I'm building a slide, but I can't find any information on what angles are safe yet fun.
What's the appropriate range of angles for a slide?
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Depends on length of slide, width, how high the sides are and so on. Low angled slides are more dangerous IMO. Kids walk up these backwards. – DMoore Nov 30 '16 at 19:43
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@DMoore My observations indicate that kids will walk up any slide regardless of angle. The danger comes, asid from falling off, in exiting the slide too fast. – Carl Witthoft Dec 01 '16 at 16:53
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1this is a matter of perspective – Hobbes Feb 18 '20 at 10:12
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As I heard it must be same as Earth angle which is 23.5. – mario Feb 18 '20 at 09:25
2 Answers
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Per the 2016 Michigan State Handbook for Public Playground Safety:
It is recommended that the average incline of a slide chute be no more than 30 degrees. This can be measured by determining that the height to length ratio (as shown in Figure 18) does not exceed 0.577. No span on the slide chute should have a slope greater than 50 degrees.
Edit 20230528 Original link is dead and it appears that Mighigan now follows the Unites States governmental agency Consumer Product Safety Commission. The original information provided above looks to be accurate, but a new document is referenced (especially pages 34-36).
UnhandledExcepSean
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There is a lot of good information in there. I had never realized so much could be said about the design of a good slide. – Seph Reed Nov 30 '16 at 19:53
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a 50 degree slide would be pretty insane. That's over 45º, which is really really steep. And now I want to build one. – Wayne Werner Nov 30 '16 at 22:40
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@WayneWerner I'm pretty sure I encountered some as a kid in the 80's (but, memory that long ago could easily be faulty). They tended to be really fast in the middle but with a longer exit plane at the end, to give time to slow down. The slides I see today are not as steep but tend to have a really short exit (sometimes even non-existent). – phyrfox Dec 01 '16 at 02:11
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1@phyrfox playgrounds were a lot more fun/dangerous. We had a rocket ship park that had some worn diamond plating that formed a ramp probably 30'-60'. If you had the right slippery shoes you could "ski" down it. Chain link surrounding it to keep you from plummeting 20' off the side. – Wayne Werner Dec 01 '16 at 05:30
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Old link in this answer is
404. New Public Playground Safety Handbook: https://www.cpsc.gov/s3fs-public/325.pdf – nelsonic May 27 '23 at 23:07 -
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A 30 degree angle slide is a oversimplification of slide safety rules and makes for a very slow slide. The ratio is the height of the sliding surface divided by the total length of the slide. The height is measured from the exit point to the start of the sliding surface, not from ground level. The length should take into account an exit section (1 foot long or more) with an inclination not exceeding 10 degrees to allow drainage, to slow the speed of the rider. The change of inclination should have a radius of 30 inches. As you see, adding the exit sections and the radius makes the angle of your slide steeper than 30 degrees. I believe that around 37 degrees is a fun slide, anything over 40 will look too steep for most users, but will work with a longer exit section.
Axel Bernal
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