Skip to Page Content
AAPT.org

Awards, Grants, and Contests

Login
  • Home
  • 2026 AAPT Awards
  • Lotze Scholarship
  • Membership Grants
  • K-12 Travel Scholarships
  • 2026 Photo Contest
  • Physics Bowl
  • Physics Team
» home » 2024 High School Physics Photo Contest Gallery » Sara Zachariah

Balanced Rock

Sara Zachariah

Award: Honors Photographic Quality

School: troy high school
Teacher: brian glynn
Category: Contrived
Photo #14098

Balanced Rock

Taken at Arches National Park in Utah,  a balanced rock parallels Balanced Rock; a 128-foot boulder of Entrada Sandstone attached to an eroding pedestal of Dewey Bridge mudstone. The balanced rock sits atop its center of mass- the location of the average mass of an object. Due to the center of mass,  objects can balance in seemingly impossible ways. With careful manipulation of an object,  in this case a rock,  it can reach equilibrium allowing it to balance. However incredible it may be to see a contrived equilibrium it is all the more incredible to observe it in the natural world. As humans continue to travel further and further into the unknown we must maintain these marvelous feats of nature. A strict no-climbing policy has been enacted to ensure this delicate balance is not disrupted so future generations can enjoy its beauty in the future. In the same way these rocks are in a delicate balance,  we must balance our impact on the natural world. We only have one home- Earth.

Gallery Image


AAPT Logo ComPADRE Logo