Description

Springs – 58mm Round metallic Silly: This spring toy is small in size but not small on the fun! You will be surprised how long you sit playing with it between your hands. It’s such a great stress reliever toy that your child might spend the entire day relaxing with this metal spring. You will have endless amounts of fun with this little spring. Made of metal and will hole up to lots of play. Makes a great fidget toy!

The Slinky’s inventor Richard James, a naval engineer, and his wife decided to demonstrate their new toy at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia in the early 1940s, they feared that no one would buy it because it was so simple. They were so worried they gave a close friend a dollar to buy one. An hour and a half after the first demonstration, they had sold a total of 400 Slinkys!

The Slinky, whose design has been modified only once to crimp the ends for safety, remains the same today as it did at Gimbels. Not only is the Slinky an excellent toy, its action also demonstrates a variety of physical forces and principles.

The Slinky, like all objects, tends to resist change in its motion. Because of this inertia, if it were placed at the top of the stairs it would stay at rest without moving at all. At this point, it has potential or stored energy. But once it is started down the stairs and gravity affects it, the potential energy is converted to the energy of motion or kinetic energy and the Slinky gracefully tumbles coil by coil down the stairs.

The physical properties of the metal slinky determine how quickly it moves under the influence of gravity. Although its movement may look simple, from a scientific point of view the motion is quite complex. 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.

Recommended Age

Age: 3+