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2015 Archive
2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
Author(s): Ruth Lewinski , Averey Strong
Presentation: poster
In apparent defiance of classical physics, the bottom edge of a dropped slinky remains at a constant position, suspended in mid-air until complete collapse and drop of the entire body. This is due to a net force at the bottom edge of the tension spring equaling zero until the center of mass moves close enough to relieve the tension. For this experiment, the slinky acts as a tension spring. The slinky was extended due to the force of gravity, and dropped from a height of 2m. The drop was recorded, in slow motion, and analyzed frame-by-frame. The bottom of the slinky appears to be suspended due to the upward tension force of the extension (R2=0.99, p<0.05), and does not drop until combined with the parabolic velocity of center of mass and the linear velocity of top (R2=0.99, p<0.05).
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