However some of the energy is changed into friction. Coaster designers know that friction plays a part in the ride. Therefore, they make each successive hill lower so that the coaster will be able to make it over each peak. 7 Coaster designers also take advantage of friction to slow the coaster and bring it to a safe stop when breaks are applied at the end of the ride. Friction is a force that works in the opposite direction of an object that is moving along a surface.
Friction can come in many forms, but it always resists motion.
The amount of friction depends mainly on the materials involved. The most interesting and significant force that acts on a roller coaster is the force of gravity. Gravity is the force that pulls all objects in the universe toward one another. If a body, for example a roller coaster, is standing still, it won't want to move unless some force pushes or pulls it. This resistance of the roller coaster to move is called inertia.