What makes a yoyo work

This is how backspin binds work. Because the string is wrapping in the opposite direction compared to the spin of the yo-yo, the response pads are actually trying to push the string out of the gap, rather than pulling it into the gap and winding the yoyo up.

Now, if you use the tail to wrap enough layers of string into the gap of a frontspin mount, you can actually get it to snag and wind up.

But this is bad technique because the wraps you put around the yo-yo are wound into the gap in the opposite direction compared to the rest of the string. This can cause all kinds of problems.

It would make sense if you thought these worked just like an offstring bind, right? In an offstring bind, the end of the string, which is kind of like the tail equivalent for offstring, is wrapping around the bearing and catches the response system, so it winds up. But the question is, is this how 1A laceration binds work as well? First off, we are only talking about laceration binds setup in the same way as backspin mounts.

To check, grab the tail of the laceration as the string goes into the gap of the yoyo. If, when you put your finger into the tail, the mount that is created is a backspin mount, then you have a backspin laceration.

Assuming that, proving that laceration binds work the same as mounted binds is difficult, because when you do a laceration bind, the tail DOES wrap into the gap.

So we want to figure out if this tail wrapping causes the bind, or if outer race of the bearing also rotates, and that causes the bind. In fact, the tail wrapping can cause a bind, but look what happens:.

In fact, the string underneath the tail is wrapped around the yo-yo the right way as well. This demonstrates that we are still pulling the outer race to start the bind, but when the tail wraps around, this interferes with the normal winding of the bind, causing a snag.

But you may wonder, can you actually pull the outer race of the bearing far enough to execute a bind without wrapping the tail? The answer is, yes, watch this. If you perform the same laceration bind, but use your opposite hand to block the tail from wrapping, it will still bind, but without a snag. In other words, the tail entering into the gap of the yo-yo does nothing except interfere with your potential to hit a clean bind. So how come sometimes when the tail gets whipped into the yo-yo, the bind is still clean?

So, in this case, the tail is actually fighting against the bind itself, because the spin of the yo-yo has to remove the tail from the gap before it can wind up cleanly. To get laceration binds to work consistently without snagging, first, we need to get sufficient contact between the bearing and the string threaded through the gap.

So if you think about how a laceration works, the more the tail bends around the bearing, the more contact the string has with the bearing. Once enough of the string is touching the bearing, but before the tail wraps all the way around, the second thing you need to do is pull on the string that is threaded through the gap.

If you have sufficient contact, this will cause the outer race of the bearing to rotate. In turn, this will pull the string connected to the bearing around the axle, and execute the bind. The more contact there is between the string and the bearing, the more efficient the pulling force will be, and this is true of any bind outside of a mount. Grind binds are a good example of this, since these also take place outside of mounts. The pull on the string creates a force against the bottom of the loop and causes the yoyo to grab on and wind back up into your hand.

Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email. The string loops around the axle. In this case, the yoyo has a ball bearing axle for even longer sleep times, but the concept also applies to fixed metal or wooden axles too. Not sure how true that is, but I never did see the commercial.

There is no clear consensus on where the yo-yo originated, but most accounts agree that a man by the name of Pedro Flores first brought the yo-yo from the Philippines to the United States in the s and opened the Yo-Yo Manufacturing Company in Santa Barbara, California.

Later that decade, Flores sold the company to Donald F. Duncan, who trademarked the yo-yo name and rebranded it as the Duncan Yo-Yo. Since then, the yo-yo has evolved to include versions that have ball bearings and internal clutches, making it easier to do tricks much more complex than the ones that stumped me. Nowadays you can find expert yo-yoers doing a whirlwind of tricks in demonstrations and competitions.

But yo-yos are more than just a toy. For teachers and science enthusiasts alike, the yo-yo offers a perfect way to study simple physics concepts. Regardless of the type, all yo-yos demonstrate the conversion of potential stored energy into kinetic moving energy.

When the yo-yo is resting in the palm of your hand, its string coiled around the axle, it contains potential energy. Release it, and you have now turned that potential energy into kinetic energy. Pretty cool, huh? Even cooler is the fact that, while spinning, a yo-yo contains two different types of kinetic energy: kinetic energy of movement and kinetic energy of rotation. Kinetic energy of movement is demonstrated when the yo-yo moves up and down, while the spinning action of the yo-yo demonstrates kinetic energy of rotation.

In addition to having two types of kinetic energy, yo-yos also have two types of momentum. Physical objects have momentum when they contain both mass and velocity. Yo-yos display both linear momentum moving up and down on the string and angular momentum spinning around. The angular momentum is what makes yo-yos the perfect tool for doing different tricks. A spinning object always tries to maintain its angular momentum, regardless of any forces trying to hold it back.

This resistance comes in the form of friction, or air resistance, as the yo-yo wheels rub against the surrounding air. Yo-yo masters learn to work with this resistance, using it to slow down their yo-yo for certain types of tricks, such as Walk the Dog, and fighting against it to keep their yo-yo spinning faster.