How Do Brakes on a Roller Coaster Work to Dissipate Energy?
1:47
Grades: 6 - 12

Video Description: Jeff Havlik, a roller coaster architect, explains how brakes are used to dissipate a roller coaster’s energy and help it deal with curves, slowing down, and stopping.

Type of Video: Segment*
Unique Video ID: Engineering-28**

Quick Ideas for Using the Video:

  • Use the video to provide students real world insight on the types of engineering used in designing, building, and operating a roller coaster.
  • Use the video with a STEM-related activity where students design their own roller coasters.

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*Segment videos are short excerpts edited from interviews or interactive programs that offer flexible and differentiated ways to use the rich content included in the full-length conversation.

**The unique Video ID can be used to quickly locate a single video in the ET collection. This search function is designed to let teachers assign students to watch a specific video and have only that video appear as a search result. Just click on Search and choose “By Video ID.” Then type in the Video ID as it appears above. Be sure to include the dash.

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