Why does the bottom of a Slinky not move when dropped?

Spread the love

A slow motion video shows that the bottom end stays stationary while the top moves towards it. As they meet the collapsed slinky then moves towards the ground. This happens because the bottom end has balanced forces acting upon it (gravity pulling it down and tension in the spring pulling it up).

How does a Slinky work physics?

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.

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 does energy move through a Slinky?

As the slinky moves down the steps, energy is transferred along its length in a longitudinal or compressional wave, which resembles a sound wave that travels through a substance by transferring a pulse of energy to the next molecule. How quickly the wave moves depends on the spring constant and the mass of the metal.

How do Slinky demonstrate waves?

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 does slinky 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.

Why does a slinky hover when dropped?

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.

Why does a Slinky stay in the air?

How far does a Slinky stretch?

If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat, it would measure 87 feet long. During the Vietnam War, Slinkys were used as mobile antennas. The Slinky is the Official State Toy of Pennsylvania.

Is a Slinky a parabola?

In the case of U-shaped Slinky with equal-height sus- pension points, we obtained its shape and showed that it was a parabola.

Does slinky have kinetic energy?

If the bottom of the slinky is hanging freely, the kinetic energy of the compression wave transfers to spring potential energy as the slinky extends further downward. The spring potential energy is then converted back into kinetic energy as the slinky bounces upwards.

Is a slinky a mechanical wave?

Slinky waves, water waves, stadium waves, and jump rope waves are other examples of mechanical waves; each requires some medium in order to exist. A slinky wave requires the coils of the slinky; a water wave requires water; a stadium wave requires fans in a stadium; and a jump rope wave requires a jump rope.

Why do higher frequencies have more energy?

Wave Frequency and Energy For example, to generate a higher-frequency wave in a rope, you must move the rope up and down more quickly. This takes more energy, so a higher-frequency wave has more energy than a lower-frequency wave with the same amplitude.

How does a slinky represent a sound wave?

English. Use a stretched Slinky to model sound waves moving through a material. When you squeeze the Slinky’s coils together at one end (compression), this causes the coils in front of them to spread out (expansion). When the squeezed coils are released they spread out and squeeze the coils in front of them together.

In what direction will you move a slinky to create longitudinal waves?

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.

What is the direction of the slinky as you move it forward and backward?

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.

Does a slinky acquire energy when stretched?

How did the slinky acquire energy when stretched? Solution : When we stretch the slinky we apply a force on it which does work on the slinky. This work in turn transfers energy to the slinky.

What the slinky acquire energy when it is compressed?

The correct answer is Option 2, i.e Kinetic Energy. When a compressed slinky is released it converts potential energy into kinetic energy. When slinky is compressed work is done against the spring force, and this work done is stored as potential energy.

Would a slinky acquire energy when it is compressed?

Would the slinky acquire energy when it is compressed? Solution : Yes, the slinky will have some energy even when it is low pressed.

How does a spring fall?

What is a Slinky?

A Slinky is a precompressed helical spring toy invented by Richard James in the early 1940s.

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 is a slinky called a Slinky?

Legend has it that the name came from the sound a Slinky made when used, but the toy was named by James’ wife, Betty. She stumbled across the word ‘slinky’— which means sleek and graceful— while thumbing through a dictionary.

Do NOT follow this link or you will be banned from the site!