A Slinky is a coil-shaped toy, invented by Naval engineer Richard James and his wife, Betty James. Slinkys come in various sizes, but are usually no larger than a grown adult's fist. The shape is a simple spiral, or coil design, of a ribbon of material, originally metal. The Slinky is famous for its ability to "walk" down stairs as the coils stretch and reform as gravity moves them down each step.

Richard James was on Naval duty in a ship one day when he saw a torsion spring come loose and fall to the floor in front of him. He was intrigued by the way it flopped around on the floor, and remembered it well enough that when he returned home, he was able, with his wife, Betty, to construct a tight coil of a ribbon of steel. He fine-tuned it to be able to walk down stairs. Betty found a name for the new toy after discovering in the dictionary that the word "Slinky" is a Swedish word meaning traespiral - sleek or sinuous.

Although first Slinkys were made of metal, they now are available in many different colors of plastic as well. They have been in continuous production since 1945 and this simple device is considered one of if not the most popular toy in the world.

The Slinky can be used in physics demonstrations to illustrate transverse, longitudinal and torsional waves.

de:Slinky