| Author | Message | ||
     Greg |
I'm helping my son with his Science Fair Project. He will be building a version of the magnetic linear accelerator using some clear polycarbonate tubing instead of a ruler. The idea is to stand the tube on end and fire the ball bearings upward using 1,2,3 or 4 magnets in series to show the relationship between kinetic and potential energy. Do you know the theoretical pull of the 12mm Neodynium-Iron-Boron magnets? How is the magnetic strength measured and what is the relationship between the force and distance to the ball (air gap)? Also, we had been considering adding a couple of extra magnets and balls, but don't want to damage the magnets. How much of an effect would a thin sheet of steel on the impact surface of the magnet have on the force and would it help protect the magnet? By the way, we also have plans to make the laser communicator and the electrolysis-powered water gun. Great site! | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
The versions I have constructed on the rulers work until the ruler is set to about 30 degrees from horizontal. This is because of the magnet spacing. You may be able to make it work vertically, but the spacing would be much closer. The magnets we carry in our catalog are 48 MegaGaussOersteds. These are the strongest permanent magnets available anywhere. One of the magnets can lift a 5/8 inch steel ball from a little bit higher than 5/8 inch above the ball. Since you will need two balls stacked, there will be little room for much accelerating. However, you can use Gallileo's technique for determining the acceleration of gravity -- he used a ramp so he could time rolling balls more accurately using his pulse. Vertically falling balls would have been much too fast. The magnets won't be hurt. It would take hundreds to get the energies needed to break them. | ||
| John Mathis (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 64.12.116.8 |
How would the velocity be affected if I used half-inch Geomag balls instead of 5/8-inch balls. What I mean is, is it the volume (4/3*pi*(5/8/2)^2, the volume of a 5/8-inch sphere, roughly equals 1/2^3, the volume of a half-inch cube) or the diameter (1/2, the diameter of a half-inch cube magnet, equals 1/2, the diameter of a half-inch sphere) that matters most? |
