Homopolar Generators (N-Machine) by Bruce de Palma

[Magluvin]

Mag on foil vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s56ghlm0oJw&feature=youtu.be

Mags

[ElectricPirate]

Hey Electric Pirate

I do believe that the fields of the rotating disk mag is stationary as it rotates. Ive done tests with a large, very sensitive coil(5kohm 42awg wire) with a magnet attached to the coil, off center, and movement of the coil/mag through the air does not light an led, but moving the mag with the coil sitting fixed, the led lights with slow movements.  So, I have seen some out there using a bunch of small magnets to replace the solid disk magnet in a traditional homopolar setup. In those cases, the fields are not stationary. 

So in my pic 1, Im thinking that the current flowing through the mag, 90deg of the magnets pole alignment, moves the field within the mag, causing the mag material to want to move with the field.

Mags

Hi mags

Like you said many believe that field is stationary but im still not satisfied without experimental proof. Experimenting is the only way i can see to end up this mind bogling paradoxes.  If only i have a large magnet i will do that experiment.

[ElectricPirate]

Mag on foil vid

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s56ghlm0oJw&feature=youtu.be

Mags

Amazing vid but why the magnet move? If we apply left hand rule it shouldnt supposed to move?

[broli]

Ah...OK, I think I see it now. The magnet on the foil isn't rotating like a homopolar  motor, it's trying to slide, like a railgun armature, and the sliding friction makes it rotate. I think.

So if you had, say, a brass tube that would be a good fit for the OD of the magnet, or even better just a long skinny cylinder magnet polled endwise, and you set it onto a pair of rails and then supplied current to the rails, it would scoot down the rails and also roll. Maybe.

I haven't looked at it this way but this seems completely possible. In fact if you prevent it from sliding and forced it to roll I can't tell how it will even induce a back EMF. Atached is my analysis of such setup. The upper illustration shows the generated forces, the lower images show the 2 different motion cases. Something to ponder on indeed.

[DreamThinkBuild]

Happy Belated New Years @All


Hi Magluvin,

Thanks for sharing. That is very interesting.

A small test platform could be setup to see if it's sliding or rolling as TK and Broli state.

If the friction is too great for the top rail it can be replaced with a smaller wire with a slight slack to it so it droops and touches the top of the magnet.

If you feed in a bipolar square wave into the rails it should oscillate back and forth.

These all need testing still but it opens some really interesting ideas like a linear homopolar generator.