Can a steel ball ( marble ) hover ?

[baldurmen]

Hi, my name's Louis-Philippe and I'm a high school student FOND of physics. Unfortunately, I'm not yet a physicist and I can't ( yeah, I tried ) understand half of what's written on wikipedia about it.
I'm also kind of an artist and our art teacher gave us carte blanche, so I decided to represent the complexity of atoms throughout a very simple model : a hovering steel ball.
We've recently seen Newton's law of universal gravitation at school and I wondered if some equivalent could be right with magnetism...in simple words, could a magnet's force on the steel marble be the perfect opposite of the weight of the object, so that in the end the whole thing would hover!

Please let me know if it's possible, if yes, then why ( try to be simple, but not too much, I'm no dumb ).

 

[rcgldr]

A strong magnet will hover over a supercondutor, called Meissner effect:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Be3qiux6Dow&fmt=18

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgWSWg-J3sg&fmt=22

 

[baldurmen]

Thus meaning it couldn't be done easily?

 

[Phyisab****]

Of course you can levitate a normal magnet if you stabilize it mechanically. But to do what you are talking about I don't think is possible. I don't feel like looking up the magnetic properties of steel, but you either need a diamagnetic material in an extremely strong magnetic field or you need to be levitating a superconductor.

Maybe you could try to levitate your steel ball attached to something else, not sure.

 

[PJC01]

Hi Louis-Philippe, it's great to see your interest in physics and your creativity in combining it with art. To answer your question, yes, a steel ball or marble can hover with the help of magnetism. This is known as magnetic levitation and it's a real phenomenon that has been demonstrated in various experiments and even used in some technologies like magnetic levitation trains.

The reason why this is possible is because of the interaction between magnetic fields and electric currents. When an electric current flows through a wire, it creates a magnetic field around the wire. Similarly, when a magnet is placed near a conducting material like steel, it induces an electric current in the material, creating a magnetic field. These two magnetic fields interact with each other and can either attract or repel each other, depending on their orientation.

In the case of a hovering steel ball, the magnet's force on the ball is indeed the perfect opposite of the weight of the object, as you suggested. This is because the magnet's magnetic field is strong enough to counteract the force of gravity on the ball, causing it to float in mid-air.

However, there are some limitations to this phenomenon. The strength of the magnetic field and the weight of the object are important factors in determining if magnetic levitation is possible. If the object is too heavy or the magnetic field is not strong enough, then the object will not be able to hover. Additionally, the object needs to be made of a material that is responsive to magnetic fields, like steel or other ferromagnetic materials.

I hope this explanation helps you understand the concept of magnetic levitation. Keep exploring and asking questions, and who knows, maybe one day you'll become a physicist yourself!