Slinky
Created | Updated Feb 11, 2002
A 'slinky' is a children's toy of the sort that could claim to be educationally stimulating.
A basic 'slinky' is a large spring of flattened wire made up of many coils. The aim of the toy was for it to be put at the top of a flight of stairs and then to tip the top section over the edge of the top step until the centre of gravity was below the mid point of the spring.
You can then let go of the 'slinky' and it should continue to go downstairs as the rotation momentum continues to tip the section left behind on every step over the top of the section in front. There are probably international standards in staircase design based on the average human height/leg length and the number of coils in the 'slinky' reflect this in order to travel down an entire flight of stairs.
The reason for giving a child such a toy is initially to entertain but with the hope that he/she will move on to question how it works and to discuss Newton's Law of Gravity.
I remember first seeing a 'slinky' in the 1970's when they were made purely of steel. In more recent years they have been covered in plastic, presumably to eliminate any safety risk caused by children handling a metal object with potentially sharp edges. This seems to be a small risk when compared with young children playing at the top of a flight of stairs and leaning out over the empty space.
Whilst called 'Slinky' in the United Kingdom, it may be that in other countries they have been marketed under other names.
Prunesquallor
A basic 'slinky' is a large spring of flattened wire made up of many coils. The aim of the toy was for it to be put at the top of a flight of stairs and then to tip the top section over the edge of the top step until the centre of gravity was below the mid point of the spring.
You can then let go of the 'slinky' and it should continue to go downstairs as the rotation momentum continues to tip the section left behind on every step over the top of the section in front. There are probably international standards in staircase design based on the average human height/leg length and the number of coils in the 'slinky' reflect this in order to travel down an entire flight of stairs.
The reason for giving a child such a toy is initially to entertain but with the hope that he/she will move on to question how it works and to discuss Newton's Law of Gravity.
I remember first seeing a 'slinky' in the 1970's when they were made purely of steel. In more recent years they have been covered in plastic, presumably to eliminate any safety risk caused by children handling a metal object with potentially sharp edges. This seems to be a small risk when compared with young children playing at the top of a flight of stairs and leaning out over the empty space.
Whilst called 'Slinky' in the United Kingdom, it may be that in other countries they have been marketed under other names.
Prunesquallor
