How does this clock work? Can anyone offer ideas on how they are levitating these balls? I’m assuming elecrto magnetism, but the ball is defying gravity and levitating from the magnet at the same time.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/02/this-magical-clock-tells-the-time-using-a-floating-magnetic-ball/

This has me baffled. By all accounts it is real and there are other levitating items from this company.

stan101 said:

How does this clock work? Can anyone offer ideas on how they are levitating these balls? I’m assuming elecrto magnetism, but the ball is defying gravity and levitating from the magnet at the same time.

https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2017/02/this-magical-clock-tells-the-time-using-a-floating-magnetic-ball/

This has me baffled. By all accounts it is real and there are other levitating items from this company.

Has me baffled, too. It could be done using the Meissner effect, but that requires low temperatures for the superconductor to work and on power shut-off the ball would stay there, not fall back to the base.

I know the floating spindle toy. That can be done simply enough using no electric power and ordinary magnetism.

There are also devices that require extreme accuracy in floating device placement, a fraction of a mm.

But this clock seems new.

The comment at the bottom makes sense

“I don’t think they could have it any other way even if they wanted to, there’s likely a powerful magnet pulling the sphere towards the clock all the time and an electromagnet repelling the ball at a closer distance to the face, so when the power goes out, the powerful magnet is free to continue pulling the ball without interference.”

The powerful permanent magnet would be arranged a three north poles in a triangle, or a north pole arranged in a ring. That and the electromagnet would be placed on a platen that rotates once around the clock face every 12 hours. On power out, the platen position resets to 12 o’clock.

Capacitative feedback could be used to change the electromagnet strength for stabilising the height.

But I still don’t understand, not without a 3-D map of the magnetic field.

https://phys.org/news/2014-08-diamagnetic-levitation-pyrolitic-graphite-magnet.html

fsm said:

https://phys.org/news/2014-08-diamagnetic-levitation-pyrolitic-graphite-magnet.html

“Three pieces of pyrolytic graphite are levitated freely over a single multipole NdFeB magnet”

That’s brilliant. Wouldn’t work on a vertical surface like the clock, I think, not powerful enough, but still brilliant.

http://www-csnsm.in2p3.fr/IMG/pdf/geim_magnet_levitation.pdf

fsm said:

https://phys.org/news/2014-08-diamagnetic-levitation-pyrolitic-graphite-magnet.html

“Three pieces of pyrolytic graphite are levitated freely over a single multipole NdFeB magnet”

That’s brilliant. Wouldn’t work on a vertical surface like the clock, I think, not powerful enough, but still brilliant.

Some day in the future, people are going to ask “why didn’t they use magnetic bearings back then”? The diamagnetic levitation above doesn’t require any electric power, the clock and the toys below do require electric power.

Here is a related article.

Heat flow method can levitate just about anything

Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products like floating lightbulbs and speakers, optical levitation turns up in more academic pursuits like quantum computing, and acoustics could help suspend tiny particles to make better drugs. These techniques only work with certain objects, but researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a method to levitate basically anything, using differences in temperature.

more…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_levitation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_bearing

Computer Fans using magnetic bearings offering low nise

Corsair ML120 Series of fans magnetic levitation technology and custom engineered rotors provide unrivalled performance and low noise. Featuring airflow between 12 – 75 CFM, sound levels of 16 – 37 dBA, PWM control, Blue LEDs and speeds ranging from 400 – 2400 RPM, the ML Series fans delivers both high static pressure and high air flow for a superior fan experience.

https://www.pccasegear.com/products/36036?gclid=CLKQtu-yndICFZYGvAodlMkGQA&gclsrc=aw.ds

Tau.Neutrino said:

Here is a related article.

Heat flow method can levitate just about anything

Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products like floating lightbulbs and speakers, optical levitation turns up in more academic pursuits like quantum computing, and acoustics could help suspend tiny particles to make better drugs. These techniques only work with certain objects, but researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a method to levitate basically anything, using differences in temperature.

more…

“We managed to quantify the thermophoretic force and found reasonable agreement with what is predicted by theory. This will allow us to explore the possibilities of levitating different types of objects.”

I hadn’t heard of a thermophoretic force. Is it related to the effect that makes Crookes’ Radiometer work?

Bismuth Plates in Mag Lev experiment

buy Bismuth plates for magnetic levitation experiments on ebay

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Here is a related article.

