Levitating Rings
June 24, 2006 by Vurdlak
Can you guess how this illusion was made? It seems this guy is making the little yellow object levitate right between his fingers. Is he using some supernatural, object-control technique? The explanation is quite simple, if you ask me. So go ahead, ask me! Hehe... jump inside this article for explanation. Just click on the underlined title of this post.
This is the explanation as I understood it - The top of the levitating thing is is a magnet with the north pole pointing down and spinning. It is spinning above four magnets which have the north pole pointing up. The top has a yellow handle on top and a yellow plastic base on the bottom. What you don't realize from the photo you saw, is that at the bottom of the picture is a part of a dark square.
This is a set of four other magnets set in a square inside a black box. Interestingly, it has been mathematically proven that magnets alone cannot levitate stabily in the air. However, surprisingly, if a magnet is spinning it can be stable when it sits in a magnetic well. Guy on the picture claims he was able to get it to stay there over a minute! Above the yellow base, there are rings that one has to adjust to balance it vertically in the field.
Looks like he had one large ring and one small yellowish ring. Above them are two black O-rings that hold the others in place. It takes some playing around to find the right weight and unfortunately the magnets change strength with temperature, so a working arrangement is not stable and permanent.
This is the explanation as I understood it - The top of the levitating thing is is a magnet with the north pole pointing down and spinning. It is spinning above four magnets which have the north pole pointing up. The top has a yellow handle on top and a yellow plastic base on the bottom. What you don't realize from the photo you saw, is that at the bottom of the picture is a part of a dark square.
This is a set of four other magnets set in a square inside a black box. Interestingly, it has been mathematically proven that magnets alone cannot levitate stabily in the air. However, surprisingly, if a magnet is spinning it can be stable when it sits in a magnetic well. Guy on the picture claims he was able to get it to stay there over a minute! Above the yellow base, there are rings that one has to adjust to balance it vertically in the field.
Looks like he had one large ring and one small yellowish ring. Above them are two black O-rings that hold the others in place. It takes some playing around to find the right weight and unfortunately the magnets change strength with temperature, so a working arrangement is not stable and permanent.
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Thats the Levitron thingie.
I Think I own one of those...
But when i tried it it only stiaed in the air for half-a-second.
To my mind, this is a fake.
explanation :
We can see on his thumb a little mark, a little hollow.
And I think that, behind both sides of yellow parts, there are 2 transparent rods.
:p
I know this is kind of real because I own a levitron and the top(spinning top) looks exactly like that. The picture is not showing the basewhich is a big magnet and the top is another magnet, the poles are opposing each other.
I agree with Darkmind its probably like as thin as hair so you can't see the shadow or something
I think you dont have to go into a magnetic field theory lecture to explain it.
the yellow thing is placed on a transparent glass table and the guy poses the way he is from above and the picture is taken from below the table and with some photo editing tools you can get rid of any flash (if any )that might have appeared on the snat. simple as that.
knighthunter3000@yahoo.com
Simple. Try photoshop and a manicure!
Look at this link that shows the levatron.
Here is the solution no fingery trickery. anyone can do it after a little bit of practise and keeping it up for about ten minutes or so is doable.
http://www.gadgethouse.nl/Scripts/prodView.asp?idproduct=326
And here is an english site showing the same kind of toy:
http://www.lancs.ac.uk/users/spc/pictures/photos/floating.htm
Even though we've already got the explanation, I still think he's balancing it between his nose and eyebrow lol.
People. You can see an indentation on his thumb where there is obviously a glass tube he is holding between his thumb and middle finger.
i'm a little bit late but...i have to say, can't you just accept that it's science? there are cool things in life that aren't fake. :D