Colossus Rollercoaster
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- Category: Science
- Date Submitted: 05/08/2011 01:34 AM
- Pages: 4
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Location | Thorpe Park |
Park section | Lost City |
Type | Steel |
Status | Open |
Opened | March 22, 2002 |
Manufacturer | Intamin AG |
Designer | Werner Stengel |
Model | Multi looping Coaster |
Track layout | Intamin Tri Track |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
Height | 103 ft (31 m) |
Drop | 98 ft (30 m) |
Length | 2,789 ft (850 m) |
Max speed | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
Inversions | 10 |
Duration | 1:32 |
Capacity | 1,300 riders per hour |
Cost | £10,000,000 |
Max G force | 4.2 |
Introduction
Colossus is a giant assault on both the body and mind - 850 metres of twists, turns, loops and plunges, not to mention a world record 10 inversions!
When Colossus opened in 2002 it meant that Thorpe Park housed the only roller coaster in the world to feature ten inversions. The previous record for number of inversions on a roller coaster was Dragon Khan at Port Aventura, with eight. Amazingly, Colossus goes upside down more times than all of the roller coasters at Alton Towers combined - pretty good going, considering there are eight roller coasters there! There is now another roller coaster in the world with 10 inversions, but it's an exact replica of Colossus located nearly 6000 miles away in China! Colossus features a colossal track length of 2789 feet, reaches heights of 100 feet, and makes a top speed of 45 mph - there's also an incredible barrel role section of track that features four inversions in a row!
The physics behind it …
Roller coasters are driven almost entirely by basic inertial, gravitational and centripetal forces, all manipulated in the service of a great ride. A roller coaster has no engine or power source of its own. For most of the ride, the train is moved by gravity and momentum. To build up this momentum, you need to get the train to the top of the first hill (the lift hill) by using a chain lift, in the case of Colossus. The purpose of the coaster's initial ascent is to build up a sort of reservoir of...
Park section | Lost City |
Type | Steel |
Status | Open |
Opened | March 22, 2002 |
Manufacturer | Intamin AG |
Designer | Werner Stengel |
Model | Multi looping Coaster |
Track layout | Intamin Tri Track |
Lift/launch system | Chain lift hill |
Height | 103 ft (31 m) |
Drop | 98 ft (30 m) |
Length | 2,789 ft (850 m) |
Max speed | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
Inversions | 10 |
Duration | 1:32 |
Capacity | 1,300 riders per hour |
Cost | £10,000,000 |
Max G force | 4.2 |
Introduction
Colossus is a giant assault on both the body and mind - 850 metres of twists, turns, loops and plunges, not to mention a world record 10 inversions!
When Colossus opened in 2002 it meant that Thorpe Park housed the only roller coaster in the world to feature ten inversions. The previous record for number of inversions on a roller coaster was Dragon Khan at Port Aventura, with eight. Amazingly, Colossus goes upside down more times than all of the roller coasters at Alton Towers combined - pretty good going, considering there are eight roller coasters there! There is now another roller coaster in the world with 10 inversions, but it's an exact replica of Colossus located nearly 6000 miles away in China! Colossus features a colossal track length of 2789 feet, reaches heights of 100 feet, and makes a top speed of 45 mph - there's also an incredible barrel role section of track that features four inversions in a row!
The physics behind it …
Roller coasters are driven almost entirely by basic inertial, gravitational and centripetal forces, all manipulated in the service of a great ride. A roller coaster has no engine or power source of its own. For most of the ride, the train is moved by gravity and momentum. To build up this momentum, you need to get the train to the top of the first hill (the lift hill) by using a chain lift, in the case of Colossus. The purpose of the coaster's initial ascent is to build up a sort of reservoir of...