I had a question to ask for my cousin. She wants too had do you guys handle the negative and positive g's on a coaster. I tried telling her since I'm starting to get used to it. Even still I would like to hear from your opinions. That would help thanks.

This is simply an observation as I am not a scientist. Let's say a coaster does 4 g's. That means that you feel like 4 times your normal weight. I find putting my arms up relieves the g's as I have less weight in the train. Again, that may or may not be true. This would be a good experiment for math and science day.

^ I dont think that would effect the G's or not if your arms are on the outside of the car. Your body is still travling aournd the track and feeling the same forces. Its like sticking your arm out the window while your in a car. Your arm still moves with car!

Unless, of course, your arm encounters a stationary object, like, say, a wall of The Beast's tunnel....

G-Forces on most roller coasters don't really bother me, they're just enjoyable! But that's coming from a guy who loves SoB, so who knows!

That's funny that you mention that Terpy. Angrybeaver dared me to do it but I decided I was against having sore fingers for the rest of the day.

You could get far worse than that. There is a reason your hands and arms are supposed to be down during the helices on Beast....

^ I dont think that would effect the G's or not if your arms are on the outside of the car. Your body is still travling aournd the track and feeling the same forces. Its like sticking your arm out the window while your in a car. Your arm still moves with car!

Good point. Like I say it could be just my imagination that putting my arms up relieves the G's. Still think would be good subject of an experiment for math/science day.

Unless, of course, your arm encounters a stationary object, like, say, a wall of The Beast's tunnel....

Terpy, you sound like you speak from experience on that one.

Not experience, but I have personally observed many who have....

I think I may have hit my finger just bearly and I mean bearly on The Beast helix tunnel. I felt it hit something but my finger was just black and blue but not broken so I dont know if I hit it or not.

My height is 6'3" and as long as my arms are down during the entry into the tunnels, they are fine going through the actual tunnels themselves if they're straight up. I'm too big a chicken to see how far up I can leave them before they hit on the way in - and don't anticipate ever doing so. I've developed very intricate hand patterns during the course of that 4:50 ride, and it's down to a science. I did, however, lean into the curve exiting the brake shed too soon and clipped the end of my finger on the last of the brake shed's supports. Oops! But...that didn't hurt whereas the helix would!

As a rider, I can give you no advice because I simply love them.

As a martial artist, I can tell you the best way to handle impact and force is to stay loose and allow it to absorb uniformly into as much of your body as possible and then rebound and send the energy on its way. If you clinch or tighten up it concentrates the force on a smaller area and causes more damage. So maybe stay loose (and hang ten dude ) and try to relax. I really don't know if this helps or even really applies but hey.

As far as G Forces go, they aren't sustained too much. The positive G Force (generally) derived from loops, bottoms of hills, are typically not sustained for more than 4 or 5 seconds. I'd say the roughest thing to go through as far as positive Gs is Face/Off's loop. As far as negative G's, definitely Diamondback, but those don't affect your body much.

^ I dont think that would effect the G's or not if your arms are on the outside of the car. Your body is still travling aournd the track and feeling the same forces. Its like sticking your arm out the window while your in a car. Your arm still moves with car!

Good point. Like I say it could be just my imagination that putting my arms up relieves the G's. Still think would be good subject of an experiment for math/science day.

There could be a small amount of truth to it. The equation for radial acceleration is R*Omega^2, where Omega is your angular velocity and R is the radius.

So by putting your arms up you will move up your body's center of gravity (CG) a small amount, thus reducing the acceleration (G-Force) you feel. Now on the air time hills on DB, the inverse is true the higher CG with your arms up would increase the acceleation and thus give you better air time.

(End Scientist mode, enter Engineer mode)

Do I believe you could actually perceive the difference? I seriously doubt it.

Back in 1989 my soon to be hubbie decided to raise his arms going into the helix and broke his arm!!(along with some cuts and abrasions) "To be safe to say; he now; when he goes; keeps his arms down! BTW he's 6'4. Also could have been the beverages he was partaking in that day.

Maria

Thanks Guys for the info

The positive and negative G's that you encounter on a roller coaster is far less then fighter pilots. When they go thru positive g's not only are you heavier but your blood starts to head south so they tighten their stomachs to hold that blood lose from leaving your head. With out doing this you'll lose blood to your head causing tunnal visor or even black outs.

One last thing, have you ever noticed sometimes after you ride Drop Tower or Invertego your feet feel like they are burning thats due to blood rushing to your feet.

I like coasters with alot of negitive-g's. Like Diamondback!