Design of the Tower Motors and Elevators []
A diagram portraying the basic components of how an elevator works.
The Tower of Terror is operated by a modified version of the common traction elevator. In this type of elevator, elevator cars are pulled up and repelled down by rolling steel cables over a common pulley system. The cable creates a loop attached at the top and bottom of the car itself. A counterweight of the elevator car is on the opposite side of the loop.[1] The motor that pulls the elevator up also pulls it down. The motors operate a pulley system. In the common system, a wheel or wheels with a valley on them are attached to a fixed point, allowing them to rotate freely, letting the ropes or cables slide over them easily. The goal of a pulley system is to lift objects using less force. In a sense, the more pulley wheels that are used, the less force is required to lift an object.[2]
Size of the Terror Motors[]
The motor that pulls the cables of the elevator is approximately 12 feet tall, 7 feet wide, and 35 feet long. In other words, each of the motors that enable the elevator to work is the size of a garage that can fit one car. Motors that run the Tower of Terror are 3 times larger than the average elevator motor.[3]
Tower of Terror attraction motor.
Tower Acceleration[]
Acceleration is a change in velocity over time. Each motor accelerates 10 tons of weight. These motors accelerate 15 times as fast as the fastest elevators in the world.
Tower Speed[]
The Tower of Terror can reach top speeds of 39 mph. This, however, is faster than the acceleration of gravity (9.8 m/s2). This is because when you are descending, you are actually being pulled down by the cables pulling the elevator cars, plus the acceleration due to gravity (gravity= 9.8 x mass).