How To Define a “Drop”

[Jahrules]

Some discussions about marketing and theme park's general "record seeking" led me to wonder when a drop angle stops becoming a drop. Or does it?

For instance Takabisha has a 'drop angle' of 121 degrees.

A 'hypothetical max' angle might be 180 degrees (fully inverting and riding a short distance upside down before kicking out into a drop) - or maybe they could push it a bit further and go a few degrees more than 180, making a slight upside down uphill climb before swinging back around and down.

But my point is, the drop angle, to a certain degree, does not do a very good job at describing the ride experience.

But I also can't think of a better way to do it that would also make sense to the general public.

 

[ControlsEE]

I woud argue that a drop would be any piece of track that moves downward on either straight or parabolically curved track. I would say then that the steepest drop would be 179.9 degrees. It would be the equivalent of having a .1 degree decline right side up. 180's equivalent would be 0, or flat track.

 

[Dylon]

I say with confidence...1.134 radians.

 

[Mushroom]

I woud argue that a drop would be any piece of track that moves downward on either straight or parabolically curved track. I would say then that the steepest drop would be 179.9 degrees. It would be the equivalent of having a .1 degree decline right side up. 180's equivalent would be 0, or flat track.

That was my initial thought too, but would a .1 degree decline really be considered a drop? Break runs probably have an even steeper grade.

The answer to this question is probably just 180 minus the minimum angle that one would consider to be a normal drop. So if we say the minimum angle of a normal drop is 30 degrees, the steepest possible drop would be 150 degrees.

I’d say anything far beyond this metric is just a glorified inversion.

 

[ControlsEE]

That was my initial thought too, but would a .1 degree decline really be considered a drop?

It would still be considered a decline, but the real question is if a drop and a decline the same thing?

 

[Jahrules]

What would you call a hypothetical drop that is shaped like this?

 

[Dylon]

What would you call a hypothetical drop that is shaped like this?

View attachment 19418

Simple. A wave.

 

[Mushroom]

It would still be considered a decline, but the real question is if a drop and a decline the same thing?

I think they’re different. For example, I’d argue coasters like Avalanche don’t have any drops, despite having a constant decline. Another example: the switchback portion of most Wild Mice(???) declines slightly, but I wouldn’t call that a drop.

 

[DECoasteyGuy]

I think 135 degrees is the point where a drop becomes an inversion. 90 degrees plus 45 degrees is how they come to that number, but there’s not really a consensus

 

[BGWnut]

What would you call a hypothetical drop that is shaped like this?

View attachment 19418

I would say that's an inversion into a drop. So I would only look at the angle post the inversion.

 

[GrandpaD]

And, just to add to the discussion...some examples -

The World's Steepest Roller Coasters

There's something wild about cresting a coaster hill and not being able to see the bottom of the steeper-than-freefall drop. Try these top coasters.

www.tripsavvy.com

Steepest roller coaster drops - Coasterpedia - The Roller Coaster and Flat Ride Wiki

coasterpedia.net

 

[belsaas]

BRB, putting one of these in my backyard.

 

[Thomas]

What about this?

 

[SLC Headache]

If I plan a Europe coaster trip, Italy will be at the top of my list just for the Screaming Squirrel and Togo stand-up.

 

[ControlsEE]

After thinking though this discussion, I agree with the 135 angle. Anything beyond that is an inversion.