On the spinning motion of the hovering magnetic top

DOI10.1016/S0167-2789(98)00283-8zbMATH Open0965.70019arXivphysics/9803044OpenAlexW2027557305WikidataQ127646348 ScholiaQ127646348MaRDI QIDQ1808261FDOQ1808261

Authors: Yanyan Li 

Publication date: 6 December 1999

Published in: Physica D (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: In this paper we analyze the spinning motion of the hovering magnetic top. We have observed that its motion looks different from that of a classical top. A classical top rotates about its own axis which precesses around a vertical fixed external axis. The hovering magnetic top, on the other hand, has its axis slightly tilted and moves rigidly as a whole about the vertical axis. We call this motion synchronous, because in a stroboscopic experiment we see that a point at the rim of the top moves synchronously with the top axis. We show that the synchronous motion may be attributed to a small deviation of the magnetic moment from the symmetry axis of the top. We calculate the minimum angular velocity required for stability in terms of the moments of inertia and magnetic field and show that it is different from that of a classical top. We also give experimental results that were taken with a top whose moment of inertia can be changed. These results show very good agreement with our calculations.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/physics/9803044

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zbMATH Keywords

stabilitymagnetic levitationsynchronous motionhovering magnetic topminimum angular velocityspinning motion

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Technical applications of optics and electromagnetic theory (78A55) Experimental work for problems pertaining to mechanics of particles and systems (70-05) Dynamics of a rigid body and of multibody systems (70E99)

Cites Work

• A mechanism of magnetic hysteresis in heterogeneous alloys

Cited In (2)

• Nonlinear and linearised behaviour of the Levitron\(^\circledR\)
• Stability of Levitron\(^\mathrm{TM}\) revisited

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