[TheForge]magnet Q.

[Andy Vida]

Gladish Family wrote:
> 
> > 1. I have a number of assorted magnets used for set-ups, mock ups and
> > the like...should they be stored separately, carefully aligned
> > north/south, to retain max  pull ( suck?) or is it not a problem just to
> > toss them in a box with their friends?
> 
> My understanding is that magnets are manufactured by applying overwhelming
> magnetic fields (i.e. really really huge!) to a previously neutral chunk of
> metal, and that heat or overwhelming magnetic force are the only ways that
> magnets lose their pull, other than physical deterioration.
> I have a friend who sells magnets for a living- I'll ask him.

Speaking of magnets, has anyone seen "geomags"?  Upscale/educational
toys consisting of ball bearings and rods with what I assume to be
rare earth magnets on the ends.  You can build geometric shapes with
them that are way cool, but the coolest thing about them is the
bearing that you can make.  For example, build an octahedron or even
a dodecahedron (12 sides) and hang it by one of the bearings at an
apex by another ball that is preferably attached to another rod or
even a tetrahedron.  If the polarities are OK, i.e. no neutralizing
one another, the form will hang.  Give it a good spin and see how long
it keeps going.  I had one going for perhaps 7 or 8 minutes and more
the other night.  I don't know if such a low friction magnetic bearing
would have any practical application, but they are a lot of fun to
play with.

	-Andy