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QuantifiablyInvested
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TL;DR Summary: Determine a newton force equivalent at the base of the magnet to suspend an object in the air with magnetism
In a fantasy book series I enjoy reading, one of the powers the characters have is very similar to magnetism. They are able to pull and push metal objects to/away from them.
I'm going to be taking some liberties so that it will hopefully be calculable and still translate to the book as close as possible.
The feat they perform that I specifically would like help with is that they are able to levitate around 100ft off the ground if they have an anchor directly below them.
So the scenario that I would like help in calculating is as follows.
Assuming that the magnetic force is all being applied from the feet, how strong of a magnetic force (gauss?) would be required to hold a 100lb person 100ft off the ground if there is a steel plate underneath them that is being used as an anchor? And how much force would that be able to launch something, such as a steel ball that is only a couple ounces?
I doubt it would be as clean as I would like, I would really like to be able to look at different weights and distances to see how it would impact the strength required. For example, a 200 pound person 150 ft in the air. The height is for of I have the distance wrong, but I'm especially curious about the weight because the weight of a person affects the strength of the force they can output, so a 100lb person and 300lb person could both levitate 100ft in the air.
I've been doing a lot of research, and I first asked a really poorly worded version of this on Reddit that didn't give the answer I needed (because I asked the wrong question, their answers for my bad question were accurate). But after asking that, and then doing a bunch of research on my own that has been fruitless, I thought I'd come here. The physics subreddit encouraged using a forum for a more in depth question.
In a fantasy book series I enjoy reading, one of the powers the characters have is very similar to magnetism. They are able to pull and push metal objects to/away from them.
I'm going to be taking some liberties so that it will hopefully be calculable and still translate to the book as close as possible.
The feat they perform that I specifically would like help with is that they are able to levitate around 100ft off the ground if they have an anchor directly below them.
So the scenario that I would like help in calculating is as follows.
Assuming that the magnetic force is all being applied from the feet, how strong of a magnetic force (gauss?) would be required to hold a 100lb person 100ft off the ground if there is a steel plate underneath them that is being used as an anchor? And how much force would that be able to launch something, such as a steel ball that is only a couple ounces?
I doubt it would be as clean as I would like, I would really like to be able to look at different weights and distances to see how it would impact the strength required. For example, a 200 pound person 150 ft in the air. The height is for of I have the distance wrong, but I'm especially curious about the weight because the weight of a person affects the strength of the force they can output, so a 100lb person and 300lb person could both levitate 100ft in the air.
I've been doing a lot of research, and I first asked a really poorly worded version of this on Reddit that didn't give the answer I needed (because I asked the wrong question, their answers for my bad question were accurate). But after asking that, and then doing a bunch of research on my own that has been fruitless, I thought I'd come here. The physics subreddit encouraged using a forum for a more in depth question.
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