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Here's a neat way to levitate a screw with stuff you likely have around the house (besides the magnets) - I'm a little unsure about this one, but will look in to it--- "The Levitating Screw is a great trick to do at parties. All you need are two (fairly strong) magnets, a screw, a lime, a coil of copper wire, and a cup of salt water. By arranging these components correctly, you can make the screw levitate several inches in the air, spinning wildly, for several seconds." [via] - Link.
HOW TO - Make a screw levitate
Posted by Phillip Torrone |
Aug 13, 2006 11:59 AM
DIY Projects, Science |
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I'm going to have to call shenanigans on that blog.
From the outlandish explanation of the "levitating screw" to the rest of the posts on the website (referring to a material rather than an object as sharp, molybdenum as an alloy instead of an element, and sunsets only occuring after the industrial revolution) it seems this guy knows just enough about science to be convincing.
If you want a real levitation trick, try dropping really strong neodymium magnet down a copper pipe or onto a thick copper plate, it'll noticeably slow. Cooling it in liquid nitrogen makes it even more pronounced.
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I've got to agree, the explanation on the blog seems really implausible. Maybe some experimentation is warranted.
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yah, seemed odd to me too -- will try and see if i can reproduce it...
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Can anyone confirm that this works? The explanation raises a few red flags, as does the site that this comes from. Among other things, a previous entry states that molybdenum is an alloy (!) "made with cobalt, titanium, and bismuth."
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I'm callin' B-S on this one. The screw looks (in the video) like it's dangling from a fishing line. No usefull amount of electricity can flow through that wire, since it's one wire. No closed ciruit. And the site is full of howlers like "Camels were produced by crossbreading Rhinocerous' and Horses" WHAT??? "Scientists bielive there life on venus, under the rocks" WHAT?? This guy just want to see how much you'll swallow before you ask for a doughnut.
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in china i bought a toy where you spin a spinning top on a piece of clear plastic on a base made of strong magnets. you would lift the (magnetic) spinning top up with the plastic and it would levitate when you took it away. too bad they would not let me take it on the airplane because it was very magnetic
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Haha, this is definitely fake. Is it april already? :D
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