Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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Jumping rebar paperclip

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The jumping paper clip is cool. Most bakers probably know this trick. Many videos of it are on youtube. A paperclip is folded under tension and the end balanced, such that a minor impact causes it to unfold with force, bouncing much higher than one would expect or shooting across the room.

How much more fun would that be with rebar sized paperclips? This would be as a kinetic art exhibit or video. I am not sure what sort of steel items come prefolded, which would make it easier. Nor am I sure where the best forum for such art would be.

bungston, Jun 11 2014

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       I checked out JPCs on Youtube - I think there may be some limit to the responsiveness of materials as they get thicker, and rebar might be past that limit.
normzone, Jun 13 2014
  

       Responsiveness meaning the tendency to revert to prior shape, not just deform to the new one?
bungston, Jun 13 2014
  

       All that's going to matter is the young's modulus which would be the same for the same sort of steel.   

       What I'm not sure would hold constant is the ratio between the potential energy of the spring action and the mass of the total structure, which would result in less energetic leaps.   

       Also relevant would be the difficulty of twisting the rebar so it's able to slip past itself on impact like the paperclip can. Probably doable, but it's going to be finicky.
MechE, Jun 13 2014
  

       As you scale a design like this you're going to want different properties from the material. You could probably scale this using some plastic pipes/tubes.
st3f, Nov 16 2016
  

       Could it be done with Pandrol clips ? That would be impressive, dangerous, potentially lethal, and extremely stupid and inadvisable [+]
8th of 7, Nov 16 2016
  

       You can do this with trees, on purpose, too. Nothing like having a 3" thick branch brush the tip of your nose at 80mph.
FlyingToaster, Nov 16 2016
  
      
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