Can I actually let a magnet float on top of another magnet? If yes, will the floating magnet topples over? If yes, how can I keep the magnet floats for a long time or forever?
2006-12-31 16:09:16 · 3 answers · asked by dchosen1_007 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
What you need to do is to be able to visualize and shape the magnetic field lines. If you just had a disk magnet on the table, and tried floating another one like it over it, it's not stable, any more than a marble is stable on top of a glass ball. Anything will knock it over. If you had a ring of magnets on the table, on the other hand, youi'll have better luck keeping a magnet afloat over the center, because the lack of magnetic lines from the center will create a sort of a depression. Get it?
No, it would not float forever, because some theories predict that even the protons of the atoms in the magnets will decay, and then you'd have no magnets left. But worry not, it won't be happening for hundreds of trillions of years in the future.
2006-12-31 16:16:38 · answer #1 · answered by Scythian1950 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Spinning the floating magnet is one way to stabilize the situation.
2006-12-31 16:59:37 · answer #2 · answered by anonimous 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Drill a hole through both magnets and put a dowel through them.
2006-12-31 16:16:53 · answer #3 · answered by Mike C 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