Do you feel weightless at the top of a loop?

Roller coasters are generally designed to have non-zero but fairly small normal forces at the top, so a rider feels almost weightless. At the bottom of the loop, the apparent weight can be considerably larger than mg, so a rider feels much heavier than usual.



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The same can be said for this phenomenon on roller coasters. “You feel very light at the top of loops, but heavier than usual at the bottom” (Boston University).

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In a coaster that has seats facing backward, the rear car offers the best of both worlds -- you get a great view and the most intense ride.

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The centripetal acceleration always points towards the center of the circle. So at the bottom of the circle, the centripetal acceleration is pointing up, so riders feel heavier than their true weight. At the top of the circle, it is pointing down, so riders feel lighter than their true weight.

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As the cars move through the loop, the net force acting on your body is constantly changing. At the very bottom of the loop, the acceleration force is pushing you down in the same direction as gravity. Since both forces push you in the same direction, you feel especially heavy at this point.

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