⚙️ How slides workSlippery science
Why you need water
The water is like slippery soap between you and the slide. Without it, you would stick and stop (and get a sore bottom!).Water is the lubricant between skin (or tube) and gelcoat; without it friction would stop or burn a rider within metres. It also carries the rider like a current. Gravity supplies the energy, friction and drag remove it, and banked walls supply the centripetal force that keeps a rider turning instead of flying straight - which is why a curve's wall rises higher the faster the design speed.
📖Tell me more
Gravity pulls you down. Rubbing (friction) slows you down. Water makes the rubbing tiny. On the corners, the wall of the slide tips up so it can push you round instead of letting you fly straight on.
🔧Step by step
🌍
1. GravityPulls you down the hill.💧
2. WaterMakes everything slippery.↪️
3. Banked wallsPush you round the corners.🛑
4. Run-outFriction and a flat bit stop you.