The Teacup Ride

The teacup ride is either favored or despised by many because of their opinion towards the confusing sensations of being on the ride. The ride disorientates the rider because of the two simultaneously spinning platforms and henceforth causing the thrill.

The physics behind the ride:

One force acts on you by making you enjoy the ride and not fly off it. That force is called the centripetal force. The centripetal force is what makes a body travel a circular path that is directed towards the center. In this case, we are the body and the center to which our motion is directed towards is the teacup. The centripetal acceleration can be calculated by using the simple v:

Ac=v2r

Without this force, our inertia would would cause us to fly off the ride in a tangent direction.

The teacups are also a body traveling a circular path on the large platform. Therefore, there are two different centers that contribute to the thrill of an overload of sensations.

Citations:

    Machaca, Raya. “Amusement Park Physics.” Prezi.com, 14 Jan. 2014

          Centripetal Acceleration, theory.uwinnipeg.ca/physics/circ/node6.html.