We present and discuss a non-expensive mechanical experiment which is very suitable for a classroom demonstration of the fold catastrophe behaviour. The apparatus consists of a bar attached to a pulley, to which a hanging body is connected by means of a thread wrapped around its rim. The system may perform stable oscillations or, else, the body may continuously fall down, while the pulley executes a sequence of 360 rotations. This behaviour is analysed in connection with the shape of the potential, which is a good example of a fold catastrophe potential. For the system to perform stable oscillations, that shape reminds a clothes washboard, with local maxima and minima, a potential well known in superconducting quantum computing. We provide some hints for the instructor to explore the device in lab classes.

我们提出并讨论了一个非常适合折叠灾难行为的课堂演示的非昂贵机械实验。该装置由连接到滑轮的杆组成，悬挂体通过缠绕在其轮缘上的线连接到滑轮上。系统可能会执行稳定的振荡，否则，身体可能会不断下落，而滑轮会执行 360 度旋转的序列。结合势能的形状分析这种行为，这是折叠灾难势能的一个很好的例子。对于执行稳定振荡的系统，这种形状让人想起洗衣板，具有局部最大值和最小值，这是超导量子计算中众所周知的潜力。我们为教师在实验室课程中探索设备提供了一些提示。