Principle Demonstrated: Lenz’s Law

Safety Considerations

            Don’t let the magnet hit a bare table. They will chip. Put a fluffy towel on the table top.

Presentation

This is a simple magic trick. It works every time because of physics. See the video below to see how to present the trick. I do this at the beginning of the unit on magnetism. At the end of the unit I ask them how the trick worked.

Materials:

Newton’s Nightmare magic trick from PenguinMagic.com ($15) http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/841

Video

http://www.penguinmagic.com/p/841

What it demonstrates:

As the magnet descends through the tube counter magnetic fields are setup. The fields slow the magnet’s descent.

Extensions

None.