Heat flow method can levitate just about anything

Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products like floating lightbulbs and speakers, optical levitation turns up in more academic pursuits like quantum computing, and acoustics could help suspend tiny particles to make better drugs. These techniques only work with certain objects, but researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a method to levitate basically anything, using differences in temperature.

more…

“We managed to quantify the thermophoretic force and found reasonable agreement with what is predicted by theory. This will allow us to explore the possibilities of levitating different types of objects.”

I hadn’t heard of a thermophoretic force. Is it related to the effect that makes Crookes’ Radiometer work?

I’d say similar but different

Crookes radiometer, Thermodynamic explanation

Crookes radiometer

When a radiant energy source is directed at a Crookes radiometer, the radiometer becomes a heat engine. The operation of a heat engine is based on a difference in temperature that is converted to a mechanical output.

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Here is a related article.

Heat flow method can levitate just about anything

Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products like floating lightbulbs and speakers, optical levitation turns up in more academic pursuits like quantum computing, and acoustics could help suspend tiny particles to make better drugs. These techniques only work with certain objects, but researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a method to levitate basically anything, using differences in temperature.

more…

“We managed to quantify the thermophoretic force and found reasonable agreement with what is predicted by theory. This will allow us to explore the possibilities of levitating different types of objects.”

I hadn’t heard of a thermophoretic force. Is it related to the effect that makes Crookes’ Radiometer work?

I’d say similar but different

Crookes radiometer, Thermodynamic explanation

Crookes radiometer

When a radiant energy source is directed at a Crookes radiometer, the radiometer becomes a heat engine. The operation of a heat engine is based on a difference in temperature that is converted to a mechanical output.

Could that technique be used to make solar wind fans go faster?

Do they use magnetic levitation bearings in solar fans? Any benefit, less friction

The operation of a heat engine is based on a difference in temperature that is converted to a mechanical output. In this case, the black side of the vane becomes hotter than the other side, as radiant energy from a light source warms the black side by black-body absorption faster than the silver or white side. The internal air molecules are heated up when they touch the black side of the vane.

Could you build a heat engine into a solar wind fan blade? Any benefits?

Tau.Neutrino said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

“We managed to quantify the thermophoretic force and found reasonable agreement with what is predicted by theory. This will allow us to explore the possibilities of levitating different types of objects.”

I hadn’t heard of a thermophoretic force. Is it related to the effect that makes Crookes’ Radiometer work?

I’d say similar but different

Crookes radiometer, Thermodynamic explanation

Crookes radiometer

When a radiant energy source is directed at a Crookes radiometer, the radiometer becomes a heat engine. The operation of a heat engine is based on a difference in temperature that is converted to a mechanical output.

Could that technique be used to make solar wind fans go faster?

Or if you put energy in to the fan, could you make the sun hotter?

Tau.Neutrino said:

The Rev Dodgson said:

Tau.Neutrino said:

Here is a related article.

Heat flow method can levitate just about anything

Levitation may look like magic, but there are a number of scientific tricks behind it. Magnetic systems are usually behind gimmicky consumer products like floating lightbulbs and speakers, optical levitation turns up in more academic pursuits like quantum computing, and acoustics could help suspend tiny particles to make better drugs. These techniques only work with certain objects, but researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a method to levitate basically anything, using differences in temperature.

more…

“We managed to quantify the thermophoretic force and found reasonable agreement with what is predicted by theory. This will allow us to explore the possibilities of levitating different types of objects.”

I hadn’t heard of a thermophoretic force. Is it related to the effect that makes Crookes’ Radiometer work?

I’d say similar but different

Crookes radiometer, Thermodynamic explanation

Crookes radiometer

When a radiant energy source is directed at a Crookes radiometer, the radiometer becomes a heat engine. The operation of a heat engine is based on a difference in temperature that is converted to a mechanical output.

Yes. Similar. When I was doing some preservation of cultural artefacts in museums work for CSIRO I had to take themophoretic forces into account. In high temperatures the gas molecules move quickly and possess a high kinetic energy. The reverse is true in low temperatures. The high energy of the gas molecules push small objects away from high temperatures and towards low temperatures. In the case of the museum preservation work, the low temperatures required for biological and chemical preservation would result in the attraction of carbon soot out of the air making degradation due to soot deposition worse.

The Crookes radiometer is similar in that the vanes are pushed away from high temperature air towards low temperature air.

As a levitation method, it can only lift small objects.

A levitation method that can lift heavier objects than thermophoresis is the one below. Bernoulli Effect. But that’s not how the clock works.