Newsela: Everyday Mysteries Upside- Down Roller Coaster

What keeps you from falling out when a roller coaster turns upside down?

• Gravity

• Inertia

• Friction

• Air resistance

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What type of energy is stored as a roller coaster climbs higher?

• Kinetic energy

• Thermal energy

• Potential energy

• Electrical energy

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What prevents roller coaster cars from flipping off the track?

• The weight of the cars

• The design of the wheels

• The design of the tracks

• The speed of the coaster

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Based on the article, which of the following statements is TRUE?

• Kinetic energy is the energy that is stored while going downhill and potential energy is the energy released to get it up the hill.

• Roller coasters store most energy for the end of the ride where hills are taller.

• Inertia resists a change in direction and keeps riders inside a roller coaster even when it is upside down.

• The world's tallest roller coaster was invented in 1975.

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Which sentence from the article suggests that roller coasters have improved safety features?

• Inertia is what keeps you from falling.

• After steel tracks were introduced in 1959, more complicated and adventurous coasters became possible.

• It opened at Coney Island in 1907, and it was the first roller coaster to use seat belts.

• It was the first coaster to turn passengers completely upside down.

Which answer choice is an accurate summary of the section "A Cable Helps It Climb"?

• A roller coaster does not have an engine, so it needs a cord to pull it up the hills on the track. When it runs out of kinetic energy at the end of the ride, another cable is needed to pull it over lower hills.

• A roller coaster gathers potential energy as it travels uphill, and at the bottom of the hill the energy is converted into kinetic energy. This alternation is what allows a roller coaster to move around a track.

• A roller coaster is usually made of wood or steel, but wooden tracks are not as bendable as steel tracks. In either case, potential and kinetic energy are used to push the roller coaster through loops and twists.

• A roller coaster has to build up stored energy to defeat the forces of wind and the wheels on the track to keep going. Other kinds of energy called centripetal force and inertia keep riders in their seats.

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How could you decrease the speed of a roller coaster?

• Make the first hills taller.

• Make the first hills shorter.

• Reduce the wind resistance of the coaster.

• Increase the kinetic energy of the coaster.

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If energy keeps switching to keep the coaster moving up and down hills, why does it eventually stop?

• The gravity is greater than the inertia of the coaster.

• The kinetic energy increases more than the potential energy.

• The coaster travels through wind blowing in the opposite direction.

• The loop of the roller coaster is shaped like a stretched-out circle.

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As the cable pulls the coaster up the first hill what is happening?

• The higher the coaster travels, the more inertia it builds.

• The higher the coaster travels, the more potential energy it builds.

• The higher the coaster travels, the greater the kinetic energy becomes.

• The higher the coaster travels, the greater the gravity pulls them to the ground.

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How does inertia keep you safe on a roller coaster?

• It presses your body towards the loop at a lesser force than gravity is pulling you to Earth.

• It presses your body towards the loop at a greater force than gravity is pulling you to Earth.

• It pulls you towards the Earth at a greater force than gravity is pressing your body towards the loop

• It pulls you towards the Earth at a lesser force than gravity is pressing your body towards the loop

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