What is "drop tower"

n. 1 (context physics engineering English) A tower, containing a long evacuated tube, within which objects can be dropped experimentally 2 An amusement ride in which riders experience free fall

A drop tower or big drop is a type of amusement ride incorporating a central structure or tower. Drop towers vary in height, passenger capacity, lift type, and brake type. Many are custom-made, although there are some mass-produced designs. Riders experience free-fall initially, followed by rapid heavy deceleration.

With most drop towers, a gondola carrying riders is lifted to the top of a large vertical structure, then released to free-fall down the tower. Brakes activate to slow the gondola as it approaches the bottom of the ride. Some designs expand on this concept with features such as rotating gondolas, or several bounces before coming to rest.

Most drop towers require child riders to exceed a minimum height; limits vary widely depending upon the nature of the tower, with a tower for smaller children from tall, and a tower having a restriction.

Certain drop towers propel the gondola down as they fall, accelerating the gondola faster than the riders, and leading to riders being lifted out of their seats.

As of July 2014, the longest drop is at Zumanjaro: Drop of Doom at Six Flags Great Adventure, at .

A drop tower type of ride is distinct from an observation tower ride.

Drop tower is a type of amusement ride, based around a central structure or tower, where the gondola is lifted to the top of a large vertical structure before being released and falling towards the ground. It may also refer to:

• Drop tube, a structure used to produce a controlled period of weightlessness for an object under study
• Drop Tower: Scream Zone, the specific implementation of the drop tower ride by Cedar Fair amusement parks
• Shot tower, a type of drop tube used to make lead shot