science

The Whip (ride)

The Whip (ride) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand The Whip (ride) rather than just read about it. In short: The Whip is a type of amusement ride originally designed and built by W.F. Mangels Company of Coney Island, New York.

Key takeaways

The Whip (ride) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect The Whip (ride) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of The Whip (ride) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Whip is a type of amusement ride originally designed and built by W.F. Mangels Company of Coney Island, New York. William F. Mangels patented the ride in 1914, and it soon became popular.

The Whip spread to other countries, such as England, during the 1930s. The English poet John Betjeman described St Giles' Fair in Oxford as follows:It is about the biggest fair in England. The whole of St Giles' … is thick with freak shows, roundabouts, cake-walks, the whip, and the witching waves. The ride consists of two circular wheel-like turn-table platforms on opposing sides of a rectangular base. Motors turn a cable that leads a number of attached two or three-person cars around a laminated wooden track. The car follows the track while the cable turns. When the car reaches one of the turn-table platforms, the speed picks up, throwing riders to one side as the car whips around the corner. Models of the ride with eight, ten, or twelve cars were available. Only one 16-car model is known to exist, operating at Kennywood. A children's version of the ride was also available. Throughout urban areas in the United States, mobile versions of the ride were once prevalent on the streets of many cities. A modern version of The Whip is currently offered by Sellner Manufacturing. The normal minimum rider height requirement is 46 inches tall unless with an adult at most parks.

Notable installations Two of the oldest The Whip rides operating today are a 1918 model at Dorney Park & Wildwater Kingdom in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and a 1926 model at Kennywood in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. The Whip at Playland in Rye, New York was made in 1928, and is one of the park's oldest rides. Another installation of a classic The Whip is at Knoebels Amusement Resort in Elysburg, Pennsylvania. This ride, called Whipper, was originally installed at a park in Hunlock Creek, Pennsylvania called Croops Glen, and was moved to Knoebels in the 1940s after Croops Glen closed. Another The Whip is in operation at Heritage Park Historical Village in Calgary, Alberta. Another original The Whip is located at Camden Park in Huntington, West Virginia, which also has a miniature version of the ride for children called The Whip Jr.

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with The Whip (ride)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what The Whip (ride) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to The Whip (ride) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about The Whip (ride) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of The Whip (ride)

In research: The Whip (ride) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses The Whip (ride) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: The Whip (ride) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Amusement rides, Amusement rides introduced in 1914, Coney Island, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for The Whip (ride) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study The Whip (ride) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what The Whip (ride) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain The Whip (ride) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is The Whip (ride) in simple terms?

The Whip is a type of amusement ride originally designed and built by W.F. Mangels Company of Coney Island, New York.

Why does The Whip (ride) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study The Whip (ride)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on The Whip (ride).