Q&A: EM Orbits & Tides: Attraction & Repulsion?

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Magnets can theoretically orbit each other due to electromagnetic (EM) forces, even if their masses are too small to create orbits through gravitational attraction. The EM attraction between two magnets can indeed generate tidal effects, similar to gravitational tides. In the case of two like-charged magnets, a specific speed and trajectory could allow for an orbital path, potentially resulting in unusual tidal effects that flatten rather than elongate. Overall, the discussion emphasizes that orbits and tidal effects can occur due to EM forces, independent of mass. The nature of magnetic interactions is fundamentally different from gravitational ones, as magnets always possess both north and south poles.
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1. Can a magnet orbit another magnet (of opposite charge) despite the fact that their masses are insufficient to generate the orbit; i.e., their orbits are caused only by the EM force?

2. Would/could the EM attraction between them generate tidal effects on the two magnets?

3. If you had two magnets with like charges (such that there is a repulsive force between them), is there a possible speed&trajectory that one of them could assume relative the to other such that it would yield an orbital path? And if so, what about weird reversed tidal forces (flattening instead of elongating)?

The 1st 2 Qs ask whether you can have EM-attraction orbits & tides in the way that we already know we can have gravity-attraction orbits & tides. The 3rd Q asks whether we can have EM-repulsion orbits & tides?
 
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Magnets always have a north and a south - there are no "magnetic charges".
 
Terdbergler said:
1. their orbits are caused only by the EM force?
Yes, Orbits of a magnet depend on EM force.
Orbits of a magnet does not depend on mass.
 

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