How can you tell how many G-forces a thrill ride has?

Question

I have a project in my science class and I had to build a thrill ride.
I built a water slide, but I need to write a paper that says how many G-forces a rider of this ride will experience.

Does anyone know how I can figure out how many G-forces are on this ride?

Answer 1

OK,
the previous answerer was right, so you have to calculate acceleration at each point of the route as a geometrical sum of all accelerations, say along the route and perpendicular (as V^2/R, where V is the speed along the route, and R is the radius of it's curviness) and also to add (geometrically) the gravity acceleration g. You have to take into account also the acceleration of friction force in case the water makes movement slower at some stage.
The demand to write a paper on how many G-forces a rider will experience implies that you have to find the points where the acceleration becomes maximal, and in these points it has not to exceed some critical value (as for pilots in air planes or in space shuttle)

Answer 2

You have to calculate the maximum vertical acceleration on the ride and divide by the normal acceleration of gravity. If the acceleration is vertical (makes you feel heavier) it's expressed as a positive gee. If it's the other case, where you tend to drop, you get a negative gee.

Answer 3

You have to figure out the rider's angular acceleration around curves and dips.