How A Pogo Stick Works

Essay by EssaySwap ContributorHigh School, 11th grade February 2008

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How a Pogo Stick Works The pogo stick is a mechanical device that utilizes the spring's ability to store energy. In this paper I will explain how the toy uses the laws of physics to provide hours of fun. There are a lot of forces acting on you and the pogo stick as you bounce along. We'll take an in depth look at all of these forces and what part they play in the overall functioning of pogo sticks. The physical aspects can be broken down into sections to get a better understanding of what is going on.

Pogo sticks have been around for a long time. They were very popular during the 60's and 70's. People would spend all day hopping around their driveway on the pogo stick. The pogo stick was like having a power wheels for the eighties generation. The fact that you can still see pogo sticks being used by kids around the world proves that it truly was a great idea.

How exactly does a pogo stick work? The person who is operating the pogo stick stands on the two pedals at the bottom of the stick. Once they are balanced and ready to start bouncing the person applies a downward force on the pedals. When they push down it causes the spring to become compressed. The stored energy in the coils of the spring is elastic potential energy. This extra energy provides the pogo stick with an extra amount of force on it's way back up. With the uncoiling of the spring it releases kinetic energy causing you to get a higher bounce while doing the same amount of work with your legs because of the spring.

First, I want to look at what a spring is and how exactly it works to create...