Rollercoasters use skyscraper technology to stop tracks from swaying
On a sweltering summer day, a steel rollercoaster track can stretch by two centimeters, a shift that would be catastrophic without the same dampening systems found in the world's tallest buildings.
Even the thickest steel is surprisingly flexible. When temperatures hit 30 degrees Celsius, a coaster's track can warp by two centimeters due to heat expansion. To prevent this movement from turning into a dangerous shimmy, engineers install tuned mass dampers. These are massive, heavy weights designed to vibrate at a specific frequency that cancels out the track's swaying, reducing lateral movement by 70 percent. It is the exact same principle used to keep the Taipei 101 skyscraper from leaning in high winds.
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