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Denton, TX. Forecast says we’re in for another lovely day. Whenever the Carson & Barnes Circus arrives in a new town there children or school groups around to see the animals and to watch us raise the biggest bigtop on earth. What some adults don’t know, is that circus is a great way to teach science. Two of the most spectacular performances on this 70th anniversary of the circus are directly dependant on the application of the Laws of Physics and mechanics. A motorcycle uses velocity to climb a wire, and the wire itself provides a fulcrum point allowing the bike, the rider, and the passenger to achieve a kind of balance. Similarly our amazing tightwire act relies on balance poles to shift the center of mass when building and maintaining the seven man pyramid, and inertia to keep it moving. Great performances appear to defy the laws of physics. Great performers in reality learn to make those laws work for them.
