A long Slinky^® reaches from a hook near the ceiling to the floor. By manipulating the bottom of the Slinky^®, you can send longitudinal or transverse pulses up it, or establish a traveling wave.

This demonstration is analogous to demonstration 40.57 -- Suspended Slinky^®, except that it is vertical, and since the Slinky is suspended from a fixed hook near the ceiling, that end of the Slinky is fixed. This results in a 180-degree change in phase between the reflected pulse and the original pulse; the pulse comes back inverted. By giving the bottom of the Slinky an impulse in any horizontal direction, you create a transverse pulse, which then travels up the Slinky and is reflected back from the top. If you move the Slinky periodically in a horizontal direction, you send a train of pulses or a traveling wave, upward. If you give the bottom of the spring a vertical impulse, you send a longitudinal pulse up the Slinky, which is then reflected back from the top. If you do this periodically, you send a train of longitudinal pulses or a traveling wave upward.