Building a self looping "SMOT"

[norman6538]

Megerman said "
But what I have found in this testing is that having a single pole facing the track is not as efficient as having the poles facing at right angles to the track (facing up/down)."

My pendulum has a magnet perpendicular to the flat magnets around the pendulum arm. And that is what I used in my pendulum that goes from 2pm to midnight.
And another important factor that Elecar and I used is to reduce the gravity because the magnets at a distance are weak but properly combined work can be done.

Norman

[Newton II]

I think it depends on positioning of magnetic track with respect to ball.   If magnet is positioned on one side,  then it will attract the ball and ball will stick to the magnet.

If magnet is kept vertically above the ball then magnetic force will be balanced by  weight of the ball hence ball will not jump and stick to the magnet.  You have to select ( or adjust) magnet and ball in such a way that magnetic force pulling the ball upwards is exactly equal to weight of the ball acting downwards making the ball  " weightless".  ( I mean magnetic force is neutralised by gravity force).

This is same as sun's gravitational pull is neutralised by earth's centrifugal force making earth's motion perpetual.  If centrifugal force is less than the gravitational pull,  then earth will simply fall into the sun. 

[lumen]

Megerman said "
But what I have found in this testing is that having a single pole facing the track is not as efficient as having the poles facing at right angles to the track (facing up/down)."

My pendulum has a magnet perpendicular to the flat magnets around the pendulum arm. And that is what I used in my pendulum that goes from 2pm to midnight.
And another important factor that Elecar and I used is to reduce the gravity because the magnets at a distance are weak but properly combined work can be done.

Norman

Using the poles up and down will attract the ball much harder and also much more evenly, but then what is the method for the ball to escape the pull that would make it any different than any other non-working SMOT.

That's why I was thinking that it might be the softer attraction in the center of a large magnet face that allows the ball to escape and the only real acceleration is at the start of the ramp, or the edge of the magnet, where the ball connects with more of both poles.

It's just a thought.


Newton II
I had that thought also, because you are using only one side magnet, the pull will increase friction unlike a double sided magnet ramp where the two pulling magnets cause a balance on the track. But, using gravity as the other pull with a magnet overhead would do the same if the forces were well balanced.

It makes me think now that if the forces are weaker in the center of a large magnet and the magnet was overhead, then after the initial acceleration into the center, gravity could possibly take over and the ball would just fall away.

[JouleSeeker]

Hi Jouleseeker,


I have not got a closed loop running. 
All I have at the moment is some straight 1m aluminium channel, a large ferrite magnet and about 4 x 24mm ball bearings.


My experiment was a simple proof of concept of the idea about the ball being pulled up the track by the magnetic field and gravity pulling it back down again and the magnet pulling it back up again and so on.


But what I have found in this testing is that having a single pole facing the track is not as efficient as having the poles facing at right angles to the track (facing up/down).
The single pole facing the track is very "lumpy" even for a single 6" slab magnet.
So for a series of magnets, it too would appear very lumpy and this effects how evenly the ball is pulled up the track.


I will try to take a short video showing the difference in the two concepts.
[snip]
Thanks
Meggerman

That would be very helpful.  Thanks, Meggerman.

[JouleSeeker]

Looking at some of the vids with marbles rolling on wire-tracks, found a "bumper" = simple way to re-direct the motion of the moving marble.  I added arrows to help you see the motion into and out of the junction.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dq-IzXgNa0I  at about the 37 sec mark.