Teaching Minds-On Experiments on Electromagnetism in Secondary Schools Permanent magnets
Tile of 5 magnetic rings around a stick: what are the distances?
The toy consists of four
flat disc-like magnets with a whole in the centre. The magnets are
threaded on a plastic pole. The magnets are very unsociable - whenever
you try to push them close to each other they oppose and they even push
back your hand. But if you turn them they will stick to each other and
it will be very difficult to separate them.
Notice that the middle magnet levitates closer to the bottom one, and
not somewhere in the middle. This is because it is pushed down by the
weight of the top magnet. The middle magnet supports the top one, but
is at the same time pushed down. Each action has its reaction, as was
stated by Newton in his Third Law.
