The Dryad QueenElizabeth DonohueAward: Top 100
School: minnetonka high school When someone is dancing, they use physics in many different ways. We were in a show together and my friend was portraying the Dryad Queen. At the moment I took the photo, she was in the middle of doing a jump. When looking at this picture I think of energy and how it works. At the top of her jump (in the photo) she has only gravitational potential energy. As she goes in between the floor and the peak of the jump, her mechanical energy constantly changes with a mixture of kinetic and potential energy. Something interesting to think about is that if a different person replicated this jump exactly, the energies would still be different. This is because of their differing mass and speeds. In addition to energy, the picture demonstrates the rotational phenomenon of torque. The beginning of this jump is in a plank. When she jumps from her plank, she uses her foot to push her off the floor. That push at a distance from her center of mass would create torque, which would rotate her position to the incline that is shown in the photo. Something fun about being a dancer is that we use physics to make it seem like it doesn't apply to us. 
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