Re: electromedicine & magnetics
Russell Garber ( (no email) )
Thu, 28 Oct 1999 19:08:55 -0400
Hi Frank!
Unfortunately I cannot answer your question regarding the validity of the
electromedicine stuff although I have seen information on the web that
looks promising in that area. As for your question about the magnetic
novelty toys, I will make an attempt to answer it. First off, I assume
you understand how magnets work -- like poles repel each other and
opposite poles attract each other --- (sorry had to ask). Anyway, the
majority of these items cheat and use electromagnets and I do not want to
talk about those items. Usually if it requires a battery, than it is using
one or more electromagnets to accomplish the task. The more interesting
ones use just ordinary magnets. Two of this type that I can think of are
the Levitron (the magnetic top that floats vertically above it's base) and
the Revolution (a magnetic top that floats horizontally above it's base,
and rests against a plexi-glass barrier on one side). Both use the
property that like poles of magnets repel each other to achieve the
levitation. The only trick need is to keep the top stable so that it does
not fall to one side or flip over. The Levitron uses the gyroscopic action
when it is spinning to achieve this, and only works at certain distances
and spinning rates. The are many web sites which try to explain how the
Levitron works. Here are a couple you may want to check out for more info:
http://www.levitron.com/physics.html
http://koerner.chem.yale.edu/levitron.html
The Revolution has one or more magnets mounted on a rod, and they sit
slightly over and in between two wedged shaped magnets on the base (two
for each magnet on the rod). The magnets in the base do two things, repel
the magnets on the rod upwards, and forwards (toward the plexi-glass
barrier). The barrier is there to keep the rod from going to far forward,
and also provides a surface with limited friction for the top to spin
against. It sounds a little more complicated than it is, as I find myself
not finding the right words to explain it. I suggest you look at the
patent for the Revolution, and specifically the pictures, as it will give
you a better understanding of how it works. The patent can be read here:
http://www.patents.ibm.com/details?patent_number=5182533
and the page with a couple good pictures of the device can be read here:
http://www.patents.ibm.com/cgi-bin/viewpat.cmd/US05182533__
Hope this helps....
-Russ
-------------------------------------------------------------
To leave this list, email <listserver@keelynet.com>
with the body text: leave Interact
list archives and on line subscription forms are at
http://keelynet.com/interact/
-------------------------------------------------------------