MHD Propulsion (1 of 2)

This boatlet is propelled by magnetohydrodynamics (MHD). We used ten 0.34T neodymium magnets, two 9 V batteries, salt water at 10% salinity, two folded Aluminium foil electrodes and a 15 x 18 mm plastic channel.

Note how the vessel rotates until its magnetic field is parallel to the earth's magnetic field (specifically, until its magnetic north points towards earth's magnetic south). This vessel was built by two physics undergraduates for their First Year Project at Imperial College London in 2009.

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• MHD
• Magnetohydrodynamics
• Spacecraft Propulsion
• Imperial College London
• Plasma (physics)

[tomneiser]

@julianzolo It responds to earth's magnetic field just like any freely rotating magnet aligns itself along the field lines of an external magnetic field. Since the vessel has its own intrinsic magnetic field due to the magnets on board (the N-S direction is perpendicular to the channel), this vessel rotates until it is aligned with earth's field.

[julianzolo]

How do you know it rotates looking for earth´s magnetic field? I have not seen that rotation in any other MHD models.