How much do you know about "Slinky".....a classic toy?
As a boy about 9 years old, one of my favorite toys was a “Slinky”. At that time, I never cared how my Slinky was made or any of its characteristics. I just knew it was a fun toy of the 60s and I had one. Question: so, how much do you know about a Slinky toy? Do you or have you ever owned one? Do you know how a Slinky is made?
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I’ve definitley heard of it…
I know the song. “It’s Slinky, it’s slinky . . .”
Of course, I had one. However, after you made it go doen the steps a few times, there was not that much to it.
It’s Slinky. Yup, I had one of those. I have no clue how it was made, but it was good for a bit of entertainment having it slink down the stairs and shuffling it back and forth in hands like a Las Vegas card dealer.
Read an article years ago that the Slinky as a toy was discovered accidentally. A guy who was into producing all sorts of parts for machineries came up with this rather unassuming object when at rest. One day his wife picked it up and held both ends, accidentally discovering the seemingly fun back and forth movement. Later on she discovered it could go down the steps on its own momentum. She decided to sell it as a toy.
I played with them and so did my kids. They (slinky and not kids) always got tangled up rather quickly and thus had a short shelf life.
I remember having one and enjoying making it go down the stairs. I also remember stretching it as far as I could. Mr. tedibear says it can be used to teach something or other in physics, but I get confused when he goes there.
I know what they are. I had one, it was multicolored. It didn’t quite act like the commercials showed, like go down the stairs perfectly…but none the less, I had fun with it.
I had several over the years. I always wondered why they were exactly the same size, even the plastic ones. Wouldn’t you like to see a mini-slinky?
[Puts on geek hat]
They are essentially springs with a low spring constant and therefore can serve as examples of simple harmonic motion, following the equations,
F = -kx
where F is force, k is spring constant, and x is displacement from its “neutral” position, and
U = ½kx^2
where U is potential energy.
I have had many over the years, and yes, @YARNLADY, I have seen something like a mini-slinky, about ⅔ to ¾ standard size. The mini’s were more recent, and seemed to be made of some kind of plastic, and were not as “slinky-like” as the real one.
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