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Levitation


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blog-0982211001389491127.jpgMost people consider levitation to be possible only in fantasy worlds. However people can make use of the power of electricity to levitate/fly under certain conditions. To levitate there must be no net force on an object while the object is not touching the ground. On Earth gravity is always pulling down so we must find another force to counteract it and push up on the object that we want to levitate.

Their are four forces in nature, gravity, electromagnetism, and strong and weak nuclear forces. Of these gravity is by far the weakest. Strong nuclear forces, fusion, provides the sun's energy and atomic bomb explosions. Weak nuclear forces are involved in radioactive decay. Although powerful, they are to deadly for levitation. Electromagnetism is also very powerful but much easier to control making it perfect for levitation.

Unlike gravity electromagnetism can attract or repel meaning that by putting a charge on an object on the ground and one in the air a force can be created in the upward direction to counteract gravity (if the charges have the same sign). This means that by placing a charge on a person and on a platform beneath them we can make a person levitate. Unfortunately keeping the two objects charged is very difficult so right now it is not feasible to levitate people but if the technology develops and stronger magnets are made it could be possible to levitate in a controlled fashion for extended periods.

This video shows some of what can be done now. (skip to about 1:40)

If the bottom magnet could be spread out and the top one balanced without the rod the man would levitate. Obviously the magnets he uses are not nearly strong enough to get the full effect.

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