Question

Take a slinky as shown below.
Ask a friend to hold one of its ends.
You hold the other end and move away
from your friend. Now you release the slinky.
What happened?
How did the slinky acquire energy when stretched?
Would the slinky acquire energy when it is compressed?​

Answer 1

Answer:

When you stretched the slinky, it had gained tension and when you released it, the tension was converted into kinetic energy which made the slinky to travel to your friend. Pull is a force. When you move away from your friend holding one end of the slinky, you are basically pulling the slinky which will aquire energy. When the slinky is compressed, it may not aquire energy if it is not a spring. There is no repulsive force you need to overcome to compress the slinky. Therefore, the slinky does not aquire any energy when compressed.