Chinese New Years

This past week end was Chinese New Years and being a lion dancer I was out 13 hours of the day. Some of the minor physics I observed a lot this weekend is the concept of work. Work is the term used to describe the amount of force used over a distance. Distance is rate x time so the amount of work I completed this weekend is Force x rate x Time which was a really fast rate and for a really long time.

Another offspring of the same concept is the change in potential energy of lion dancers. We performed a lot of tricks and routines this weekend that involved acrobatics and jumping. One of the better examples is the use of the jong or pole jumping. AS the performers increase in height of the poles, their potential energy goes up proportionally to the amount they went up. So if they were to fall from the 6 feet pole as from the 2 foot table, they would have 3 times the amount of energy went they hit the ground.