Magnet attached to boat, would it work?

[Ungort]

Magnet attached to boat, would it work!?

OK,

if there was a boat with a magnet held in front of it by some sort of arch/crane attached to the boat would the boat be pulled towards the magnet, thus moving the boat forward, or would it just stay still.
______
o [________]

Saying 'o' is the magnet, and [_________] is the boat, just to help explain my point.

Last post got deleted for 'trolling'
Just to point out, not trying to troll, just trying to work out something someone linked to me trying to troll me and it caused me to wonder if it would actually work.

Thankyou for your time :)

 

[berkeman]

OK,

if there was a boat with a magnet held in front of it by some sort of arch/crane attached to the boat would the boat be pulled towards the magnet, thus moving the boat forward, or would it just stay still.
______
o [________]

Saying 'o' is the magnet, and [_________] is the boat, just to help explain my point.

Last post got deleted for 'trolling'
Just to point out, not trying to troll, just trying to work out something someone linked to me trying to troll me and it caused me to wonder if it would actually work.

Thankyou for your time :)

No, it would not do anything in terms of moving the boat. If somebody on shore held out a magnet and was anchored to the shore, then it could attract the boat and pull it to the magnet's position. But somebody holding the magnet in the boat does nothing.

 

[my_wan]

That is physically the exact same thing as trying to lift a bucket off the ground while standing in it. The harder you lift the harder your feet push on the bottom of the bucket. The harder the magnet is pulls on the boat the harder the crane attached to the boat pushes back.

 

[Ungort]

OK, as I thought, is there a way of putting it that proves it though!? Because the person I'm trying to dissuade from idiocy still doesn't believe it until it has big words in basically.

 

[my_wan]

Tell him to get in his boat, tie a rope to the front of the boat, and pull themselves to shore. Same thing. The rope is held together by the same electromagnetic forces that the magnets use.

 

[russ_watters]

Why not try it with a bathroom scale?

1. Get on the scale.
2. Read the scale.
3. Bend over and grab your shoelaces.
4. Pull up.
5. Read the scale.

 

[danR]

You put a little magnet in front of a big steel boat, and the your boat-magnet attracts the boat?

No; a fridge attracts a fridge-magnet,
and a boat attracts a boat -magnet.

Make the magnet as big as the boat and they meet in the middle; make the magnet much bigger than the boat, and the boat goes 9/10 and the magnet goes 1/10 the other way.

But taken altogether, nobody is going nowhere.

 

[Lsos]

if there was a boat with a magnet held in front of it by some sort of arch/crane attached to the boat would the boat be pulled towards the magnet, thus moving the boat forward, or would it just stay still.

The boat WOULD be pulled towards the magnet. Unfortunately, the magnet would also be pulled towards the boat.

Why a boat? Why a magnet?

Why not a car? Or a bike? Or you with a rope?

Tie a rope around yourself and pull it forward with your arms. Get on a bike if wish. I suspect nobody would even try this stunt in front of a mirror out of embarrassment. Yet somehow a magnet and a boat would be any different?

 

[berkeman]

I think the thread has run its course.