| This page shows some experiments with a small wooden
diamagnetic levitation stand which uses Carbon graphite blocks. You may
have seen our other page in which Bismuth was used. The stand itself is
simple; it has a large magnet overhead attached to a threaded shaft. (See
the picture below.) In this stand we used a large Neodymium Iron Boron
magnet, although less expensive ceramic magnets seem to work just as well.
Below are two Carbon graphite blocks. One is glued to the base, while the
other is attached to one of the vertical dowels so that it can be raised,
lowered, or turned away if not used. The Carbon graphite works every bit
as well as Bismuth for this demonstration, and is considerably less
expensive. We would advise anybody building a stand like this to coat the
Carbon graphite with some clear enamel or other coating to keep the
graphite from rubbing off. It can be rather messy! Some Carbon samples are
more diamagnetic than others, but these blocks are the best we have seen.
They are available on our products page.
Pictured below is a small 3/16" cube magnet floating between the two
Carbon blocks. This is the more stable way to levitate, by having one
block below and one above. The highest levitation can be achieved by using
both blocks, and should the stand be badly adjusted, the upper block will
keep the magnet from flying up into the overhead magnet. Try doing this,
and then gently (very gently!) blow on one side of the floating magnet
with a straw! It will spin for an unbelievably long time, at an incredible
rate!
Below is an image of the same 3/16" cube magnet floating without a
Carbon block overhead. With this setup it's possible to float the cube
magnet about 3/32" over the block! At this point, it's very touchy - The
slightest vibration or air current will cause the cube magnet to fly up
into the overhead "biasing" magnet. It's important to place a pad on the
bottom of the overhead biasing magnet to prevent your magnets from
breaking. Leather or thin rubber from inner tubes works fine.
Creating a diamagnetic levitation stand is fairly easy, and the
demonstration is incredible.
You can order magnets and the Carbon graphite block from our
website. Check out Item #24 and Item #36. You may
find some of our newest items (such as Items #47, #48, and #49) to be useful
for these types of experiments. Please send us an email if you have any
questions.
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