Upcoming Classes

Thursday, Sept. 13th

Motion and Dance, Part 2
Assignment due:
* Read “Motions without Turns”, Physics and the Art of Dance,
K. Laws, Pages 36-51
* First draft of first oral presentation or written paper

Tuesday, Sept. 18th

Dance at the Nexus
Assignment due:
* Read “The Mechanics of Movement”, The New Way Things
Work, D. Macaulay, Pages 8-27
 Upcoming Deadlines
Thursday, September 13th
First draft of your first term paper or your
oral presentation

Thursday, September 27th

First Set of Oral Presentations
First term paper (if not giving presentation)
 Oral Presentations
The following persons will give oral presentations
on Thursday, September 27th :
• Batres, Adan
• Boyd, Heidi
• Chen, Emily
• Kwiatkowski, Dajon
• Lebedeff, Christopher
• Lipton, Christopher
For everyone else, your first term paper is due on
that date.
 Extra Credit: SF Museum of Art
Visit San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and
see Abstract Expressionist paintings.
Turn in your ticket receipt ($7 for students). Worth
one homework assignment; deadline is Oct. 16th

Guardians of the Secret, Jackson Pollock, 1943

 Extra Credit: San Jose Ballet
See a performance of San Jose Ballet in San Jose
Center for Performing Arts (Nov. 15th – 18th ).
Turn in your ticket receipt. Worth one homework
assignment or three quiz/participation credits.

Ramon Moreno in CARMINA BURANA

 Extra Credit: Cypress Quartet
SJSU Celebrates 150th with Cypress String
Quartet Event Fusing Precision Playing with
World-Class Technology
SJSU Music Concert Hall, 7 p.m. Thur., Sept. 20th.
I will hand out tickets at the door
from 6:30 to 6:50pm; don’t be late
to the performance! Worth two
quiz/participation extra credits.
 Quiz
Put your name on a sheet of paper and
answer the following questions from
today’s reading assignment:

What is a Grand Jeté?

What is the Grand Jeté
“Floating” Illusion?
Motion & Dance (I)
Balance
and
Motion
without
Turns
 Dance
Dance is artistic motion of the human body.
Ballet Athletics

Break
Dancing

Acrobats
(Cirque du
Soleil)
Tommie Smith & John Carlos
Mexico City 1968 Olympics
 Newton’s Laws of Motion
Physical motion is governed by Newton’s
three laws of motion:

1. Principle of Inertia
2. Force = Mass x Acceleration
3. Action & Reaction
Sir Isaac Newton
(1643 – 1727)

We’ll see how these laws apply to dance.

Newton’s First Law of Motion

An object moves with constant, uniform

motion until acted on by a force.
No force

FORCE
 First Law (Full Version)
An object at rest remains at rest &
an object in motion remains
in uniform motion*,
unless a force acts on the object.

*Moving in a straight line with constant speed.

First Law is also known as principle of inertia.

 Demo: Tablecloth Pull

Flower
Vase

Yank quickly
Tablecloth

Due to the vase’s inertia it remains at rest since almost no force acts
on the vase if one pulls quickly & straight.
 Demo: Riding Light Rail
When a moving train
stops, you continue
moving forward.

When the stopped

train starts moving
again, you remain
stationary and are
thrown backwards.

In both cases, it’s

due to your inertia.
 Follow-through & Inertia
Follow-through is a
good example of the
principle of inertia.

An object won’t move

until a force acts on it
so long hair trails
behind as head turns.

Hair then remains in

motion even after the
head stops turning.
 Net Force
When several forces act on an object, the
forces add together.
Sum of forces called net force or total force

3 Newtons
8 Newtons
5 Newtons BRICK
same as

The Newton is metric unit of force (about 1/5 pound).

 Equilibrium Rule
If an object is at rest then the net force must
be zero. Similarly if in uniform motion.
Zero Newtons
(No Force)
3 Newtons 3 Newtons
BRICK
same as

When this happens we say that forces “balance.”

