Re: Droping a Slinky (Q&A)

Posted by Tom Johnson on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Droping-a-Slinky-Q-A-tp6851732p6851741.html

Good questions, and I have another one:  What is it about Slinky that young children find so fascinating and fun?

-tj

On Sat, Oct 1, 2011 at 7:07 PM, ERIC P. CHARLES <[hidden email]> wrote:

Below are links to some science videos nifty for two reasons.

1) They ask and answers a pretty cool question: What happens when you hold a slinky out at shoulder height, so it is extended down (the bottom still off the ground) and you let go. Think about it for a second. How does the top part of the slinky move, how does the bottom part move, how does the center of mass move? A good physics thought experiment! (If you are having trouble imagining it, here is the question: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGIZKETKKdw)

2) The answer illustrates the weirdness of trying to apply the term 'information' to all possible situations. At about 1:30, the physics prof offers an explanation for what happens, and (for just a second) talks as if one part of the slinky is transmitting 'information' about its movement to another part of the slinky, which is bizarre way. The slinky itself is moving, it is not transmitting information about the movement, it IS moving. Why would you say that it takes time for 'the information to propagate', instead of simply saying that 'it takes time for the slinky to move'. Weird, weird, weird.

At any rate, Here is the cool answer: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMmmEEyOO0
(and it continues here: http://www.youtube.com/wa! tch?v=oKb2tCtpvNU&NR=1)

This seemed like the type of thing lots of people on the list would get a kick out of... so... hope you do. 

Eric

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J. T. Johnson
Institute for Analytic Journalism   --   Santa Fe, NM USA
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FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
lectures, archives, unsubscribe, maps at http://www.friam.org