Author(s):
Patricia W. Hammer, Jessica A. King, and Steve Hammer
Here you will use the ideas from modules A-E to design a straight-stretch coaster that satisfies all restrictions and has the maximum possible thrill. Completion of this project requires ingenuity, creativity, and extension/modification of many of the ideas and Maple commands presented in modules A-E. You may use trig functions or polynomial functions or both or neither.
Greyhound, Green Bay, WI
You should write your project report as a mini technical report, and you should include:
- Complete explanation of the design of your coaster (why did you choose this particular design and how do you know it is the most thrilling?)
- Complete explanation of all mathematical calculations (slopes, angles, thrills, etc.)
- Complete Maple worksheets that show all mathematical calculations and plots.
If you have successfully completed sections A-E, you may choose to complete this project using more advanced and efficient Maple code (e.g., do loops).
Click on the icon at the right to download a sample advanced Maple worksheet.
Steel Dragon 2000, Nagashima, Japan
Patricia W. Hammer, Jessica A. King, and Steve Hammer, "Design of a Thrilling Roller Coaster - Project: Design the Most Thrilling Coaster," Convergence (February 2005)