• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Classic Yoyo Tricks

How does a yoyo work?

October 31, 2019 by Classic Yoyo Tricks

QUESTION: How does a yoyo “sleep” at the bottom so that you can do tricks? What makes a yoyo actually work?

ANSWER: A big difference between a real yoyo and the cheap ones you sometimes find at a dollar store is the string.

Cheap yoyo-like toys generally have the string tied in a knot or glued to the axle. So when you throw them down, they will just immediately wind back up. They can’t sleep at the bottom and they can’t do any real tricks.

The string loops around the axle. In this case, the yoyo has a ball bearing axle for even longer sleep times, but the concept also applies to fixed metal or wooden axles too.

But a real yoyo uses a special yoyo string that loops around the axle. That means when you throw the yoyo down spinning, it can go to the bottom and keep spinning inside the loop. At that point, you need to give it a tug to make it “wake up” and come back to your hand.

It uses the energy of the spin from your downward throw to wind back up the string. So that’s why if you let it sleep too long, it won’t come back. It used up all the energy spinning at the bottom and didn’t have enough left to climb all the way back up the string to your hand.

A good yoyo player knows how to throw the yoyo with high efficiency and put a lot of energy and spin into the yoyo, so that it sleeps a long time and can do longer tricks. If you’re a beginner, it takes a while to develop the skill to make it sleep at all, or even go straight down and come back to your hand!

When the string is wound up and you are holding the yoyo in your hand, you have potential energy. And when you throw the yoyo down to unwind the string, it turns the potential energy into kinetic energy.

The yoyo is round with an axle that spins inside the looped string. That spinning gives it gyroscopic stability and keeps it from flopping over. The pull on the string creates a force against the bottom of the loop and causes the yoyo to grab on and wind back up into your hand.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Yoyo Questions

Previous Post: « What’s a Good Beginner Yoyo?

Primary Sidebar

Buy Yoyos at Yoyoplay.com

Looking to buy a yoyo? We recommend Yoyoplay.

Yoyo Trick Info

  • About
  • Learn Yoyo Tricks!
  • YoYo Trick List
  • Yoyo Tricks
  • Got Yoyo Trick Questions?

Categories

  • Beginner Yoyo Tricks
  • Looping Yoyo Tricks
  • String Tricks
  • Yoyo Questions

Recent Posts

  • How does a yoyo work?
  • What’s a Good Beginner Yoyo?
  • Yoyo Trick: How to Throw a Time Warp
  • How to Throw a Lindy Loop Yoyo Trick
  • Yoyo Trick: How to Throw a Pinwheel

Become a fan of Yoyoing on Facebook to share your tips and get tips from others who love doing yoyo tricks.

Copyright © 2023 Classic Yoyo Tricks on the Foodie Pro Theme

 

Loading Comments...