Spinning the magnet attached to the Dremel will allow it to pick up and hover the second magnet sitting on the table. Turning off the Dremel causes the floating magnet to drop to the table again.
Posted on 01/31/2024 8:18:58 AM PST by Red Badger
In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have unraveled an anti-gravity mystery that seemingly defied the norms of classical physics, potentially paving the way for revolutionary advancements in magnetic levitation technology.
The breakthrough centers on a unique form of magnetic levitation, first demonstrated in 2021 by Turkish scientist Hamdi Ucar, an electronics engineer from Göksal Aeronautics in Turkey.
Typically, the setup becomes unstable when you try to balance two repelling magnets to counter gravity. However, in a study featured in the journal Symmetry, Ucar revealed that when positioned close to another swiftly rotating magnet, a magnet can both spin and levitate in the air.
In his experiment, Ucar used a Levitron toy with a magnet attached to a motor spinning around 10,000 rpm. When positioned just a few centimeters beneath the swiftly spinning rotor, a second magnet also started to rotate and achieved a stable state of levitation.
Magnetic levitation isn’t a novel concept, with the most familiar example being Maglev trains. However, existing technologies use slow-spinning mechanics or external stabilizers to control the powerful magnetic forces used for lifting and propelling. In contrast, Ucar’s setup relied on high-speed rotation and a unique interaction between the rotating magnets.
The baffling behavior of the levitating magnets in Ucar’s experiments left researchers perplexed, as it appeared to go against the core principles of physics and the established norms of how magnets interact.
Intrigued by the scientific puzzle, Dr. Rasmus Bjørk and a team of researchers from the Technical University of Denmark embarked on a quest to demystify the unusual phenomenon.
“Magnets should not hover when they are close together. Usually, they will either attract or repel each other,” Dr. Bjørk explained. “But if you spin one of the magnets, it turns out, you can achieve this hovering. And that is the strange part. The force affecting the magnets should not change just because you rotate one of them, so it seems there is a coupling between the movement and the magnetic force.”
The researcher’s approach was twofold. The first involved replicating Ucar’s results using off-the-shelf items like neodymium magnets and power tools. In a second, more sophisticated experiment, the scientists used motion-tracking technology to take precise measurements of the
The findings were revelatory. Experiments showed that as the floater magnet began rotating, it locked in frequency with the rotor magnet, assuming a near-vertical orientation.
The polar axes of the two magnets, nearly perpendicular to each other, formed a configuration that would typically be unstable. However, in this setup, the spinning magnetic field of the rotor exerted a torque on the floater, locking it in a stable, levitated position.
Through computer modeling that considered the magnetostatic interactions between the two magnets, the research team says they solved the physics-defying anti-gravity mystery and confirmed the discovery of a new form of levitation.
VIDEO AT LINK............
In a paper published in Physical Review Applied, researchers detailed how the rotating magnet’s spinning field created a torque countered by the gyroscopic action of the levitating magnet’s rotation. This delicate balance of forces allowed for a stable levitation, with the magnetic forces creating both an attractive and a repulsive component, balancing the “floater” magnet in midair.
Rather than defying the laws of magnetostatics, the findings revealed that the equilibrium position of the levitating magnet is actually due to the magnetostatic interactions between the rotating magnet.
Dr. Bjørk explained the phenomenon is akin to a spinning top, where rotation locks the object in position, defying gravity or, in this case, the push and pull of magnetic forces.
Speaking with Physics Magazine, Ucar acknowledged the precision of the recent study and suggested further improvements in the simulations, particularly in accounting for the role of eddy currents. Meanwhile, Bjørk’s team concludes that these currents are negligible in this levitation mechanism.
In addition to solving a perplexing mystery, this newly understood interaction between magnetic forces could open the door to a world of possibilities in magnetic levitation technology.
Some experts, like Marcel Schuck, CEO and founder of No-Touch Robotics in Zurich, have already noted that a system using this newly discovered magnetic trapping and manipulation method could simplify and enhance existing magnetic levitation technologies.
“Other possibilities will depend on the extent to which the phenomenon can be up- or down-scaled and how low the energy cost will be,” study co-author and PhD candidate at DTU, Frederik Laust Durhuus, told Physics World. “This will require further investigation.”
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Tim McMillan is a retired law enforcement executive, investigative reporter and co-founder of The Debrief. His writing typically focuses on defense, national security, the Intelligence Community and topics related to psychology. You can follow Tim on Twitter: @LtTimMcMillan. Tim can be reached by email: tim@thedebrief.org or through encrypted email: LtTimMcMillan@protonmail.com
My backyard koi pond has a pump that uses a spinning magnet for circulation.
Now I know why I keep finding the fish floating...........
Diet Smith was right!
Spinning the magnet attached to the Dremel will allow it to pick up and hover the second magnet sitting on the table. Turning off the Dremel causes the floating magnet to drop to the table again.
this toy came out like 30 years ago and it was always obvious to me how it worked, now this guy is like "I found this toy and it defies my understanding of science" I must explain it.
We are living in the future
I’ll tell you how I know
I read it in the paper
Fifteen years ago
We’re all driving rocket ships
And talking with our minds
And wearing turquoise jewelry
And standing in soup lines
We are standing in soup lines
Use this for a monorail system so there is no friction between the train and rail so it uses hardly any energy to propel it.
This is how legitimate science is done.
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Turkish scientist, that says a lot. It is rapidly appearing the US has lost its edge..
No wonder, when our Supreme Court can not even define what a woman is….theUS is in serious, very serious decline.
Gravity is magnetic exertion. It is not constant, but is the result of electric field imparted by the most recent galactic interaction with its fields. The dinosaurs enjoyed less gravity and got huge. If gravity was 10% stronger, space travel would become impossible with chemical propulsion.
It’s the bell from 1944!!!
I wonder whether the energy required to spin the rotating magnet is proportional to the mass of the captured magnet.
What a useless experiment and paper.
Vwry cool! Thanks for posting it.
I have one with a NFL team helmet................
What the hell is he doing?
“The FEDS have had it for a long time now.”
**************
They probably lost it. The feds have a way of doing that.
Ah, another, “mystery, but, really, no, just kinda cool.”
Yawn…
Of course!....................
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