YouTube home Comedy Week on YouTube
Upload

Slinky Drop

1veritasium 1veritasium·133 videos
495,597
248,219
Like     Dislike 33

Sign in to YouTube

Sign in with your Google Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to like 1veritasium's video.

Sign in to YouTube

Sign in with your Google Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to dislike 1veritasium's video.

Sign in to YouTube

Sign in with your Google Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to add 1veritasium's video to your playlist.

Uploaded on Sep 21, 2011

What happens when a slinky that has been extended under its own weight is released? How does it fall to the ground? Answer link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCMmmE...

The interactive transcript could not be loaded.
Ratings have been disabled for this video.
Rating is available when the video has been rented.
This feature is not available right now. Please try again later.

Uploader Comments (1veritasium)

  • planetniffer

    planetniffer 10 months ago

    just tried dropping a weight along side the extended slinky. and the slinky looks like it falls heaps faster than the normal weight and lands on the ground first. are my eyes being cheated?

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate planetniffer's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate planetniffer's comment.
  • 1veritasium

    1veritasium 10 months ago

    I don't think so. The centre of mass of both objects should hit the ground at the same time, but the top of the slinky is going so fast by the time it gets to the bottom, it often passes the bottom and would therefore hit first.

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.
    in reply to planetniffer (Show the comment)
  • Adam Zhou

    Adam Zhou 1 year ago

    Hey 1veritasium, i saw u on a show in australia called The Catalyst.It was awesome seeing u there explaining the physics of Slinky

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Adam Zhou's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Adam Zhou's comment.
  • 1veritasium

    1veritasium 1 year ago

    Yup, I'm living in Sydney and working on some segments for Catalyst... stay tuned!

    · 3

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.
    in reply to Adam Zhou (Show the comment)
  • dista Cristi

    dista Cristi 1 year ago

    is this a hobby or it is your job?

    · 33

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate dista Cristi's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate dista Cristi's comment.
  • 1veritasium

    1veritasium 1 year ago

    Let's say neither. A job pays and a hobby sounds like an amateur pastime. Veritasium is a passion.

    · 77

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate 1veritasium's comment.
    in reply to dista Cristi (Show the comment)

Video Responses

All Comments (72)

Sign in now to post a comment!
  • seriouslyWTF21

    seriouslyWTF21 3 months ago

    The top end comes down just tried it

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate seriouslyWTF21's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate seriouslyWTF21's comment.
  • YoungPeachy

    YoungPeachy 3 months ago

    Im listening to RadioLab pod cast about this right now!

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate YoungPeachy's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate YoungPeachy's comment.
  • Amelia Baird

    Amelia Baird 4 months ago

    the host is so awkward. its annoying. nonetheless, yey physics

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Amelia Baird's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Amelia Baird's comment.
  • AgainsaidBen

    AgainsaidBen 4 months ago

    I just attended a student academic conference for Korean high school students and this video was used in one of the presentations. A student did his physics project on this very question.

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate AgainsaidBen's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate AgainsaidBen's comment.
  • joevideowatcher

    joevideowatcher 5 months ago

    Forgive me if I'm mistaken here. But I believe that the answer to planetniffer's confusion is because he is likely holding the static object at the same height as the top of the slinky, which is not the same height as the center of mass of the slinky. You would need to hold the static object at about the middle of the slinky to achieve the desired "same landing time" effect.

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate joevideowatcher's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate joevideowatcher's comment.
    in reply to 1veritasium (Show the comment)
  • krumble104

    krumble104 5 months ago

    I'm sure I tried this with my Slinky (Back in the 'day'!) and I'm sure the ends come back together and then just wobbles before hitting the deck.

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate krumble104's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate krumble104's comment.
  • Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe

    Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe 5 months ago

    god i would like to report a bug

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Emmanuel Ogbizi-Ugbe's comment.
  • MedicineMan Dan

    MedicineMan Dan 6 months ago

    Use a rubber band instead of a slinky

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate MedicineMan Dan's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate MedicineMan Dan's comment.
  • Mike Steere

    Mike Steere 6 months ago

    Derek! We just watched this video in Physics! I was so excited!

    ·

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Mike Steere's comment.

    Sign in to YouTube

    Sign in with your YouTube Account (YouTube, Google+, Gmail, Orkut, Picasa, or Chrome) to rate Mike Steere's comment.
  • Loading comment...
Loading...
Loading...
Working...
Sign in to add this to Watch Later