> > My required answer isn't there! What am I to do?
> >
> > The answer should be "I have nothing whatsoever to do with
> homeschooling but I already have preliminary results in this study."
>
> Ooh! Ooh! What are they?
>
> Lire"always wondered"lyn

Paperclips are made of metal that has been hardened into the paperclip shape. (I don't know exactly how this is done but it probably involves the application of heat or something)

When you unbend them you have to stretch out the metal across the bottom of the curved part and compact the metal along the top of the curved part. This weakens that area of the wire making it more likely to bend unpredictably or break when you try to straighten the wire or bend it into another shape. This happens with pretty much any wire that has been bent into one shape and then into another. It never turns out as nice as if the wire was bent into the desired shape right from the start. The wire is weakened wherever a substantial bend was introduced.

Nonetheless, it is possible to get a paperclip relatively straight. The secret is to unbend slowly with your fingers and then use a pair of pliers for the last little bit of straightening.

There are three curved parts to a paperclip. Each one is smaller than the one before. The smaller ones have to turn more abruptly and so undbending them is more difficult.

Additionally, when unbending a paperclip, it is essential that you avoid twisting the wire. As soon as you introduce a twist (say by pulling the middle section up and flipping it over) you have lost all chance of ever getting rid of the twist and getting the wire straight.

Some paperclips have little notches all around. I'm not sure why they're there. Perhaps to make them grip better or something. Those ones are nearly impossible to straighten sucessfully. Plastic coated paperclips, on the other hand, tend to be a little bit more forgiving. As long as you don't scratch the plastic you can usually get them to be straight enough for pretty much everything. Don't be fooled though, they still have weak spots where they were bent.

Hmm...What else do I know about paperclips?

Rivikah