Wyoming High School students combined a lesson in physics with a day of thrilling adventures during Michigan's Adventure's Physics Day 2022 on May 25.
Students used a handmade astroblade - made from a protractor, drinking straw, string and a plumb bob - to measure the angle of elevation to calculate height of a rollercoaster by triangulation at the Muskegon amusement park.
They also used the "Surveyor's Wheel," a hodometer (old-fashioned odometer), to measure the distance between the point of first sighting the ride's highest elevation and the ride entrance. Through the mathematics of triangulation, Pythagorean's Theorem, the height of the rollercoaster can be calculated, said teacher Heather Baker.
Thanks to reporter Erin Albanese for this window into Wyoming Public Schools.
Original source can be found here.
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