WORKINGKNOWLEDGE

YO-YO

String Theory
The yo-yo is just a simple toy, right? Not any-
more. Rim weights and axle technologies now exploit
the physics of angular momentum to make possible TRADITIONAL yo-yo ( far left)
all sorts of tricks and traits. has a string tied to a fixed axle
Yo-yos date back more than 2,000 years to Chi- linking two sides. Today the
na and Greece. They rolled their way into Europe, string is looped so the disks can
and by the 18th century the “émigrette” or “quiz” Weight spin, or sleep— the basis for
had become a favored toy of aristocrats. most tricks. Modern yo-yos may
All along, the string was tied to the axle, causing have a transaxle that slips
the spinning disks to return up the cord immediately freely, reducing friction on
after they hit bottom. But aficionados in the Philippines the string so the disks can
looped a string around the axle, so the wooden disks sleep longer. Rims may be
could spin freely, or sleep, while hanging down. This Transaxle weighted around the edge,
innovation made possible numerous tricks with names which enlarges the moment
such as cat’s cradle and walk the dog. Filipino Pedro of inertia and gives the disks
Axle
Flores immigrated to the U.S., started manufacturing more angular velocity so they
yo-yos in 1928, and began the first American craze for can sleep longer still.
this toy. Cheap and durable, it was one of the few
commercial successes of the Great Depression.
KENT SNODGRASS Precision Graphics; LINE DRAWINGS BASED ON YO-YO PHYSICS MONOGRAPHS BY DON WATSON

In 1932 businessman Donald Duncan bought out

Flores, began widespread contests among players to
generate publicity, and trademarked “yo-yo,” leav-
ing competitors with poor alternatives, like “twirler.”
The Duncan name eventually became synonymous
with yo-yo; in 1962 the company sold 45 million toys
Hinge
in a country with only 40 million children. In 1965,
however, a federal court ruled that “yo-yo” had be-
come a generic term. Duncan lost its trademark pro-
tection and went bankrupt but was later bought by
Flambeau Plastics, which revived the brand. Axle
Although plastic and metal began to replace
Weight
wood, the design remained essentially the same. In
the late 1980s and 1990s, however, several compa- Spindle
nies introduced a flurry of improvements such as
weighted rims, ball-bearing axles and clutches that Spring
suddenly made possible much longer sleep times: the
record rose from 51 seconds in 1991 to 13 minutes
five seconds a decade later. The “arms race” has cre-
ated “more design innovation since 1990 than there Clutch arm
was in the 100 years prior,” says Don Watson, a re- CLUTCH stays open as a result of centrifugal force when the yo-yo spins
tired industrial engineer and professional yo-yo play- quickly. The free-standing spindle allows the axle and disks to sleep.
er known as Captain Yo. Longer sleep time led to When the rotation slows, the force drops, and the springs can then
hundreds of new tricks and a resurgence in popular- squeeze the clutch arms against the spindle so it engages the axle and
ity that continues today. — Mark Fischetti spins with it, “automatically” rewinding the string.

110 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN SEPTEMBER 2004

COPYRIGHT 2004 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, INC.
 DID YOU KNOW . . .
➤ YO, PHYSICISTS: Detailed descriptions of the forces that act on a
yo-yo and string are hard to find. Captain Yo to the rescue! The retired
industrial engineer and professional yo-yo player has handwritten
five tidy monographs on yo-yo physics that cover everything from in-
ertial moments to rpm generation. The photocopied notebooks can
be purchased through www.skilltoys.com and www.yoyoguy.com.
Not for the faint of heart.
➤ DISCONNECT: Two radical trick styles have recently burst forth
at competitions. In “off-string,” the cord wraps around the axle as if
it were a top. A player flings the disk upward, it leaves the string, and
the player uses the cord as a tightrope for tricks, finally looping it
around the spinning axle to lasso and retrieve it again. In “freehand,”
the string links a disk at one end to a counterweight (not the play-
er’s finger) at the other end; the player releases and then catches
either the string or the counterweight to propel the whirling disk in
aerial maneuvers.
➤ READ IT HERE FIRST: Yo-yo histories can be sketchy, but several say
that Scientific American itself introduced the toy’s name to America.
The accounts cite a July 1, 1916, article in Scientific American Sup-
plement entitled “Filipino Toys.” The article showed how to make a
spinning disk, said its proper name was yo-yo and advised that “con-
siderable skill is required to operate it well.”

SLEEP begins when the string is

fully unwound. A player who can
throw down the yo-yo hard yet
ease its bounce by slightly
dropping his wrist as the yo-yo
reaches bottom imparts the
greatest angular velocity (ω)
ω to the disks, maximizing sleep
duration for tricks.

Outer race
Axle Bearing
Inner race
Tension
returns

Slack
induced
ω

BALL-BEARING transaxle minimizes

string friction more than any other
design, offering the longest spins. RETURN begins when a player
ω
tugs momentarily on the string.
The spinning disks will rise for an
instant after the tug stops (left),
which pushes slack into the braid
and then pulls the slack down
Precession
around the axle. The bunching
PRECESSION can cause a spinning yo-yo Force
forces the string against the disks
to flare out. If a player holds or tugs the (above), raising friction sharply,
string at too great an angle, the string which causes the disks to grab
will strike the rim, inducing a force that Tilt the string and climb back up.
causes the yo-yo to wobble (precess)
about the string. At the same time,
friction between the string and
spinning rim produces torque that
tilts the yo-yo. The two effects throw Rotation
the yo-yo out of control. Send topic ideas to
workingknowledge@sciam.com

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