Instructions for: Magnetic Levitator

 Every magnet has two poles, which we can label N and S. When we put two magnets together, the poles of the same kind (N and N or S and S) repel. Can we use this effect to suspend something? Not quite! There is a rule that says there is always a path towards lower energy (i.e. it falls down). But we can achieve an almost-levitation, where the floating object touches something at just one point.

This magnetic levitator has magnets inside the rotor and in the base, arranged so that the rotor is repelled. A glass plate keeps the rotor from moving out of the cradle. The tip end of the rotor is not pushed very hard against the glass, and this would be a low-friction contact in any case, so the rotor will spin for a while after you get it going.

This is a commercially available device.

 

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