Roller coasters now use magnets for rapid acceleration at the start of the ride and for magnetic braking. Different polarities of magnets are used for propulsion and attraction. Flight of Fear was the first to use magnetic propulsion and Millennium Force was the first to use magnetic brakes.
Many new roller coasters have an unpredictable start, launching immediately rapidly, instead of making that gradual climb up a hill before sending us up a terrifying series of drops and hills. This new style of throwing primarily uses magnets to achieve rapid acceleration at the start of the stroke.
The type of magnets used in roller coasters can vary, but the ride depends on the negative and positive capacities of the magnets. The rapid launch of a car is often due to magnetic propulsion. This relies on magnets repelling rather than attracting each other. Estimates with very powerful magnets suggest that such propulsion could send a run of up to 100 mph (161 km/h) in a matter of seconds.
When you try to put magnets together that don’t attract each other, they push against each other. While regular household magnets don’t have as much strength, you can still feel a pull away from each magnet, almost as if they are trying to escape from each other. Combine powerful magnets with a roller coaster and an efficient way to quickly launch a car forward will develop.
In addition, roller coasters can also rely on magnetic braking, in which magnets, gradually attracting each other, slow the car down. These brakes tend to require fewer replacements than regular drive brakes and are a cost saving and energy saving device.
Often, roller coaster magnets are controlled through automated systems. When propulsion is desired, magnets of different polarities can push down against the sides of the track to make contact with magnets of opposite polarities. When attraction is needed, magnets placed along the track gradually slow down the coaster.
The first ride to use magnetic propulsion was Flight of Fear, at Kings Island near Cincinnati, Ohio. Other parks quickly copied this roller coaster, completed in 1996. Millennium Force, built in 2000 at Cedar Point, a popular theme park in Sandusky, Ohio, was the first to use magnetic brakes. Magnetic braking is now so popular that it is employed on nearly every newly built or designed roller coaster. Magnetic propulsion is extremely popular and is employed on many super or hypercoasters.
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