What Causes Eddy Currents in a Copper Tube?

[clark84]

What are the three forces responsible for a neodymium magnet to fall slowly down through a heavy copper tube?

 

[Simon Bridge]

Welcome to PF;
That's a good question - what have you come up with so far?
i.e. have you listed the forces that are available to the universe? There are only four - but I feel the question may be treating one of them as two.

 

[davenn]

Hi clark

its a good experiment, as Simon has said, have a think about what is happening
A hint ... a moving magnetic field and a conductor

also it could be any magnet and it works just as well with an aluminium tube

I use this action to produce dampening in a seismometer ( earthquake detector)
but rather than an aluminium tube, I use a moving strip of aluminium between 2 fixed magnets

Dave

 

[clark84]

Welcome to PF;
That's a good question - what have you come up with so far?
i.e. have you listed the forces that are available to the universe? There are only four - but I feel the question may be treating one of them as two.

Well I can think of the two obvious, Gravity and Electromagnetic force.

 

[Simon Bridge]

1. gravitation
2. electrical
3. magnetic

ruling out the strong and weak nuclear forces.

But - it may be that the question is thinking in terms of a free body diagram?
It really depends on where you are up to in your course.

Have you tried davenn's suggestion?

 

[clark84]

Hi clark

its a good experiment, as Simon has said, have a think about what is happening
A hint ... a moving magnetic field and a conductor

also it could be any magnet and it works just as well with an aluminium tube

I use this action to produce dampening in a seismometer ( earthquake detector)
but rather than an aluminium tube, I use a moving strip of aluminium between 2 fixed magnets

Dave

I know that an electric current is generated when the magnet moves through the conductor. I looked it up and found something called "Eddy's Current" that i will need to look into so i can better understand exactly what occurs.

 

[davenn]

I know that an electric current is generated when the magnetic field moves through the conductor. I looked it up and found something called "Eddy's Current" that i will need to look into so i can better understand exactly what occurs.

That's a good start
Now think or research about what those eddy currents that are set up in the pipe do/causeDave

PS, note the little highlighted correction I did in your quoted text