Wednesday, August 17, 2011

Magnetic trick

Speaking of magnets, check this magnet action out.

It's like watching something from a sci-fi movie. Dropping neodymium magnets through a copper pipe doesn't quite defy gravity, but it sure seems to give gravity the finger, so to speak. The magnets do not stick to the copper. The movement of the magnets induce an electric current in the copper tube which in turn creates a magnetic field. The magnetic field attracts the magnets, but the magnets don’t stick to the tube as it falls through because the magnets feels the magnetic force equally from all sides. The magnetic field slows the magnets but doesn’t stop them because if the magnets stopped, the electric field would go away and the magnets would start falling again. While the magnets are falling, the copper pipe will feel heavier because the pipe is 'holding up' the magnets.

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