falling objects - simple gravity

[astroboy77]

hi
I was learning recently about newtons gravity theory and experiments, specifically how the same objects fall at the same speed regardless of mass.

I was curious if anyone may have tried this experiement but compare 3 objects of similar dimensions, where one is a magnet, one a conducting object like steal , and the other a resistor object such as rubber.

I am curious if gravity could possibley react differntly to the speed of a falling magnet, since gravitys behaviour is similar to that of a magnet.

[sandor]

No, gravity affects all these things the same way. The electromagnetic force and the gravitational force are separate things.

Although interestingly enough, the more conductive an object is, the more slowly it will fall when it falls through a non-uniform horizontally oriented magnetic field. In other words, it does not matter whether there is an up-down component to the magnetic field, and it doesn't matter whether there is a uniform component to the magnetic field in the horizontal direction. What you need is a nonzero directional derivative in the vertical direction, of the horizontal vector component of the magnetic field. When the electrical conductivity is infinite, as in the case of a superconductor, it is possible for such a non-uniform magnetic field to COMPLETELY halt the descent of the object. In the case of a superconductor, this is known as the meissner effect. In a less perfect conductor, only temporary currents are induced and so the conductor may fall slowly or even bounce back up, but not as high as the height it fell from, and slowly sink down deeper much like a rubber ball bouncing on concrete. And when you have a substance which is diamagnetic, like bismuth, it is possible to completely halt its descent even though it is not a superconductor, because not as a result of electrical currents being directly induced in the normal way a changing magnetic field does, it still excludes magnetic field, although not completely as does a superconductor. And then of course, it can work the other way around as well. Not just a conductor in a magnetic field, in other words, but where the magnet is the thing falling. You can take a magnet, drop it through a copper tube, and see it fall through it very slowly. However, in all these cases, though the descent of the object may be slowed by electromagnetic forces, but the effect of gravity has not been decreased. Gravity still tugs with the same strength as always, it merely has another and unrelated force opposing it.