There were a bunch of physics papers on the Levitron's physics.

Their discoveries: 1) Levitron only works within a narrow range of RPM. Too slow, and the levitated spinning magnet becomes unstable. Too fast, and the energy-well disappears! 2) the levitated spinning disk MUST be allowed to precess freely. If precession is inhibited, the energy-well disappears. (Which of course explains why an extreme RPM will remove the necessary small precession required for stable levitation.)

  Levitron, hidden history

  http://www.roddriver.com/index_science.html

  http://amasci.com/maglev/lev/expose1.html

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So Hamdi, are there any "Levitron" analogous effects? Can you run this at 50,000RPM or something? Does the restoring force get any less? Or, to produce an energy-well, must the levitated magnet be free to slightly vibrate? (Try motor-assembly placed in a plastic pipe w/air pumped out, so motor-watts during the extreme RPM need not be enormous, if no air turbulence.)


On Fri, 4 Sep 2020, Terry Blanton wrote:
One of the things previously discussed is possible applications for
such a phenomenon.  Other than a toy similar to Levitron, none of us
have been creative enough to come up with anything.

Heh, need a radioactive airline-flight!

Or just stay awake for a month using micro-sleep, a la Nikola Tesla, see:

 https://www.quora.com/How-do-I-become-as-much-of-a-genius-as-Nikola-Tesla

About toy inventions...

Note that "Levitron" was immediately stolen by the very first toy company immediately after the inventor showed it to them. The inventor never made a cent. The current Levitron-seller (in Seattle!) is the thief. Yet the inventor had already patented his device. Didn't matter. The thief immediately patented his own, but with a square base-magnet, while loudly insisting that a round base would not work (wrong, actually.)

Just from my own slight experience, I personally found that the professional toy business is EXTREMELY cut-throat, and full of patholigical criminals, narcissist-liars, and all of them in top positions. To succeed in the toy biz, you need to be an employee, or perhaps a long-time famous inventor, in a solid relationship with a big manufacturer (where they dare not offend the "goose" who keeps laying their golden eggs.)

That, or start your own small business, and expect your successful toy to be stolen by overseas toy manufacturers in 1-5 years ...so you'd need to already have numerous new toy-inventions in the pipeline, as older ones get stolen, and newer ones start making profits. (Patent fees, and lawyer fees for patent defense, would instantly wipe out all profits. So don't ever patent nuthun!)

Heh, investment scam! Suspend your motor+magnet inside a completely soundproof capsule (perhaps a little glass vacuum globe.) Then do a scam: room temperature super-conductors now achieved! Your investors could even be allowed to handle the magic box that performs the levitation! With sufficiently good bearings, and no air-friction, perhaps the batteries would run the motor for days! lol

Personally, I have wondered if the suspended magnet could be easily
"handed off" to another, adjacent magnet; thus, setting up the
possibility of a new type of maglev transportation device.

Motors driving spinning dipole magnets, if placed near each other, should naturallylock on and synchronize. Then, what's the actual shape of the energy-well? If it could become a long narrow slot, then it might be easy to drive a suspended magnet along it. Let it slide downhill under gravity. "Superconductive" train model, just like with HTSC copper-oxide materials, but no liquid nitrogen required.


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William J. Beaty                            SCIENCE HOBBYIST website
billb at amasci com                         http://amasci.com
EE/programmer/sci-exhibits   amateur science, hobby projects, sci fair
Seattle, WA  206-762-3818    unusual phenomena, tesla coils, weird sci

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