> Collin wrote:
> Anyone know how to untangle a Slinky?
Hi Collin,
HA! I've done this many times with my grandchildrens' Slinky's, but these
are the plastic variety. Good luck if you've got a metal one! Can't think
of a less abstruse way to describe this now other than the following.
Assume a cartesian coordinate system in three dimensions. Set the Slinky
central axis along the Z-axis. There should be two regular coil regions
separated by an single deformed loop. Grasp the Slinky with your two hands
in the region of this deformation (probably somewhere in the middle of the
spring). Grab with one hand above the deformation and the other hand below
the deformation. Now rotate the upper regular coil region about the
deformation region by a full 360 degrees around the X-axis. If you rotate
in the correct direction, the deformation should now be translated up along
the coil by one full turn. (If the deformation translated down instead of
up, you rotated the wrong way -- reverse direction and give it a couple
rotations.) Once you've found the right rotational direction, keep
repeating this rotation operation until you've translated the deformation to
the top of the Slinky. Follow me?
God, my brain hurts. Time to shut down the computer and go home for the
day! Have a good weekend!
Bill Peifer
Rochester, NY
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