- #1
tribdog
- 779
- 17
Also known as the "Levitron"
Have you seen this Amazing Anti-Gravity top with the catch phrase "A challenge to master, A miracle to behold"
I would have written it "A miracle to master, a challenge to behold"
According to the pictures on the box I was expecting this top to hover in mid air, happily spinning away while I went about my daily, maybe even weekly, pursuits. Spinning black hole sort of stability.
I've gotten this stupid top to levitate for an amazing 1 second, maybe 1.3 seconds, tops. And that isn't for lack of trying. I've happily spent hours trying to "balance" a bar magnet over another magnet, knowing full well there is even a law telling me it can't be done. So I attacked this Levitron with gusto.
First though you need to get the exact weight right, adding and subtracting washers to the top to find the exact combination necessary for levitation. The helpful instructions tell me that if the top shoots away from the base then that isn't the right weight. Thanks. My top decides to hover like an elephant full of helium on a pogo stick, I'm guessing that isn't the right weight either.
I finally narrow the weight down to what I think is probably correct. Now I have to level the base by adjusting three legs. If the top falls to one side adjust that side higher, unless it falls to that side for some other unknown reason in which case I do not adjust that side higher. Okie doke. I chase the top around the base, adjusting until one of the legs is over adjusted and falls off. I start over, the top shoots off one side, reverses and slams underneath the base and moves the entire thing to a new position on the table, which causes the previous adjustments to be moot points. I'm still game and I start over.
Adjustments somewhat concluded now I need to learn how fast to spin the top too slow no good, too fast even worse. I'm looking for 18-25 revolutions per second. I'll go get my stopwatch.
Right now I'm considering hacking the Cherrywood base apart and pulling out the powerful ceramic magnet because I don't know what a powerful ceramic magnet looks like, the spinning top is either behind the refridgerator or hidden inside an old shoe in the closet or is happily levitating in an alternate universe. I'm not sure which, and frankly I don't give a ****!
Have you seen this Amazing Anti-Gravity top with the catch phrase "A challenge to master, A miracle to behold"
I would have written it "A miracle to master, a challenge to behold"
According to the pictures on the box I was expecting this top to hover in mid air, happily spinning away while I went about my daily, maybe even weekly, pursuits. Spinning black hole sort of stability.
I've gotten this stupid top to levitate for an amazing 1 second, maybe 1.3 seconds, tops. And that isn't for lack of trying. I've happily spent hours trying to "balance" a bar magnet over another magnet, knowing full well there is even a law telling me it can't be done. So I attacked this Levitron with gusto.
First though you need to get the exact weight right, adding and subtracting washers to the top to find the exact combination necessary for levitation. The helpful instructions tell me that if the top shoots away from the base then that isn't the right weight. Thanks. My top decides to hover like an elephant full of helium on a pogo stick, I'm guessing that isn't the right weight either.
I finally narrow the weight down to what I think is probably correct. Now I have to level the base by adjusting three legs. If the top falls to one side adjust that side higher, unless it falls to that side for some other unknown reason in which case I do not adjust that side higher. Okie doke. I chase the top around the base, adjusting until one of the legs is over adjusted and falls off. I start over, the top shoots off one side, reverses and slams underneath the base and moves the entire thing to a new position on the table, which causes the previous adjustments to be moot points. I'm still game and I start over.
Adjustments somewhat concluded now I need to learn how fast to spin the top too slow no good, too fast even worse. I'm looking for 18-25 revolutions per second. I'll go get my stopwatch.
Right now I'm considering hacking the Cherrywood base apart and pulling out the powerful ceramic magnet because I don't know what a powerful ceramic magnet looks like, the spinning top is either behind the refridgerator or hidden inside an old shoe in the closet or is happily levitating in an alternate universe. I'm not sure which, and frankly I don't give a ****!
