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Re: New maglev toy!



On Tue, 14 Nov 2000, William Beaty wrote:

I encountered a new magnetic levitation toy in a local science store:
ZERO-GRAVITY LEVITATOR



I called around and found an online store that has these:

JOHNSON SMITH CO. (Search on Levitating Globe)
http://www.johnsonsmith.com

It uses Hall-effect feedback and lifts a neodymium magnet within a plastic
globe.


The toy will also float a small NIB magnet, although stability is
terrible. No damping at all. EM damping fixes the problem: hold an
aluminum block an inch below your floating magnet. Or use a couple of US
quarters (which are copper inside), held closer. Levitate a NIB magnet
disk, then blow upon it through a straw to make it spin extremely fast.
Also, a small floating magnet is extremely sensitive to induced currents,
and you can move it around by waving pieces of nonferrous metal nearby.


BTW, Johnson Smith is the one that was always selling X-ray specs, joke
gum, and Sea Monkeys in the backs of comic books long ago. My first
science purchase ever was a 1" square Selenium cell bought from them. (I
fell for their advertizing hype!) It was a ripoff, and the $.50 was a big
purchase for me back then. It wasn't until years later, when I was 12 or
so, that I found an interesting use for it.


((((((((((((((((((((( ( ( ( ( (O) ) ) ) ) )))))))))))))))))))))
William J. Beaty SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb@eskimo.com http://www.amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits science projects, tesla, weird science
Seattle, WA 206-789-0775 freenrg-L taoshum-L vortex-L webhead-L