 Support Force
Solid surfaces exert a force, called a support
force, on objects pressed against them.
Downward force (weight)
balanced by upward force
(support).
100 Newton
Gold Brick

100 Newton
Support force
How much is the
net force on the brick?
 Friction Force
Origin of friction is molecular interaction between
solid surfaces.
Friction is complicated.

Friction depends on
support force and on
properties of the surface.

Basic properties of
friction first established
by Leonardo da Vinci.
 Forces on a Dancer
Newton’s First Law of Motion states that a
stationary object (not moving) remains
stationary if the net force on it is zero.

For a dancer, the three main forces are:

• Gravity (Downward)
• Support of the floor (Upward)
• Frictional force of the floor (Horizontal)
 Center of Gravity
Average position of
an object’s weight Center
of
distribution is called Gravity
the center of gravity
(CG).
Force of gravity acts
on an object as if
pulling straight
down at the CG.
 Stability & Balance
Object is stable if CG is above the base.

STABLE

CG CG
UNSTABLE
Weight

Weight
Support

Support

Axis
BASE BASE Axis
 Demo: Find your Center
Your CG is
roughly in the
center of your
body. CG CG

Varies with
orientation.
STABLE UNSTABLE
 Demo: Balanced Bird
Where is the bird’s center of gravity?

Point of support is the tip of the beak. Center of gravity must be directly
above or below that point. Wings are weighted so CG is below the beak.
 Balance & Dance
The force of gravity and the
support force of the floor can Center of Gravity
balance only when a located above the
dancer’s toe
dancer’s center of gravity is
located above the base of
support.
 Base of Support with a Partner

Two dancers, together, can

form a larger base of
support. x

The center of gravity is

roughly located in between
Center of
the two dancers, as shown.
Gravity

What happens if he shifts his

front foot back?

What if he shifts his back

foot forward? x
 Ballet Barre
The ballet barre also
extends the base of
support, with the hand
acting as a “third foot.”
Hand

Base of
Support
Toe

Foot
Motion & Center of Gravity
Arbitrary
4

1 5
3

2 A spinning object turns about 6

its center of gravity as it flies
through the air.

The center of gravity follows

5 a parabolic trajectory which is
the same for all objects.

General tumbling motion (e.g., throw a

1 7
chair) is very complicated!
7 Note: If axe is about 10” long then 4 frames between keys.
Movie: Grand Jeté
 Jumps & Center of Gravity
While a dancer is in the air (not in contact with the
floor) the only force on the dancer is gravity and the
trajectory of the center of gravity is a parabolic arc.

During a two foot If the dancer jumps a lesser height

vertical jump a then the time in the air decreases
dancer is in the air
for slightly less than
¾ of a second.
CG
If the dancer’s CG
horizontal speed is
10 feet per second
then the CG travels
about 7.1 feet
during the jump.
 Shifting the Center of Gravity
By raising their arms and legs, dancers can
raise the location of their center of gravity (CG).

CG CG Lower torso

Near hips
 Grand Jeté Floating Illusion
Shifting the CG upward, the distance the dancer’s head
rises is reduced, giving illusion of floating longer.

Time in the air is 25% longer

than a similar leap where the
CG rises only 1.3 feet
 Grand Jeté Floating Illusion
Illusion of floating is enhance by the fact that during the
peak of the jump the vertical motion is the slowest.
Newton’s Second Law of Motion
Acceleration occurs when an object’s
velocity changes, such as speeding up or
slowing down.
Acceleration depends on Force and Mass.
(Net Force)
(Acceleration) =
(Mass)

Acceleration is always in the direction of the

net Force acting on an object.
 Newton’s Second Law (Part 1)
The greater the force on acting on an object,
the greater the acceleration of that object.
Newton’s Second Law (Part 2)
The greater the mass of an object, the less it
accelerates when acted on by the same force.
 Demo: Spool
Pull on string wrapped
around a spool. Force is to
the right. In what direction
does the spool move?
Spool moves? Spool moves?

