Understanding the real barriers to productivity
An amusement park in Pennsylvania known as Hershey Park boasts a ride known as the SooperDooperLooper, which reaches a speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) as it hurtles around a thrilling 75-foot (23-m) loop.
According to Hershey Park’s website, the SooperDooperLooper is “the first-ever looping coaster on the East Coast.” But this is actually not true. That’s because Coney Island was home to the first two looping coasters in America, 75 years before the SooperDooperLooper.
The two roller coasters were called Flip Flap Railway and Loop the Loop, but unlike the SooperDooperLooper (which has been around for about 50 years), these early Coney Island coasters didn’t even last a decade.
The reason why people were averse to the Flip Flap coaster was because of its shape. In physics, perfect circles are beloved, but the human experience hardly ever agrees with this sentiment.
Looping roller coasters first appeared in Europe as early as 1842. Back then, they were known as centrifugal railways, and they weren’t popular or very successful.
Centrifugal railways popped up in a few more places around Europe, but they were all short-lived and lost their novelty very quickly.
Simulations done on the Flip Flap’s circular loop show that passengers would have experienced one G of force to 14 Gs within a second. The forces then decreased to nine Gs as the coaster reached the top, only to increase back to 14 as the coaster returned to the bottom of the loop. Instantaneously, the forces would drop back to one G.
In order for a roller coaster to make it all the way around the Flip Flap’s circular loop, the cars on the coaster had to move at incredible speeds while simultaneously changing directions. Naturally, this had a very negative impact on the human body.
As passengers approached a circular loop, the railway track forced them upward, even though the actual momentum was trying to force their bodies to carry on moving in a straight line parallel to the ground.
Changing directions so rapidly causes a spike in gravitational forces (or G-force). For context, Earth’s gravity is equal to one G of force, while rocket launches typically reach slightly more than three Gs.
Passengers on the Flip Flap coaster experienced up to 14 Gs of force while going around the circular loop!
For the human body, six Gs of force is really the most that it can handle on a roller coaster, and it can only do so for about a second. At that force, all the blood is literally pulled out of a passenger’s head and they would pass out.
Passengers of the Flip Flap were completely disoriented by the experience, and it was made worse by the fact that the coaster’s structure was made mostly out of wood, which is able to stretch and compress under pressure.
The next looping coaster built on Coney Island (the Loop the Loop) was constructed in 1902 and was crafted to avoid the issues generated by the Flip Flap. Firstly, it was made entirely of steel, which offered more stability than wood.
Even though the issues were mostly resolved, roller coasters still had one major problem: capacity. No roller coaster of the time could support more than a few riders at once because the loops were small, which meant that the cars also had to be small.
The loop of the coaster was also switched to an upside-down teardrop shape. By squeezing the sides, there was more ease in the transition into and out of the coaster’s loop. This reduced the G-forces and created a smoother ride.
Most roller coaster cars only seated four people, while the coaster could only be sent about once every five minutes. In the end, it wasn’t an incredibly lucrative business.
The Flip Flap lasted seven years, while the Loop the Loop lasted nine. Many other looping coasters in other parts of the world closed down shortly after, and it was widely believed that this was the end of the track for loops.
In 1959, Disneyland in California unveiled an attraction known as the Matterhorn. Although the coaster didn’t have a loop, it was the world’s first coaster made from tubular steel.
Unlike regular steel, which is solid throughout and extremely heavy, tubular steel is hollow. This means that it’s lighter weight and easier to bend. Unlike wood, tubular steel can support far heavier weight.
In 1976, Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park debuted the world’s first-ever looping coaster made from tubular steel. The coaster, named the Great American Revolution, squeezed the loop even more into what is known as a “clothoid loop.”
Since tubular steel is more durable, the Great American Revolution was built 113 feet (35 meters) high and was able to support 20 riders at a time.
With clothoid loop-shaped coasters, designers had far more control over G-forces and how many of them passengers should experience. In the case of the Great American Revolution, the G-forces reach no higher than 4.9.
Ever since, roller coaster loops have exploded in popularity around the world. Some theme parks feature double loops and crazy loops that test the limits of human exhilaration.
Currently, the roller coaster with the highest number of G-forces in the world is the Tower of Terror, located in Gold Reef City theme park in South Africa. The coaster features up to 6.3 Gs of force!
If you’re looking for the tallest vertical loop on the North American continent, then look no further than Six Flags Fiesta Texas, where a coaster known as Full Throttle boasts a loop of 160 feet (49 meters).
Sources: (Vox) (TwistedSifter) (Ultimate Roller Coaster) (American Coaster Enthusiasts) (The Cooper Union) (Britannica)
See also: The most terrifying abandoned amusement parks in the world
The tallest roller coaster vertical loop in the world can be found in China, and it's called the Flash. It was built in 2016 at an astonishing 171 feet (52 meters) high, and can be found in Lewa Adventure amusement park.
Although many people adore looping roller coasters in today’s age, people in the 1800s certainly did not have a fondness for them. This sentiment was carried over to America with the nation’s first looping coaster in 1895, the aforementioned Flip Flap Railway.
It turns out that roller coaster loops shouldn’t actually be circular, which is why the coasters didn’t last. So, what’s the reason behind their shape? Let’s take a look!
Any thrill-seeker who has visited an amusement park would be able to describe (probably in detail) the adrenaline that comes from being on a roller coaster. The high speeds, the wind, and the inescapable feeling of being flipped upside down in a loop–all of this adds to the thrill! But if you've ever taken a closer look, you'll notice something rather interesting: those loops aren’t perfectly round. In fact, they're not circular at all.
This design choice isn’t just about aesthetics—it's a clever combination of physics and engineering that ensures the ride is as safe as it is exhilarating. So, what’s the science behind these non-circular loops? Click through this gallery to find out.
Why roller coaster loops aren’t circular
These thrill rides involve a lot more science than you'd think
LIFESTYLE Science
Any thrill-seeker who has visited an amusement park would be able to describe (probably in detail) the adrenaline that comes from being on a roller coaster. The high speeds, the wind, and the inescapable feeling of being flipped upside down in a loop–all of this adds to the thrill! But if you've ever taken a closer look, you'll notice something rather interesting: those loops aren’t perfectly round. In fact, they're not circular at all.
This design choice isn’t just about aesthetics—it's a clever combination of physics and engineering that ensures the ride is as safe as it is exhilarating. So, what’s the science behind these non-circular loops? Click through this gallery to find out.