Articles, notes, and letters1,2,3 in recent issues of The Physics Teacher have described the location of the center of mass of a Slinky™ spring toy suspended vertically. To determine the center of mass, we performed a simple experiment that is described here.
REFERENCES
1.
L.
Ruby
, “Equivalent mass of a coil spring
,” Phys. Teach.
38
, 140
–141
(March 2000
).2.
M.
Sawicki
, “Static elongation of a suspended Slinky™
,” Phys. Teach.
40
, 276
–278
(May 2002
).3.
This content is only available via PDF.
© 2004 American Association of Physics Teachers.
2004
American Association of Physics Teachers
AAPT members receive access to The Physics Teacher and the American Journal of Physics as a member benefit. To learn more about this member benefit and becoming an AAPT member, visit the Joining AAPT page.
