I've always wanted to try this so I ordered some Bismuth and cast it into a couple of coin shapes and now I can get nearly 1.5mm stable levitation, it can be improved a bit if I get a more powerful small magnet and it's a little higher if I put the bismuth cylinders above and below the magnet, but doesn't look as good.
It's explained here:
http://scitoys.com/scitoys/scitoys/magnets/suspension.html
The little magnet is 3mm high and 3mm diameter.

 

I would be interesting in more pictures.

 

I like seeing what the 'pros' of the forum get up to with their projects.

 

I built an electromagnetic levitator once. It held a paper clip covered in scotch tape beneath the coil at a distance of half a centimeter or so for well over a minute. I'll have to see if I can find the video.

It used an infrared emitter and detector to sense the location of the paper clip, and to switch power to the coil on and off, according to its position.

I've always enjoyed watching magnetic levitation work. Ever since I was a little kid, it's always amazed me. And even now that I know the science behind it, and that I've made it happen on my own work bench, it still fascinates me

Nicely done Mark. I look forward to seeing a modified version!

Regards

 

It puzzles me how many people confuse magnetic levitation with antigravity. I suspect they are the same crowd as overunity, no real understanding of the forces in nature.

 

I too have been wanting to do this...

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lAoj0U7ruxY

It's a very old video, so I apologize for the quality, but it should give you an idea of the kind of work I've done before

 

It puzzles me how many people confuse magnetic levitation with antigravity. I suspect they are the same crowd as overunity, no real understanding of the forces in nature.

Don't worry I haven't lost my marbles, I know that gravity is unchanged. I imagine the diamagnetic effect is too weak to have any real uses, but it's fun to see.
With Bismuth and the strongest lifting magnet I have (the black cube) it's only just strong enough for the levitation to work.
Sorry about the bad photo, there is a good photo of someone else's on the link below.

 

Nice and interesting read.

That Magnetic Linear Accelerator (other page on OP web link) seems like a nice school project. Looks initially like magic, until you understand how it works.
(Little circular Gaussian accelerator http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LqKCblEluqM )

 

Today in physics we made a massive capacitor out of two sheets of aluminium, each 50cm x 150cm, seperated by a bin bag. The intention was to make it deliberately arc, as we had done this before, but it clearly wasn't quite as cool.

Anyway, we got to about 5kV and our teacher was moaning, because we had built it too well (what can I say, I like to do a good job! ), but then it did arc, and what a din!

Very impressive sparks too, holes in both plates and the diaelectric.

A good reminder of the power of electricity!

 

Today in physics we made a massive capacitor out of two sheets of aluminium, each 50cm x 150cm, seperated by a bin bag. The intention was to make it deliberately arc, as we had done this before, but it clearly wasn't quite as cool.

Anyway, we got to about 5kV and our teacher was moaning, because we had built it too well (what can I say, I like to do a good job! ), but then it did arc, and what a din!

Very impressive sparks too, holes in both plates and the diaelectric.

A good reminder of the power of electricity!

Why didn't you just make a solid capacitor designed to NOT break down, and just put a static spark gap across the plates? It would have preserved the capacitor and it could be used for future demonstrations. Seems a lot more effective and efficient than intentionally destroying it

 

Ah, because big sparks are cool. So are the holes they leave!

Besides, it cost no more than 10p, and it took two minutes to make, so why not?

 

Ah, because big sparks are cool. So are the holes they leave!

Besides, it cost no more than 10p, and it took two minutes to make, so why not?

Haha, seems legit. Glad you had that experience on purpose at least, unlike me