The surprising fact is that indeed the bottom of the slinky doesn’t move at all when you release the top of the slinky! It hangs momentarily motionless in the air in exactly the same coiled configuration that it had before the drop. This is the surprising slinky drop effect.
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What are the physics of a slinky?
Held from midair, the Slinky stretches out, quickly reaching a condition known as “equilibrium.” in which the downward force of gravity is balanced by the upward tension of the coils above it. When the top is released, the bottom stays suspended. The top of the Slinky collapses, so that the coils slam into each other.
How does a slinky drop?
Why does the slinky seem to float when let go?
Held from midair, the Slinky stretches out, quickly reaching a condition known as “equilibrium.” in which the downward force of gravity is balanced by the upward tension of the coils above it. When the top is released, the bottom stays suspended. The top of the Slinky collapses, so that the coils slam into each other.
Why does a slinky stay in mid air?
What type of energy is a Slinky?
This compression and extension form a compression wave that travels down the slinky, changing the gravitational potential energy and spring potential energy of the slinky into kinetic energy.
Does a Slinky have elastic potential energy?
Likewise if a Slinky is stretched and let go, it will pull itself back to its original shape, that means that there’s potential for energy in the Slinky’s shape. This is another form of potential energy called elastic potential energy.
Why do we use Slinky springs in physics?
A long metal slinky and a longer but smaller metal spring. The slinky can be used to show compression waves and the smaller more sturdy spring can be used to show transverse waves. These are two very long springs (one a slinky) to show wave propagation on a classroom size level.
What force is used on a Slinky?
From the whole slinky point of view, there is only one force on the slinky – the gravitational force. This means that it falls and accelerates downward with an acceleration of -9.8 m/s2 just like all free-falling objects.
How do slinkys go down stairs?
Slinkies gets their “walking” ability from two properties: wave motions and Newton’s laws. When a Slinky sits atop a staircase, gravity acts on the toy, keeping it still. Knock over the Slinky, and Newton’s second law comes into play.
Why does a chain fall faster than gravity?
Slow motion video shows that the mass attached to the chain accelerates faster than the free-falling mass. This because as the chain continuously decelerates and stops, this pulls down on the mass and this increases the acceleration on this mass (equal but opposite forces apply).
Why does a Slinky work?
Are Slinky waves transverse or longitudinal?
This wave is called a transverse wave because the motion of the slinky is sideways to the motion along the slinky. It provides a model for waves moving along strings, for light waves(in particular linearly polarized light waves, and for seismic waves called S waves.
How far does a Slinky stretch?
Each Slinky contains 67 feet of flat steel wire, and weighs approximately 1/2 pound. When a Slinky is compressed it is only 2-1/4 inch long, but it can be stretched into a helix as long as 15 feet in length without deforming.
Why do Slinkies appear to defy gravity?
It turns out that a levitating Slinky has more to do with the speed of sound than gravity. When you hold a Slinky off the ground, the pre-tensioned spring will come to an equilibrium. Just hanging there, the pull of gravity is cancelled out by the tension in the toy. Gravity determines how low the spring will hang.
How many coils are in a Slinky?
tall with 75 ft. of high carbon steel wire arranged in 98 coils. James filed a patent for the toy the same month of its first demonstration, and it was approved in January of 1947. Despite initial retailer reluctance, the Slinky soon found its market and James quit his job to devote all his time to the project.
Do Slinkies float?
Every kid knows that Slinkys are magical, but here’s evidence that might even give physicists a pause. Australia science video maker Derek Muller proves that Slinkys can float in the air – at least for a second.
How is a slinky elastic energy?
Elastic potential energy is energy stored in objects by tension (like a stretched rubber band) or compression (when you squeeze a spring). When the potential energy is ‘released’, it is converted to the energy of motion, also known as kinetic energy.
Does slinky have kinetic energy?
(As the Slinky moves down the steps, kinetic energy is transferred from coil to coil along its length in a longitudinal wave. The speed of the wave depends on the tension and mass of the coil.
What have you noticed about the behavior of the slinky as it vibrates?
Notice that a wave travels along the Slinky from you to your partner. The vibrating parts of the Slinky move back and forth in the same direction as the wave is traveling. This type of wave is called a longitudinal wave, or a compression wave, and it’s a model for seismic primary waves, or P waves.
How did the slinky acquire energy when stretched?
When you stretched the slinky, it had gained tension and when you released it, the tension was converted into kinetic energy which made the slinky to travel to your friend. Pull is a force. When you move away from your friend holding one end of the slinky, you are basically pulling the slinky which will aquire energy.
What happens to the potential energy of a slinky when it is stretched and compressed?
Solution : When a spring is compressed or stretched, potential energy energy of the spring increases in both the cases. This is because work is done by us in compression as well as stretching.
When a compressed slinky is released it converts potential energy into?
When compressed slinky is released, its potential energy will be converted into the energy of motion called kinetic energy. The kinetic energy of an object is the energy that it possesses due to its motion.
How a longitudinal wave is produced on a Slinky spring?
A longitudinal wave can be created in a slinky if the slinky is stretched out in a horizontal direction and the first coils of the slinky are vibrated horizontally. In such a case, each individual coil of the medium is set into vibrational motion in directions parallel to the direction that the energy is transported.
How do you find the spring constant of a Slinky?
For the typical slinky parameters used, the spring constant is k = 0.84 N/m and the collapse time is tc ≈ 0.24 s.