Final answer:
A tightrope walker uses a pole to improve balance and stability by increasing their moment of inertia, allowing for a slower rotation and more time to correct any imbalance. Due to the tension in the wire, which is mostly horizontal and cancels out, the pole helps to stabilize against the minimal vertical tension created by the tightrope walker's weight.
Step-by-step explanation:
A tightrope walker carries a pole to maintain balance while walking on a rope. The pole acts as a balancing tool, distributing the walker’s weight more evenly and increasing their moment of inertia. This makes any rotation due to balance loss slower, giving the walker more time to correct their balance. Additionally, because the wire sags due to the weight of the tightrope walker, there is a significant amount of tension in the wire. The tension in the wire is almost six times the weight of the tightrope walker to provide enough support vertically, as the majority of tension is in the horizontal components which cancel each other out. Hence, the pole is a crucial aid in helping the walker counteract the very small vertical tension that stabilizes against any perturbations or shifts in balance while on the tightrope.