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Published Online: 24 August 2011

Ring Falling into a Chain: No Magic — Just Physics

The Physics Teacher 49, 335 (2011); https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3628253

Michael Vollmer and Klaus-Peter Möllmann

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ABSTRACT

Magic tricks are very popular, and they can and should be used in teaching when the underlying
principle is easily explained by physics. Such tricks often fall in the realm of hands-on
experiments, which are considered to be potentially very effective in raising interest and
motivating students.1 Unfortunately, many hands-on experiments are easy to do, but more
difficult to explain. One of the reasons is that they often happen so fast that the underlying
principle can only be guessed. Also, a magic trick can be disguised so that an observer cannot
solve the puzzle with the naked eye. Quite often even regular camcorders do not provide the
necessary time resolution. Fortunately, however, huge advances in microsystem technologies
have recently led to the development of commercially available high-speed cameras that are
relatively inexpensive. The low end of the price range is now at or below $300.2 Some models of
the Casio Exilim series provide up to 1200 frames per second for reduced image size. The
the Casio Exilim series provide up to 1200 frames per second for reduced image size. The
technology of such cameras has been extensively summarized elsewhere,3 and many nice
examples of experiments recorded with high-speed imaging are under way.4 Here we present
one example of a physics “magic trick” that is extremely easy to perform while giving stunning
results. High-speed images (snapshots and movies) can nicely reveal the physics behind the
trick.

THE MAGIC RING FALLING INTO A CHAIN

A very simple hands-on experiment with a surprising outcome requires only a metal ring, a
metal chain, and one (or two) of your hands. Figure 1 shows two examples of rings and chains
successfully used in experiments as well as the setup for performing the trick.

Fig. 1. Some typical metal chains and metal rings and setup for the trick. The closed-
loop chains have about 1 m total length, but different-sized chain links resulted in
varying stiffness of the chains. The rings had similar diameter (58 mm vs 56 mm) but
different thickness and mass (74.1 g vs 24.2 g).

 PPT | High-resolution

The chain is placed over the hand and the ring is then lifted from the lower end such that it is
outside of the chain. The ring may then be held by two fingers of the other hand or, as shown in
the figure, by using thumb and middle finger of the same hand. The task is simple: let the ring
fall down so that it will—by “physics magic”—not drop to the floor but stay attached to the chain!
As a matter of fact, the chain will make a knot around the ring.

Even multiple demonstrations to an audience usually do not help people successfully repeat the
trick, in particular if initially the ring is held by the second hand. Often many failing attempts
follow. Two helpful hints can be given. First, mention that the ring should be held by only two
fingers. These define a line whose direction should best be perpendicular to the direction given
by the two chain segments within the ring. This usually leads to partial success (i.e., sometimes
by chance it works and sometimes it doesn't). Second, mention part of the physics behind the
trick: one finger shall be moved away quickly while the other one initially still supports the ring.
Figure 2 shows a series of snapshots of the start of the ring's movement, recorded with our
high-speed camera as front (top) as well as side (bottom) views.

Fig. 2. Front (top) and side (bottom) views of the start of falling ring (for two successful
trials). From left to right: before start, before second finger loses contact, at rotation
angle of about 90°, and at the maximum rotation angle of about 140°. The
accompanying TPT Online video clip shows the complete motion [URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3628253.1]

Download Original Video (.8 MB)

 PPT | High-resolution

At the start (
t = 0), i.e., letting go of the first finger, the ring initially starts to rotate around the second
finger, which can be seen nicely from the side. Contact with the second finger ends after about
finger, which can be seen nicely from the side. Contact with the second finger ends after about
50 ms and the ring continues to rotate, reaching 90° after about 100 ms. Rotating further on,
the ring has to push the lower end of the chain sideways, which, due to its weight, generates a
restoring force. Due to this restoring force, the maximum angle we could observe in various
tests was about 140°.

Even after such a favorable beginning, the experiment may still fail. The outcome is sensitive to
the combination of mass and dimensions of the metal ring, the stiffness of the metal chain, and
the friction between ring and chain. Figure 3 shows the continuation of the snapshots of the
two successful experiments from Fig. 2.

Fig. 3. Final phase of ring fall (continuation of Fig. 2): the ring is captured within a knot of
the chain. In particular, the final image from Fig. 2 and the first two images here (bottom
row) reveal the sliding of the chain from bottom to top of the ring while the ring is still
falling down. The accompanying TPT Online video clip shows the complete motion
[URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3628253.2]

Download Original Video (.8 MB)

 PPT | High-resolution

Due to the rotation of the ring beyond 90°, the lower ends of the chain are elongated sideways.
Therefore, there is now also a restoring force component tangential to the ring. If it overcomes
the frictional forces, the two ends of the chain can slide from the lower end of the ring upwards
on each side of the ring. Once they make it to the middle of the ring, the knot can form.
Sometimes, for low-stiffness chains, the lowest end of the chain can finally swing around just
before the ring is at the bottom of the chain.

A very important parameter for this trick is the length of the chain. Initially, the part of the
chain below the ring must be at least long enough for the rotation to reach about the maximum
angle, so that the chain ends can start to slide to the top. From Fig. 2 one can estimate a
minimum length of about 15 cm below the ring. It is indeed possible to successfully perform the
experiment for such a short chain, but not for very much shorter ones. Figure 4 shows some
snapshots of such an experiment. The same chain of 1 m total length was used; it was just
wrapped around the hand several times.

Fig. 4. Experiment with a chain extending only 15 cm below the ring. One can easily
observe the sliding of the chain to the top of the ring after the ring has rotated more
than 90°, thus forming the knot. The accompanying TPT Online video clip shows [URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1119/1.3628253.3]

Download Original Video (1.3 MB)

 PPT | High-resolution

To summarize, it is important to have the proper combination of ring and chain. Chains with
very small individual chain links are less stiff than those with larger links. Hence they work
better. Also, if using a chain with larger links, it may be necessary to use a more massive ring.
For example, the low-weight ring did not work with the higher-stiffness chain from Fig. 1, but all
other combinations were satisfactory. Therefore, the following tip may be useful: first, buy one
or more rings and then select a chain by performing the experiment in the store. We can
promise you a lot of fun and some curious looks from people around.

REFERENCES

1.
C. Chiaverina and M. Vollmer, “Learning Physics from the Experiments,” workshop report in
Informal Learning and Public Understanding of Physics, Selected Contributions of the 3rd
International Girep Seminar 2005, edited by G. Planinšič and A. Mohoric (Univ. of Ljubljana,
Slovenia, 2006), pp. 185–190. Google Scholar

2.
A. Heck and P. Uylings, “In a hurry to work with high-speed video at school?” Phys. Teach. 48,
176–181 (March 2010). https://doi.org/10.1119/1.3317451, Google Scholar, Scitation

3.
M. Vollmer and K. -P. Möllmann, “High speed—Slow motion: Technology of modern high speed
cameras,” Phys. Educ. 46 (2), 191–202 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/46/2/007,
Google Scholar, Crossref
4.
M. Vollmer and K. -P. Möllmann, “Exploding balloons, deformed balls, strange reflections, and
breaking rods: Slow motion analysis of selected hands-on experiments,” Phys. Educ. 46(4)
472–485 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1088/0031-9120/46/4/018, Google Scholar, Crossref

© 2011 American Association of Physics Teachers.

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