Equilibrium

The Sooper Dooper Looper

Today was a new day at Penn.  Our physics class went to Hersey Park to study roller coasters and get out of the lab in order to collect some real world data.  Our group tested the ride “Sooper Dooper Looper”, which sounded like a really great ride but was actually one of the calmer roller coasters in the park.   We were using a device called a GLX to measure altitude, acceleration, and our position on an X Y Z plane.    On our first run on the ride, we lost our data and had to get back in line to re-do the trial.  The second time we managed to acquire some good graphs and satisfied the requirements of the day.  It was a funny day using the GLXs because we had to wear them in a vest to keep them stable, which made it look like  we were wearing bomb  vests on 

the ride.  We ended up getting some pretty strange 

looks on people’s faces when they saw us.

Fahrenheit

After we completed our ride we wondered around the park to ride other rides.  Among those rides were Fahrenheit and Sky Runner. These were definitely the most intense rides that I've ever ridden in my life.  Both of them were higher than anything that I have ever experienced and were too fast to even comprehend.  I felt as if I was going to pass out from the G forces on Sky Runner.  The most intense ride of the day was definitely Fahrenheit with its 97 degree upward incline and endless number of loops. 

On the negative side of the day, we got stuck in traffic on the bus ride back to the university and missed our six-thirty meeting time for our movie.  I was planning on seeing “World War Z” but instead I had to spend my time in the dorm.  Hopefully we can see it next week on movie night. I must say that today was a much better experience than yesterday.  I might have been overreacting to the whole thing, but i guess that I just needed to get my head clear. In the meantime, everyone is going to Washington D.C. tomorrow   to see the capitol, so that will be exciting.