1. Is it possible for Drop Zone to ever hit the ground?

2. How does Drop Zone operate?

I had that very same thought. What if the magnetic brakes on Drop Zone were to fail? Is there a backup brake in case the regular ones fail? I believe how Drop Zone works is that it has a clamp that pulls it up the tower, when it reaches the top of the tower, the clamps release, it drops. Then the Magnetic Brakes (magnetic feild) kick on and it is slowly stopped. It would really suck if they went out/malfunction.

Edited January 1, 197056 yr by bignathan4403

um... they're called magnetic braking systems for a reason... THEY'RE MAGNETS!!! They can't fail! Even if the ride loses power, it won't fail. There was a show on TV once that showed how they work, something about the amount of copper in the brakes determines the speed. It was on the Discovery Channel, and will prolly replay it sometime.

The magnets are completely failsafe. They aren't technically what "stops" the ride, though.

The magnets simply slow the descent (darn near stops it) There are plungers which then take over the job to stop the ride in the right place. The next time you're by Drop Zone, watch for those plungers. They are hydraulic poles with black rubber caps.

StXBomber is right about the amount of copper. In the rails on the sides of the tower there is a verying amount of copper. I forget if it increases or decreases, but it creates a natural magnetic resistence with the gondola. The ride slows because of an increase in the magnetic force.

Because it is a naturally occuring (mechanical?) magnetic force, the ride does not need power to stop the dropping gondola.

1. Is it possible for Drop Zone to ever hit the ground?

2. How does Drop Zone operate?

1. No. It uses magnetic brakes.

2. Well, this is a very broad question but bascially here it is... The ops push their buttons and the "claw" begins to lower and then latches on to the ring of seats. Then, the the claw,with the ring of seats attached, starts the acent up to the tower. Once it reaches the stopping point, the claw then releases the ring of seats dropping it to the final stopping point.

Its an increasing amount of copper. This is done by adding more fins, or making them longer. If you notice the inner fins are longer than the outer ones. Pretty sure they are a consitant metal mixture through out. Its very difficult to produce metal with varying composition in different areas. (Plastics is much easier)

The magnets only create more magnetic "Pull" the faster the ring is moving. Its basic magnetic induction (from physics), which shows that there is no force on a stationary object but some one a moving object. Plus the faster it moves, harder to move. We did a fun experiment with that.

Edited January 1, 197056 yr by beastfreak

Ok thanks everyone.