Roller coasters are often unique, adapted to space and local topography. They include many different elements, involving forces and acceleration in 1, 2 and 3 dimensions. Roller coasters involve many aspects of physics, from the conversion of potential energy in hills to kinetic energy in valleys, to the forces acting on your body, in valleys or upside down and in twists and turns before coming to a stop in the brake. This chapter focuses on the forces on the body in the accelerated motion in various elements, includ- ing the first drop and valley, over airtime hills, in loops and inversions and helices. The motions are studied with accelerometer, rotation and barometer sensor data, video tracking, a few drawing excerpts and theoretical analyses. The tasks and analyses presented in this chapter build on repeated visits to find camera angles and to collect data, and have been used with several different student groups.

See also a few in depth studies for a few roller coasters and roller coaster elements.