Roller Coasters History

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The origin of the roller coaster comes from Russia, in a particular area of what would later become St. Petersburg , where they sent sledders down 70-foot high slopes that were wood-framed ice slides. They have been doing this as early as the 16th century. The roller coasters were built out of wood with ice more than two but not a lot of inches thick covering the surface. There were stairs attached to the back of the slide that the riders climbed and then they sped down the fifty degree drop and climbed up the stairs of the slide that laid parallel and opposite to the first one. These Russian Mountains were a real attraction in the summertime when wheeled carts rolled riders down huge, undulating wooden ramps. In the winter season slides …show more content…
Its funny today with all of the fast roller coasters but the first roller coaster in the United States only went 6 miles per hour. These days roller coasters come in all different shapes and sizes and the fastest roller coaster goes 149 miles per hour, which is a big difference from the beginning of roller coasters when riders would sit on books of wood and ice with straw stuffed inside of it, then they would get a little push and slide down. When Paris wanted in on all the fun they realized they didn't have the cold winter climate that the Russians had so they added a track to the ride and then they added wheels onto their sleds, effectively creating the modern roller coaster in 1817. Today roller coasters are built with wheeled cars that are all linked together and that move along in a pair with the structure of is supported by either wood or steel. The cars are linked by a chain that carries the cars up a steep incline. They roll free of the chain when it reaches the pinnacle and then they are propelled downward through a series of turns, drops, and rises. Then finally the ride is over and the riders get off exactly where they started. Did you know that most roller coasters don't have engines. Well i bet you are wondering how they move then, well they move by converting potential energy that turns into kinetic energy and then as the cars go back up it converts back into potential energy to keep the ride moving. Who new? They started as off as ice slides in Russia and now they are all over the world and they all have loops, turns, flips, and more. As you can see roller coasters have definitely evolved since the

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