop, no matter how good your trains are and how steelie smooth the ride is, will not get you faster than 73 MPH. The input from the chain is not going to get you up to 90 MPH. I would do the math, but I would hope that anyone with three days of physics background would be able to see this.

Unless one of the new benefits of being higher up in the amusement industry ladder is being able to vary the laws of physics, don't try to pull that "I have X and Y connections and work at X and Y places, so I would know."

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*** This post was edited by ApolloAndy on 11/8/2002. ***

Jim Fisher said:

The aerodynamic drag force is a function of the square of the velocity and independant of the normal force or mass.

Is it directly proportional to the square of speed?

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You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

Is it directly proportional to the square of speed?

Drag Force equals coefficent of drag*(square of velocity)*area*rho(density of air)*1/2. Then you can relate that to F=ma to find more stuff out about it.

Hrm. Is coeff. of drag a constant or is it related to the object? Is area just the projection of the object? Where does the shape of the object come into play or does it not at all (which would suprise me).

I never got this far into mechanics.

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You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

ApolloAndy said:

Hrm. Is coeff. of drag a constant or is it related to the object? Is area just the projection of the object? Where does the shape of the object come into play or does it not at all (which would suprise me).
I never got this far into mechanics.

The coeff. of drag is related to the object itself. It depends on the geometry of the object and how the object is placed. For instantance curved object might have a coeff. of about 1.2 and a flat object more around 2. Other things can actually be factored into the drag coeff. involving boundary layers and such, but its confusing. Overall its a very experimental thing, but its very much based on the object itself and not the projection.

Which is sort of weird because for curved surfaces under water, you can use the projection of that surface to help calculate the force of the water on that surface.

Cool. Thanks for the info. Cory. Ya learn something new everyday. ;) What's your background in mechanics?

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You must be this dumb to ride Viper. -SFGAdv.

ApolloAndy said:
Cool. Thanks for the info. Cory. Ya learn something new everyday. What's your background in mechanics?

Well I'm a ME student, but I'm a senior so I'm pretty close to being a "real" engineer. =) My knowledge is all theory pretty much, so all that stuff from above was basically from two semesters of Fluid Mechanics!