The falling slinky
Classical Physics
2021-09-30 v2 Popular Physics
Abstract
The slinky, released from rest hanging under its own weight, falls in a peculiar manner. The bottom stays at rest until a wave hits it from above. Two cases -- one unphysical one where the slinky is able to pass through itself, and the other where the coils of the slinky collide creating a shock wave travelling down the slinky -- are analysed. In the former case, the bottom begins to move much later than in the latter.
Keywords
Cite
@article{arxiv.1110.4368,
title = {The falling slinky},
author = {W. G. Unruh},
journal= {arXiv preprint arXiv:1110.4368},
year = {2021}
}
Comments
6pp. 4 figures. Replacement corrects many typos/errors in the original file