| Author | Message | ||
     kim |
I ordered the bundle for the floating magnet project. I understand you can substitute the pyrolytic graphite for the bismuth. what is the 12mm magnet for? Where can I find the brass threaded rod? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
The 12mm magnet is more powerful than a stack of ceramic ring magnets. It will take their place, and be the magnet at the top. You don't need a threaded brass rod -- you can use a simple steel bolt, and let the 12mm magnet stick to the bottom of it. | ||
| Anonymous |
how tall would the tower need to be if I used the 12mm magnet instead of the ceramic ring magnets? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
Abouth the same height. You want some room to adjust the height, using the bolt. | ||
| Anonymous |
I am planning on completing the mid-air experiment. Looking at your shopping list of 16 items and the article I cannot find the size of the 12 ceramic ring magnets. What size would I need to purchase? Is this experiment talking about the very small but powerful magnets made of the same alloy of Neodymium, Iron, and Boron as your 12mm cube magnets? The online catalog says they are 6 millimeters in diameter, and 2 millimeters thick. Is this what I need? Thanks for your help in advance. | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
We put together a levitation kit to make this easy. If you are using weak ceramic magnets from Radio Shack, you will need 12 or more of them. But we suggest using one of our 12 mm cubes made of a more powerful alloy of Neodymium, iron, and boron that is normally available. The same alloy is used in all of our magnets. In the levitation kit we supply a tiny cube as the floating magnet, since the light catching on the faces of the cube makes it easier to see the rotation than with the disk (which we still sell separately). Lastly, the kit uses pyrolytic graphite instead of bismuth, to get a higher levitation, and to simplify the construction. You don't have to melt and cast the bismuth. | ||
| Anonymous |
Dec. 16 Do I understand correctly from your response to Kim on Jan 16 that one 12mm cube magnet can replace up to twelve of the ceramic ring magnets for the floating magnet experiment? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) |
That is correct. Our magnets are very strong. | ||
| Anonymous |
For the levitation using the pyrolytic graphite instead of bismuth, do we have to trim the graphite to be thinner like when floating the graphite itself or do we leave it thick? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (sfield) Senior Member Username: sfield Post Number: 280 Registered: 12-2004 |
Either way will work. Thinner is cheaper ;-) | ||
| Sherman (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 202.156.6.59 |
Will using two of the gold-plated magnets in the catalouge as the top magnets,instead of just one, increase the distance between the bottom magnet and the bismuth disks? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) Senior Member Username: Sfield Post Number: 894 Registered: 12-2004 |
A little, but not twice as much. The effect drops off quickly with distance, so stacking two magnets makes one of the magnets too far away to make a big difference. | ||
| Sherman (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 202.156.6.83 |
If so, then why will stacking 12 ceramic ring magnets work as the top magnets? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) Senior Member Username: Sfield Post Number: 907 Registered: 12-2004 |
I used 12 because that is what I had lying around. I suspect that any more than 4 or 5 is probably not helping much. When the height exceeds the width, you get little benefit from extra magnets. | ||
| Sherman (Unregistered Guest) Unregistered guest Posted From: 202.156.6.83 |
So the 6th to the 12th have little if any effect on the distance between the bottom magnets and the bismuth? | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) Senior Member Username: Sfield Post Number: 912 Registered: 12-2004 |
Do the experiment, and report your findings here. | ||
| Aivars Pumpurs (Aivars) New member Username: Aivars Post Number: 2 Registered: 3-2006 |
Don't stack the magnets. Better use construction similar to this.  | ||
| Michael G. Welch (Michael) New member Username: Michael Post Number: 1 Registered: 3-2006 |
HELP!!! My son's Science Fair project is about levitation with magnets. I have purchased the 9 12mm magnet kit with the graphite, but nothing happens. I followed the article instructions, but nothing. Do I need a large magnet on top too? I had also purchased the Bismuth pellets to melt and set up the other levitation project too. I have a 10 lb magnet for that use; do I need the small magnet as shown in the project completed by Gordon Stalling? Please Help the project needs to be completed in less than 6 days!!!! | ||
| Simon Quellen Field (Sfield) Senior Member Username: Sfield Post Number: 1120 Registered: 12-2004 |
You aren't setting up the magnets with alternating poles facing up. See http://scitoys.com/board/messages/7/34.html. | ||
| Matt (Mysterio) New member Username: Mysterio Post Number: 1 Registered: 10-2009 |
I'm an eighth grader and im looking for a good science project question involving these levitating magnets. Any good tips? |
