Tight Rope Walking: The funabulist’s center of mass greatly affects their performance on the rope. If the performer’s center of mass is not directly above the wire (axis), the performer will begin to rotate about the wire, or fall of off it. The force of friction is a little more important in this act than in that of the trapeze. The funabulist may even wear sticky shoes to magnify the friction between his/her feet and the rope. With greater friction, the possibility of falling off the wire will be less. How can physics allow a person to balance on and walk across a thin rope? The performer will be able to easily redistribute his/her weight or change body position to keep his/her center of balance directly above the rope, without worry of their feet slipping on the rope. Another trick that the hire wire artist may use is a balancing pole. The pole will increase the rotational inertia of the funabulist, which allows more time to move his or her center of mass back to the desired positon over the wire. The balancing pole used may be up to 12 meters (39 feet) long and may weigh as much as 14 kilograms (31 pounds). By increasing the weight on the ends of the pole, and increasing the length of it, the effect can be magnified. The pole also helps the artist balance by lowering his or her center of gravity. The funabulist will use a long drooping pole rather than a rigid one. As in the picture, without the help of a long pole, the tight rope walkers center of mass is at his waist, a rather high position which tends to be difficult to achieve balance. If he leans even an inch to the right, the entire system is thrown off balance and the man will tumble to his safety net (hopefully). It is possible to have such heavy weights attached to the end of the pole that the center of gravity of the pole/performer system is actually below the wire. In this situation, the performer would need no more sense of balance as a person hanging from a wire.