Feeling on your toes

Hellllooooooo, how is everyone doing out there?? I'm greeaaat! :) Ever get the feeling like youre walking on your toes? Well in dance, you can!..on pointe shoes! I work in a dance store and I always walk by this poster and it never occurred to me until recently about what kind of physics is involved in this pose. Looks easy huh? its not! trust me, walking on your toes is tough as it is, but touching your toes and standing on them is a million times harder! Ok, so pretty much same concept as last week except the position is totally reversed and on toes! One must be very skilled to stand in the position above because you need a good arch in your feet in order to comfotably balance on your toes. The point shoes are sturdy, they have to be since they balance the dancer's entire weight on an area about the size of a silver dollar! Isn't that crazy. So unlike last week, where a flyer had to balance their entire weight on four palms, a ballerina on pointe must be very aware of her weight distribution in order for her weight to be equal and opposite of the normal force from the dance floor.

Aloha Spirit

Hey folks! haven't talked to you all in awhile. we had no homework weekend last week so i didnt want to overachieve and write a blog anyways, sorry. We are learning about the magnetic field and this weird Right Hand Rule thats sooo confusing. instead of confusing myself more, I'm just going to talk about what I know best. by the way, 14 weeks til i graduate, so thats only probably less than ten blogs :( what are you gonna do without me? So here, we have a picture of my flyer, demi who is doing a scorpion. This takes a lot of skill, more than I thought after learning of all the physics involved. The bases, me and Renee, act as a "flexible" platform for Demi. Flexible in that we adjust our grips so that she doesnt lose her balance. Demi's body is demonstrating torque. To review, torque is equal to the distance from axis to force multiplied by the force applied to the object. The axis is Demi's waist. And demi holds her leg with her arms in order for her weight (mass x gravity) to be vertically down. And we, the bases, try our hardest to keep the normal force vertically up.
Dont try this at home :)

CHEERSPORT

So this weekend I was at the biggest cheerleading competition in the world. 857 teams and over 10,000 athletes, it was pretty exciting and overwhelming. Our team, Cheer 808 Pohaku, took fourth place and represented Hawaii very well. If you are a physicist, you would be so proud and happy to see what great physics was occurring at such a place. The tumbling, stunting, dancing, and cheering all required some type of physics. Tumbling (flips) considered gravity and its potential energy, lots of torque, and momentum. We could get deductions if we didnt stick our tumbling, or land with two feet on the ground. Stunting (throwing girls in the air) also considered gravity, weight and its distribution. If the flyer's weight was distributed unevenly amongst the bases, she would fall and we'd get deductions from the judges. Dancing and cheering required coordination and correct body placements. Like stunting, if our weight was distributed evenly we would be off count and wouldnt be synchronized as a team.

Walking Oreo

Alright, I forgot again, I've been so busy sorry readers. By the way, I'm going to ATL this week for a big national cheerleading competition so can someone please remind me to update you! thanks! We're learning about the electric field now but i am kind of lost so i dont want to teach you anything inaccurate or wrong so i will do a quick review on tension. Above is a picture of my boyfriend walking his cute dog Oreo. She loves her walks and sometimes she gets a little too excited and tries to walk ahead of us, creating a stronger tension through her leash. If she walks too fast or too slow compared to how fast we are walking the tension in the leash increases towards her body weight (mass x gravity). And if she gets too crazy or doesnt listen the tension may equal her weight for a second or two.