Friday, April 07, 2006
Floating Frog
Is it possible to levitate a man on earth (not in space)? The answer is yes.
A few years ago, some European researchers did a very interesting experiment of levitating a living frog.
floating frog
How?
First of all, we need to know about the properties of materials. There are 3 kinds of materials with magnetic responses. They are called ferromagnetic, paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials respectively.
Ferromagnetic materials are strongly attracted by a magnetic force. The elements iron, nickel, cobalt and gadolinium are such materials.
Paramagnetic materials are metals that are weakly attracted to magnets. Aluminum and copper are such metals.
Certain materials are diamagnetic, which means that when they are exposed to a strong magnetic field, they induce a weak magnetic field in the opposite direction. In other words, they weakly repel a strong magnet. Bismuth and carbon graphite are the strongest diamagnetic materials. Other materials including water, diamond, wood and living tissue displace weak diamagnetic properties. Incidentally, this is the most general principle of Mohter Nature: whenever one tries to change something settled and quiet, the reaction is always negative. So, according to this principle, the disturbed electrons in the matter's particles create their own magnetic field and as a result the atoms behave as little magnetic needles pointing in the direction opposite to the applied magnetic field.
In conclusion , if we expose a man to a huge vertical magnetic field, the atoms inside the man will demonstrate the diamagnetic response. It is possible that this repulsive magnetic force (directed upwards) can be strong enough to compensate the force of gravity (directed downwards). Whether the subject will feel uncomfortable is another question.
PS: There are 4 forces in the Universe. They are gravitational, electro-magnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces.
A few years ago, some European researchers did a very interesting experiment of levitating a living frog.
floating frog
How?
First of all, we need to know about the properties of materials. There are 3 kinds of materials with magnetic responses. They are called ferromagnetic, paramagnetic and diamagnetic materials respectively.
Ferromagnetic materials are strongly attracted by a magnetic force. The elements iron, nickel, cobalt and gadolinium are such materials.
Paramagnetic materials are metals that are weakly attracted to magnets. Aluminum and copper are such metals.
Certain materials are diamagnetic, which means that when they are exposed to a strong magnetic field, they induce a weak magnetic field in the opposite direction. In other words, they weakly repel a strong magnet. Bismuth and carbon graphite are the strongest diamagnetic materials. Other materials including water, diamond, wood and living tissue displace weak diamagnetic properties. Incidentally, this is the most general principle of Mohter Nature: whenever one tries to change something settled and quiet, the reaction is always negative. So, according to this principle, the disturbed electrons in the matter's particles create their own magnetic field and as a result the atoms behave as little magnetic needles pointing in the direction opposite to the applied magnetic field.
In conclusion , if we expose a man to a huge vertical magnetic field, the atoms inside the man will demonstrate the diamagnetic response. It is possible that this repulsive magnetic force (directed upwards) can be strong enough to compensate the force of gravity (directed downwards). Whether the subject will feel uncomfortable is another question.
PS: There are 4 forces in the Universe. They are gravitational, electro-magnetic, strong nuclear and weak nuclear forces.
# posted by Birdie @ 11:59 PM 
