Question

High-wire walkers often carry a long, weighed flexible pole horizontally by holding the middle of the pole below their waist with the pole oriented transverse to the wire. The ends of the pole bend downward well below the center of the pole.

a. What is the location for the weights inside the pole? Explain why this is the best choice.

b. Carrying the pole in this manner increases the walker’s stability on the wire. Why?

c. If the walker begins to lean to one side, what two things might s/he do with the pole to stop that leaning before it becomes dangerous?

d. Carrying the heavy pole also lowers the center-of-mass of the walker-pole system above the wire. How does this improve the stability of the walker on the wire?

Answer 1

A. Walker usually hold the pole at or below the waist level, this adds more weight below their center of gravity, lowering it even further and making the person more stable over the rope.

B. Carrying the pole helps Walker to increase their rotational inertia, which help them maintaining stability while walking over the rope and it also adds more weight below center of gravity which adds more stability while walking.

C. To keep from failing, the Walker must increase rotational inertia, effectively , positioning the body so that's it's fight against the wire which literally try to rotate.

D. As I mentioned in part A and part B, the pole increases your rotational inertia so that each tiny little movement you do does more, the ends of the pole bent down , helping the Walker to lower center of gravity even more.