To eighth-grader Angel Collinson of Churchill Junior High, walking off the Colossus Friday with a mission accomplished during Lagoon's Physics Day was no small feat.
The giant roller coaster handed Collinson the normal hair-raising, G-pulling, stomach flipping scream-'til-you're-hoarse fun but, while hanging on for dear life, she also had to complete a physics activity — in competition with other students.
Students who participated were given handmade accelerometers that they used to measure G-force at different loops and turns during the ride. The most accurate teams were awarded prizes. But for some, the biggest challenge was just keeping their eyes open.
"You just have to look down at certain places," said Collinson. "Its a fun activity, instead of just memorizing stuff we're actually doing it — with physics, it's usually always experiments and it's so much funner to be actually seeing it (in real) life."
The annual event, put on by Utah State University, attracted middle school and high school physics students from Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Wyoming to explore basic physics concepts such as gravity and centrifugal force — all while enjoying the thrills of northern Utah's super-playground.
"The purpose of Physics Day is to motivate students' interest in science and to relate abstract concepts to familiar examples in a fun way," said J.R. Dennison, event chair and professor of physics at USU. "What better laboratory to entice young people than an amusement park?"
The students used rides to count rotations, calculate maximum acceleration and measure force. They also brought their own physics projects and original model roller coasters for judging.
"Almost all of the things that you would teach in a regular physics class have immediate application here (Lagoon)— fluid dynamics, acceleration, momentum, buoyancy, it's all here," said Dennison.
The event drew more than 4,500 students and more than $50,000 in prizes and awards was given to contest participants, including four-year scholarships to USU for high school students competing in the Physics Bowl competition.
Event participation has steadily grown since it was initiated by USU's Physics Department in 1990. Co-sponsors are 13 other high-profile government and higher education organizations including DuPont, Boeing and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.
E-mail: terickson@desnews.com