Megntic field

[The Green Giant]

Hi,

lately, me and my freind wanted to build a monorail. suspended by magnets, and powered by electricity. we can't manage to create propulson. The Question???

What shape and how are electric fields formed?


P.S. Please don't call me a simpleton, i'm only fifteen.

[The Green Giant]

I'm talking about electromegnets.

[Cliff_J]

You have a challenge ahead of you for the 'suspended' part. Forget it for now.

For the propulsion, that's easier. Lets say you have a bar magnet or a bolt with some wire wrapped around it to make an electromagnet, doesn't matter. You have a north and south pole. The strength will be the best at the ends where each pole is located. Remember likes repel and opposites attract. Your goal should be to first have the permanent magent on the train become attracted to your electromagnet. Then you need to make a series of them and switch them from N to S to make the train 'step' forward from one to the next. You reverse N to S to N by switching the direction the current flows in the coil of your electromagnet.

Here's a recent thread about this:
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=15853

Cliff