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Why it works
“The principle is that two similar poles
(e.g., two north's) repel, and two
different poles attract, with forces that
are stronger when the poles are
closer. There are four magnetic
forces on the top: on its north pole,
repulsion from the base's north and
attraction from the base's south, and
on its south pole, attraction from the
base's north and repulsion from the
base's south. Because of the way the
forces depend on distance, the north-
north repulsion dominates, and the
top is magnetically repelled. It hangs
where this upward repulsion balances
the downward force of gravity, that is,
at the point of equilibrium where the
total force is zero.”
How to get it to Work
Correct magnetic strengths
Mass of the top must be
right within .5%
Magnets are temperature
dependent, weaker in
warmer temperatures
Correct spinning rate (not
too fast or slow)
Must be introduced onto a
small stabile region only
millimeters wide and high
References
http://www.physics.ucla.edu/marty/levitron/spinstab.pdf
http://www.superconductors.org/uses.htm
http://www.popsci.com/popsci/how20/be199aa138b84010vgnvcm
1000004eecbccdrcrd.html
http://www.chem.yale.edu/~chem125/levitron/levitron.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/magnet3.htm
http://www.howstuffworks.com/electromagnet.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation
http://my.execpc.com/~rhoadley/maglev.htm
http://www.hfml.science.ru.nl/hfml/froglev.html