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Here’s a great demonstration of a levitating magnet with 2 high-speed rotating cylinders.

Maybe someone can take this idea further and make us some hoverboards please!

While working on science museum exhibits in 1990 I came up with the above idea: it is known that a spinning metal disk will lift and fling a strong magnet. Therefore, metal rods with opposite spin will lift a magnet but WON’T fling it sideways. It works! I used “sched-80″ heavy wall copper tubes about 1-3/8″ diameter, 12″ long, with 1/4″ wall thickness. I hammered aluminum plugs into the tubes, carved shaft-tips with a lathe, built endblocks and bearings, spun them with an AC/DC motor, and managed to levitate a stack of two 3/4″ diameter neodymium magnets. The spinning tubes must move at about 5000 RPM before the magnet starts floating.

via hackedgadgets, amasci

Tags: ac dc, bearings, copper tubes, dc motor, demonstration, diameter, Hack, lathe, magnet, magnetic levitation, metal rods, neodymium magnets, rpm, science museum, shaft, spinning metal, spinning tubes, stack, wall thickness, www youtube

This entry was posted by max on Tuesday, August 19th, 2008 at 2:49 pm and is filed under A+Featured Hacks, Consumer, Cool, Educational, Entertainment, Gadgets.