What material is a slinky made up of?

Answer 1

It's actually been made of a few different materials. Here is a quick history with some neat facts too:

"Richard James, a mechanical engineer, was employed by Philadelphia's Cramp Shipyard in 1943 when he accidentally invented the Slinky®. At the time, he was trying to develop a spring to keep ship instruments steady at sea.

As James tested hundreds of springs of varying sizes, metals, and tensions, he piled the discards onto his desk. One day, an experimental torsion spring fell off the desk and "walked" down a pile of books, tumbling end over end onto the floor.

James was intrigued with the steel spring’s antics and took it home for his children. Soon all the kids in the neighborhood wanted one too. His invention hadn’t worked as an anti-vibration device for ships, so he decided to turn it into a toy.

In 1945, the first Slinky was demonstrated at Gimbels Department Store in Philadelphia. Within 90 minutes after the toy’s performance, all 400 Slinkys on hand were sold.

James designed and engineered machines to transform 80 feet of wire into a two-and one-half-inch stack of 98 coils, and he and his wife, Betty, co-founded James Industries. Today the company continues to operate in Hollidaysburg, Pa., manufacturing some 3 million to 4 million Slinkys annually. Mrs. James, who came up with the name "Slinky" has been chief executive officer since 1960.

The first Slinkys were manufactured from an expensive, dark steel from Sweden. It wasn’t long though before the Jameses switched to a more silver-looking steel; then in the ‘60s, a coating gave the spring an even more silvery appearance. Since late 1978, the Slinky also is made of the plastic, K-Resin® styrene-butadiene copolymer from Chevron Phillips Chemical Co.

"We decided to make Slinkys in plastic," explained Mrs. James, "because younger children tangled the metal ones too easily and had trouble holding onto them. With plastic, we can manufacture a larger diameter Slinky which is easier for small hands to manage, and we can produce it in bright colors that really appeal to children."

The Slinky’s design has been changed only once since 1943, and that was in 1973 to make the ends blunt for safety reasons."

Answer 2

Metal - probably some type of carbon steel. Some are made of plastic now.

Answer 3

metal or plastic

Answer 4

metal or plastic