As a baby learns how to walk, he or she concentrates intensely
on maintaining balance. As we get older, we can walk and run
without thinking much about our balance. However, if you put on
a pair of roller skates or jump on a skateboard, you quickly
remember Newton’s laws and the effect of our center of gravity
on balance. In this picture of Jake, he has plenty of static
stability while seated. If he were to stand, he would not be
able to balance as well, especially at this early age. The
center of gravity, or CG, is a theoretical point in the “middle”
of an airplane, or a human body, upon which we could balance the
entire thing on the tip of a pencil (or any other pointy thing
that could support its weight). Here are two experiments you can
try to explore static stability. 1. Standing straight up Stand
up. Your CG is directly over your feet. Have someone gently push
your shoulders (not so hard that you have to move your feet).
You will likely sway back a little bit and then return to your
initial stance. 2. L