Roller Coaster Physics

Ever wonder how the brakes on a roller coaster work?  After all, a simple malfunction of the hydraulic-electric system and you go smashing into the riders in front of you, right?  Well, not exactly.  Instead of depending on the lowest bidder for the air brakes, roller coaster engineers use a naturally created force using copper and magnets. (You can try this at home) If you try to get a magnet to stick to a piece of copper you will eventually get so angry you will vote democrat.  Why? Because copper is NOT magnetic. But if you slide a magnet ALONG a piece of copper you will notice a large amount of resistance, almost like a lot of friction. What is happening? As the magnet slides across the copper the magnetic field from the magnet creates electricity in the copper wire. Since you are sliding the magnet across the copper the magnetic field is moving, or as we say in physics ‘changing.’ This change creates electricity in the wire naturally producing a FORCE against the direction of the moving magnet. Weird! But really cool. So try this: Take a piece of copper tubing and try to stick a magnet on it. You will see nothing happen. Now, drop the magnet down the tubing or slide it down the strip. See what happens! So when you are flying through the roller coaster, having the best time of your life and you come close to the end, getting ready to stop, praying to everything holy the brakes work, remember you are relying on the laws of nature not the man made air brakes.