Pull Pull
 Demo: Tricycle
Pull on tricycle pedal with a string.
Which direction does the tricycle move?
Pedal in top position Pedal in bottom position

Bike moves? Bike moves?

Pull
Pull
 Newton’s Third Law of Motion
Whenever an object exerts First Object
(Hammer)
a force on a second
object, the second object Second Object
exerts a force of equal (Nail)

magnitude in the
opposite direction on the
first object.
 Action and Reaction
Common expression of 3rd Law is,

To every action there’s an equal and opposite

reaction.

What’s an “action”?
A force exerted by one object on second object.

How can reaction be “equal” and “opposite”?

Equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.
 Demo: Mutual Attraction
What happens when:
• Mr. A pulls, Mr. B holds.
• Mr. A holds, Mr. B pulls. Mr. B has more
mass than Mr. A
• Mr. A & Mr. B both pull.
Mr. A Mr. B
 Demo: Mutual Attraction (cont.)
If only Mr. A pulls on Mr. B then Mr. B accelerates.
Reaction force of equal magnitude so Mr. A also moves.
Who moves faster? Mr. A, Mr. B, or the same?

Mr. A Reaction Action Mr. B

Mr. B has more
mass than Mr. A

Mr. A goes faster (greater acceleration) since his mass is less.

 Demo: Mutual Attraction (cont.)
When both guys pull then there are two action forces and
two reaction forces.
If both pull with same force, how much greater is the
acceleration than when only one pulls?

Mr. A Reaction Action Mr. B

Action Reaction

Twice the force so twice the acceleration (by 2nd Law)

 Demo: Mutual Repulsion
Similar demonstration is
to have Mr. A and Mr. B Mr. A
Mr. B

push away instead of

pull together. Reaction Action

Same results; if Mr. A

pushes and Mr. B holds
then both move apart.
Standing on skateboards
 IMPORTANT!!!

Action force & reaction force

NEVER balance each
other because they act on
different objects!
Repeat this to yourself over and over again
 Walking, Running & Jumping
What forces accelerate us into motion when
we walk, run, or jump?
 Forces on a Dancer
For a dancer, the three main forces are:
• Gravity (Downward)
• Support of the floor (Upward)
• Frictional force of the floor (Horizontal)
Only these forces can accelerate the dancer.
Gravity is constant but the force exerted by
the floor can increase in reaction to the
dancer exerting a force on the floor.
 Walking Forward
When weight is on back foot it acts by pushing
back on the floor. Reaction is the friction of the
floor, which pushes your body forward

X (CG)

If there were no friction

then dancer would fall
straight down and
Reaction could not walk forward
Action
 Jumping
Jumping is done by pushing
downward on the ground
(action) so the ground
pushes upward on you
(reaction).
How high you jump depends
on the force and on the
distance over which you
apply that force.
Can only push while in contact
with the ground so squatting
helps by increasing distance.
Swinging Arms and Jumping
You swing your arms upward as you jump to
increase the force pushing down on the ground.

Try jumping and swinging your arms upward after

you leave the ground; you won’t jump as high.
 Work & Force
The work done on an object is defined as

(Work done) = (Net Force) x (Distance)

The greater the work done, the greater the

change in the object’s velocity.
 Pushing Off on a Jump
Notice the orientation of the foot on the
ground, which is pushing off on a jump
 Push-Off with Turnout
The angle of flex is small
so the distance over
which the foot exerts a
force is small.
Jump will not be very high.

Distance
 Push-Off without Turnout
The angle of flex is larger
so the distance over
which the foot exerts a
force is larger.
Jump will be higher.

Distance
 Next Lecture
Motion & Dance (II)

Remember:
Assignment due: First draft or outline
of term paper or oral presentation