History of the Class


Photos and Videos


Class Calendar


Animations


Catalog Description

Amusement park roller coasters excite us, scare us, and capture our imagination. What records will designers break next? How do they create rides that are exhilarating, yet physically safe? A scientific contemplation of these questions requires math and physics concepts such as vectors, parametric equations, curvature, energy, gravity, and friction. We consider these and more, providing background in basic and more advanced math and physics. During the second half of the unit, students conceive of and design projects to study specific aspects of roller coasters.


Curriculum development for this class was funded in part by a grant to Bates College from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.



Roller Coasters Home Page | History of the Class | Class Calendar | Animations | Photos and Videos | Syllabus | Bates Mathematics Department

All content above relates to Math s45K, Roller Coasters: Theory, Design, and Properties, offered during Short Term 2005 at Bates College in Lewiston, Maine.
 
Please send comments or questions to Meredith Greer at mgreer@bates.edu.
 
Page last updated 6/29/2005.