Make Pencil Lead Levitate

In this video we show you how to levitate pencil lead.

In a previous video we showed that pyrolytic graphite was diamagnetic, it was repelled by magnetic field, and that this repulsion was strong enough to levitate it.

Now pyrolytic graphite is expensive so a cheaper alternative is to use very thin pencil lead. Not all pencil lead works so you need to first test it by placing it on a table and approaching it from the side with a magnet. If the lead moves away, then it's diamagnetic, if it moves toward then it's paramagnetic and can't be used.

The pencil lead must also be thin, a very thick pencil lead will be too heavy for the effect to work.

Once you have diamagnetic pencil lead, create a checkerboard array of strong neodymium magnets with alternating north and south magnets. Then carefully place the pencil lead on top. If the array is level, and the force strong enough, the pencil lead will levitate.

The stronger the magnets the better.

To actual levitation height is very small, almost imperceptible. To get a little more height the array can be immersed in water to allow the buoyant effect to lift the pencil lead a little more.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• pencil
• lead
• diamagnetic
• levitation
• floating
• magnet
• neodymium
• science
• physics
• amazing
• experiment

[xXjakerodriguezXx]

you doubled the magnets in the water

[NurdRage]

@xXjakerodriguezXx Watch it again, its the same number of magnets as in the beginning.

[xXjakerodriguezXx]

@NurdRage oh my bad but does it make the repulsion stronger if you increase the number of magnets

[NurdRage]

@xXjakerodriguezXx only to a point, eventually more magnets don't significantly increase the diamagnetic repulsion.

[timeofknight]

I am going to use this as a decoration ornament for my house xD THanks! you're awesome!

[CoolbreezeFromSteam]

If i make the bottom of a bed with graphite and get some REALLY strong megents could i make a levitating bed?

[ilikeeggs283]

18 people think god was behind this

[bobster451]

I believe copper is also diamagnetic. Way back when, my electronics professor stated this was a property of copper wire and showed how the copper, when exposed to magnetics could generate voltage and current. This was the explanation for inductive reactance happened as well.

I'm curious, Would copper wire be able to do this as well? (levitate on magnets)

[monalfre]

what about rubbing the lead on a paper till it becomes very thin, wouldn't that help it levitate more?

[hindydranday]

Didn't buoyancy have something to do with the Archimedes Principle? I may be thinking of Bernouli but I think that had to do with the airfoil design of wings...

[SuperSlimeBoy]

@NurdRage

if NaCl is added to the H2O will that make the pencil lead float even higher due to the waters weight?

[MrC10H15N]

@seraine22 Yes, thank you.

[MadeInOregon27]

@xXjakerodriguezXx

What kind of different magnets are there? And what ones are used when levitating?

[seraine22]

@MrC10H15N

I believe you are asking if it is possible to tell which end of a magnet is north and which end is south, not which sides repel each other. You can buy tools which do that for about 20$, or you could hang it from a thread and see if it points north or south, and whichever end of the magnet points north is the north side of the magnet. You could also put it floating on a cork in a non-metallic bowl of water.

[seraine22]

@massacreman3000

Using liquid nitrogen to cool the pencil lead would make it a superconducter, which makes it very diamagnetic (sometimes called superdiamagnetism) and would make it float more than simply using regular pencil lead or pyrolytic graphite would. To see an example of this, search maglev train (superconducter) on Youtube.