Awesome magnetic levitation

The mater of science illusion Brusspup altered Crealev’s CLM 2 magnetic levitation module to show the impressive levitating power of a magnetic levitation module from Dutch company Crealev.

Most of these magnetic levitation gizmos are only able to lift a pound or so, but those are the commercial units used for stylish product demos and displays.

The consumer versions you can get at novelty stores are much less powerful — they can maybe levitate an ounce or two. The device in the video below is a monster among electromagnetic product displays. The Crealev platform can float 20 pounds of stuff on a cushion of magnetism.

Watch the whole thing, though, and you can see the concealed magnets floating all on their own. It’s these smaller permanent magnets that are being floated by the electromagnet in the base. There’s one in the pillow, and the book, and the Millennium Falcon. This is still a commercial product, so you can’t just order one up. Smaller versions that can lift 300-400g can be purchased for around $1,000.

If you wanted to float things like this without a hidden magnet doing all the heavy lifting, the field strength would have to be many times stronger (called direct diamagnetic levitation). Magnetic field strength is measured in teslas. To give you an idea, the magnets on your refrigerator are about 5 milliteslas in strength. The superconducting magnets in the Large Hadron Collider are 8 Teslas. Floating a tiny frog or mouse takes a whopping 16 teslas. The Crealev magnetic platform is cool, but it’s not that cool.