Trapeze, Perch Poles, and Other High-Flying Circus Science

Trapeze, Perch Poles, and Other High-Flying Circus Science — page 3
SWINGING TRAPEZE Look up The circus is starting High above the center ring a performer stands on a tiny platform In front of her is a bar between two ropes hanging down from above With one smooth motion she grasps this trapeze and swings from her perch Back and forth she goes until she suddenly releases the bar The audience gasps Immediately a performer on a second trapeze grabs her hands She continues to swing from the arms of her fellow trapeze artist What is the science behind the swinging trapeze As the performer swings on the trapeze her body behaves like a pendulum A pendulum is a weight that swings back and forth from a fixed point An initial force gets a pendulum moving In this case that initial force comes when the trapeze artist jumps off the platform and gravity pulls her down As it pulls her down the rope that's fastened prevents her from falling all the way and allows her to move in an arc back and forth The performer pumps her legs to keep the trapeze moving If the artist doesn't continue to exert this force the air along with where the trapeze is attached to the ceiling will provide the friction that slows her down until she stops pendulum a body hung from a fixed point that swings freely back and forth force an interaction that changes the motion of an object gravity an attractive force that exists between any two objects including between Earth and everything on it friction a force that opposes the relative motion of two or more surfaces in contact