Center of Gravity
Kinley Slakey, Sydney Shepherd, Madelyn Zeller
Background:
For this project, we set out to determine
what factors affect the placement of one’s
center of gravity. We decided to test if the
ratio of lower body to upper body had a
relation to the placement, since it is a way
of determining where the majority of the
mass lies within the body. Throughout this
project we met course domains 2 and 3.
We reached course domain 2 by forming a
specific procedure and variable to test our
hypothesis. We met course domain 3 by
sorting and graphing the data we collected,
and then recognizing the trends in the
graph and their relation to the center of
gravity.
Hypothesis:
The lower the ratio between lower body and
upper body, the higher one’s center of gravity
as shown by their distance from the wall.
H
Null Hypothesis: If people with larger torsos
tend to have both low and high centers of
gravity, then the ratio of a person’s lower
body to their upper body does not affect their
center of gravity. As the ratio decreases, there
will be no effect on the distance from the wall
and therefore center of gravity.
Materials:
- Meter Stick
- Flexible Tape Measure
- Wall
- Sheets
Washington Latin Public Charter School
5200 2nd St NW, Washington, DC 20011 Data Analysis:
After dividing everyone’s lower body
length by upper body length to find their
Procedure: ratios, we sorted the data into three
groups: people with large ratios, average
ratios, and smaller ratios. A large ratio
meant longer legs compared to the torso,
a smaller one meant shorter legs, and so
on. For the group with smaller ratios, their
average distances from the wall were
greater, meaning their centers of gravity
were higher up. For the group with larger
ratios, their distances were less, and so
their centers were lower. The group with
Figure 1: Finding the
average ratios was similarly average in
Figure 2: Measure Figure 3:
center of gravity your torso length: measure your leg terms of their centers of gravity.
● Madelyn bending ● Sydney length
over with her butt measuring the ● Madelyn
touching the wall, distance measuring the
moving her feet
closer until she
between Kinley’s distance from Conclusion:
hip bone and top Kinley’s foot to
started to fall of head. hip bone.
forward, and then In conclusion, the procedure we created
measuring the helped us discover the relationship
distance to the wall.
between one’s center of gravity and
one’s body proportions. Our data
Data: confirmed our hypothesis by showing
that, the higher a person’s ratio, the
lower their center of gravity. People with
a lower ratio, Group 1, tended to have
higher distances from the wall, and
therefore higher center of gravity,
However, those with higher ratio, Group
3, had a smaller distance from the wall
overall. Those with average ratios, Group
2, had intermedial centers of gravity.
There was some inconsistency, as shown
by the graph’s whiskers, yet the general
trends are still apparent.