Rollercoasters are driven by different forces of gravity, inertia and centripetal. The physics used in a rollercoaster also involves friction, work, air resistance, and energy. It usually begins with a mechanical device i.e. motor and chain; they exert a force on the roller coaster car train to lift them to the top of the hill. From this point, gravity starts operating, and the duration of the ride undergo energy transformation.
Pulling the rollercoasters uphill uses energy, this energy does not simply disappear. It is stored this energy just by being up in the air and the higher they have pulled the more energy they store. The stored energy will be used to race back down the hill when the ride begins. This is because they have the potential to use future energy that was stored in the past. The stored energy is called Potential energy.
Once the cars are released and start rolling down the hill, the force of gravity makes them hurtle downwards when they round the brow of the first hill. As accelerate and pick up momentum, their potential energy turns into kinetic energy. The further they go downhill, the faster they go and more potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.
When the ride starts, the cars have a certain amount of potential energy. They can never have more than this no matter how long the ride will last. Through the whole ride, potential and kinetic energy keep swapping back and forth that’s why rollercoaster cars always go slower in higher bits of the ride and faster in lower bits.
Theoretically, this process could go on forever. But practically, some of the potential energy of the cars started off constantly being used up by friction when the wheels rub against the track. More of the energy is also taken by air resistance and the rattling noise the rollercoaster makes, energy is also lost in angular momentum from twists and turns. Since there