I spent about 2 hours using a large 2 inch round magnet playing around with another magnet I taped to the end of 8 paperclips connected together. Got a few interesting results when I did this or that but everyone messes around with a magnet on a flat surface pointed to the ground when they are bored but curious don't they? In the midst of this curiosity of mine, born out of boredom, I got the idea to hold the large 2 inch magnet in the air above me and watched the magnet taped to the paper clips (along with the paper clips themselves via the magnetic attraction) prove that at least in the short term they are more powerful than gravity when I separated the two by an inch and a half or so. However, Newton suggested that anything moving against a force expends energy so ultimately the magnet attached to the paperclip chain would most likely lose magnetic force quite rapidly in relative terms. So I decided to do some research about the atmosphere in order to figure out if there were any magnetic particles in the air that could be utilized as opposed to merely holding a large magnet in my hand above me to get the results I speak of. I was thinking hover craft and UFO disks like the child who still lives in me would. But then I ran into an article that at once dashed my dreams but made me think of something else. It said that ions that create a charge for example in the form of lightning are not attracted to either pole of a magnet. I thought... interesting! That wasn't what I wanted to read but it got me thinking more. Consider this imaginary scenario. Two people are standing under a tree during a lightening storm (an ignorant thing to do I know!). So lightening strikes. What if one were covered by a magnetic pole (either north or south) via magnetic clothing or a magnetic hat for example? Would the strike only harm the one without any magnetic pole or would they both be harmed regardless? If magnetic poles repel ionic discharge then why don't we have magnets attached to things that normally get threatened by lightning? I remember the house a block away got hit by lightning a few years ago and it started one heck of a fire. What if there had been magnets above it in order to repel the charge? I don't know. I'm just curious about what I've read and what I happen to be thinking at the moment. Any thoughts???

 

I think it is time to stop smoking so much of the good stuff.

Jaygatsby is that you?

 

Lighting strike looks for shortest return path as possible it doesn't give a damn if you have magnet or chicken on top of your head you are still going to get shocked if you are providing the shortest return path.Magnet has north and south pole which means you are still going to get fu*ked since those aren't electric charges which repel and attract. Lighting can be positively and negatively charged depending on its origin,lighting can strike from cloud to ground or ground to cloud depending on type of charge.

 

Lighting strike looks for shortest return path as possible it doesn't give a damn if you have magnet or chicken on top of your head you are still going to get shocked if you are providing the shortest return path.Magnet has north and south pole which means you are still going to get fu*ked since those aren't electric charges which repel and attract. Lighting can be positively and negatively charged depending on its origin,lighting can strike from cloud to ground or ground to cloud depending on type of charge.

Perhaps. But I did find it interesting that magnets seem to repel a charge. Now I'm not trying to sound like one of those early 70's crazies that wore pyramid hats or tried to charge batteries with them! I did however once own a pet rock when I was about 12 years old so what do I know? Perhaps I can use a power source here in the home in order to test the path of electric flow having one conductor covered in a magnetic field and one devoid of a field in close proximity and see where the electricity hits? Might be something interesting to attempt tomorrow after work!

 

I think it is time to stop smoking so much of the good stuff.

Jaygatsby is that you?

Hehehe! I haven't smoked the 'good stuff' since High School but I appreciate your sense of humor. By the way, if I think this way now without the 'good stuff' can you imagine what I might post with the 'good stuff'? In relation to Jay Gatsby. my favorite quote from that movie might be, "Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can!". Gatsby believed and he came close to repeating the past but in the end his experiment failed. I can relate to that!

 

Magnetic fields are not the same as static or electric charge. You are confusing the two.

 

Hehehe! I haven't smoked the 'good stuff' since High School but I appreciate your sense of humor. By the way, if I think this way now without the 'good stuff' can you imagine what I might post with the 'good stuff'? In relation to Jay Gatsby. my favorite quote from that movie might be, "Can't repeat the past? Why, of course you can!". Gatsby believed and he came close to repeating the past but in the end his experiment failed. I can relate to that!

Added to ignore list.

 

Added to ignore list.

Thanks, even if you won't see this.

 

Lighting strike looks for shortest return path as possible it doesn't give a damn if you have magnet or chicken on top of your head you are still going to get shocked if you are providing the shortest return path.Magnet has north and south pole which means you are still going to get fu*ked since those aren't electric charges which repel and attract. Lighting can be positively and negatively charged depending on its origin,lighting can strike from cloud to ground or ground to cloud depending on type of charge.

A chicken could help. Use a large pack superglue, attach to your head, if struck by lightening, you can eat, a large chicken could be flying, free transport.

Take Bubble wrap sheets, put a Neodymium magnet in each bubble + stitch a sheet to the backside of your clothing

 

Lighting strike looks for shortest return path as possible it doesn't give a damn if you have magnet or chicken on top of your head you are still going to get shocked if you are providing the shortest return path.Magnet has north and south pole which means you are still going to get fu*ked since those aren't electric charges which repel and attract. Lighting can be positively and negatively charged depending on its origin,lighting can strike from cloud to ground or ground to cloud depending on type of charge.

What about a Faraday Cage for example? The whole point of my post was to improve upon an already effective and proven idea without the need for a whole bunch of metal by utilizing magnets. You could have chicken wire surrounding you and stand beneath it and you won't be fu*ked because it is a Faraday Cage. Damn, you try to prove the earth is round and you get chastised for it when the predominant consensus happens to be that it is flat. Please pardon my un-sheep like thought process and curiosity.

 

What about a Faraday Cage for example? The whole point of my post was to improve upon an already effective and proven idea without the need for a whole bunch of metal by utilizing magnets. You could have chicken wire surrounding you and stand beneath it and you won't be fu*ked because it is a Faraday Cage. Damn, you try to prove the earth is round and you get chastised for it when the predominant consensus happens to be that it is flat. Please pardon my un-sheep like thought process and curiosity.

No, it is more like you asking if the world could be a cube when everyone around you has clear evidence it is a sphere.

 

Questions are always good. Hands on while keeping it safe is also good. I am a member of Dallas Maker Space, which is big on both. Reading is also key. My advice, practice all three, you will find folks here willing to point you to answers and building techniques.

 

It said that ions that create a charge for example in the form of lightning are not attracted to either pole of a magnet. I thought... interesting! That wasn't what I wanted to read but it got me thinking more. Consider this imaginary scenario. Two people are standing under a tree during a lightening storm (an ignorant thing to do I know!). So lightening strikes. What if one were covered by a magnetic pole (either north or south) via magnetic clothing or a magnetic hat for example? Would the strike only harm the one without any magnetic pole or would they both be harmed regardless? If magnetic poles repel ionic discharge then why don't we have magnets attached to things that normally get threatened by lightning? I remember the house a block away got hit by lightning a few years ago and it started one heck of a fire. What if there had been magnets above it in order to repel the charge? I don't know. I'm just curious about what I've read and what I happen to be thinking at the moment. Any thoughts???

Actually, there are magnetic fields which deflects charged ions. The earth's magnetic field, for example, deflects charged ions from the Sun. However, in order for charge to interact with a magnetic field, the charge must be moving with a velocity with respect to the field. In lightning, the movement is charge is very small, and wouldn't much be affected.

Amusingly, this idea gets ridiculed, while equally silly ideas routinely get serious consideration on this forum.