Floating Rings Science Set (Student Grade)

Introduction

This page contains complete, bilingual online instructions for building a floating rings tower, a simple magnetic levitation model, and using it for a science experiment. All information is based on the materials that come in the MiniScience Floating Rings Science Set (Student Grade). If you don't have this kit, you can order one online.

Every magnet has two poles, north and south. Opposite poles attract each other and like poles repel each other. In this project you slide six ring magnets over a wooden dowel so that like poles face each other. Each magnet pushes the next one up, and the rings float one above the other with nothing but air between them.

With this project students can explore:

• Magnetic poles: like poles repel and opposite poles attract.
• Magnetic levitation: how a magnetic force can balance gravity.
• How the pushing force between magnets changes with distance.
• Real-world uses of repelling magnets, such as maglev trains.

Other models

KITFR Colored magnets KITFRB Black magnets KITFRBX Advanced: magnetic spring scale

Compare all floating rings kits

Items Needed

Before starting, verify the content of your kit against the list below.

Antes de comenzar, verifica el contenido de tu kit con la siguiente lista.

• Square wooden block base with a pre-drilled hole
• Wooden dowel
• 6 painted ceramic ring magnets, assorted colors
• White glue or wood glue, only if the dowel is loose (not included)
• Ruler with millimeter marks, for the experiment (not included)

Kit content may be different from the images shown on this page.

El contenido del kit puede ser diferente de las imágenes que se muestran en esta página.

A Science Fair Project

The Floating Rings Science Set (Student Grade) may be used for a science project, technology project, display project, or an engineering project for your science fair. Your completed project will also be an educational tool for yourself and your classmates who need to understand magnetic poles, magnetic forces and magnetic levitation.

El Floating Rings Science Set (Student Grade) puede usarse para un proyecto científico, tecnológico, de exhibición o de ingeniería para tu feria de ciencias. Tu proyecto terminado también será una herramienta educativa para ti y tus compañeros que necesiten comprender los polos magnéticos, las fuerzas magnéticas y la levitación magnética.

Safety Information

• Ceramic magnets are brittle. Do not let them snap together: they can chip or crack, and the chips can be sharp.
• Keep the magnets away from phones, computers, credit cards and other electronic devices.
• Keep the magnets away from anyone with a pacemaker or another medical implant.
• Never put magnets in your mouth.

• Los imanes cerámicos son frágiles. No dejes que se peguen de golpe: pueden astillarse o romperse, y las astillas pueden cortar.
• Mantén los imanes lejos de teléfonos, computadoras, tarjetas de crédito y otros aparatos electrónicos.
• Mantén los imanes lejos de cualquier persona con marcapasos u otro implante médico.
• Nunca te metas un imán en la boca.

Adult supervision is required for young children.

Se requiere la supervisión de un adulto para niños pequeños.

Assembly Procedure

Step 1 — Mount the dowel. Push one end of the wooden dowel into the hole in the base until it stands straight up. If the dowel is loose, put a few drops of white glue or wood glue in the hole, insert the dowel, and wait a few hours until the glue is fully dry.

Step 2 — Place the first magnet. Slide one ring magnet over the dowel and let it go down until it rests on the base.

Step 3 — Find the repelling side. Take a second magnet and hold it firmly just above the first one. If you feel the magnets pulling toward each other, turn the magnet over. When you feel them pushing each other away, like poles are facing each other.

Step 4 — Make the second magnet float. Keeping the magnet turned the same way, slide it over the dowel and gently let it go. Instead of dropping onto the first magnet, it floats above it.

Step 5 — Add the other magnets. Repeat steps 3 and 4 with the remaining four magnets, one at a time. Always test before letting go: if a magnet is pulled down, lift it off, turn it over and try again. Finally you will have six ring magnets on a column. They can move up and down freely, but gravity cannot pull them together, because like poles are facing each other.

Step 6 — Test your floating rings. Push the top magnet down gently. How much force do you need to push all the magnets together? Now release it. What happens? Why? Can you think of other products that could use this magnet levitation model?

If you push the rings down and let go quickly, the top ring can jump off the dowel. Keep your face away from the top of the dowel.

Si empujas los anillos hacia abajo y los sueltas de golpe, el anillo de arriba puede salir disparado de la varilla. Mantén la cara lejos de la punta de la varilla.

What Is Happening?

Every ring magnet has a north pole on one flat face and a south pole on the other flat face. When two magnets are placed with the same poles facing each other (north to north, or south to south), they push each other away. This pushing force is called magnetic repulsion.

Each floating ring is pulled down by gravity (its weight) and pushed up by the magnet below it. The ring stops where these two forces are balanced. The lower magnets have to hold up the weight of all the rings above them, so the rings near the bottom sit closer together than the rings near the top.

The magnetic force gets much stronger as the magnets get closer. That is why the rings act like a spring: push the top ring down and the rings squeeze together; let go and they bounce back up.

La fuerza magnética se vuelve mucho más fuerte a medida que los imanes se acercan. Por eso los anillos se comportan como un resorte: empuja el anillo de arriba y los anillos se juntan; suéltalo y vuelven a subir.

The dowel is important. Without it, a floating magnet would slide sideways or flip over and snap onto its neighbor. The dowel only lets the rings move up and down.

La varilla es importante. Sin ella, un imán flotante se deslizaría hacia un lado o se voltearía y se pegaría al imán vecino. La varilla solo deja que los anillos se muevan hacia arriba y hacia abajo.

In the real world: maglev (magnetic levitation) trains use magnetic forces to float above the track. With no wheels touching the rails there is almost no friction, so they can travel at very high speeds. Repelling magnets are also used in some bearings, shock absorbers and toys.

En el mundo real: los trenes maglev (de levitación magnética) usan fuerzas magnéticas para flotar sobre la vía. Como no hay ruedas tocando los rieles, casi no hay fricción y pueden viajar a velocidades muy altas. Los imanes que se repelen también se usan en algunos rodamientos, amortiguadores y juguetes.

Want to go further? The Floating Rings Science Set with Platform (KITFRBX) turns the floating rings into a scale that weighs small objects.

¿Quieres ir más allá? El Floating Rings Science Set with Platform (KITFRBX) convierte los anillos flotantes en una báscula que pesa objetos pequeños.

Get the KITFRBX:
https://shop.miniscience.com/KITFRBX

Troubleshooting

• A magnet sticks to the one below instead of floating. It is upside down. Lift it off the dowel, turn it over and slide it down again.
• The rings get stuck on the dowel. Make sure the dowel stands straight up. Tap the dowel gently to help the rings settle.
• The dowel wobbles or leans. Glue it into the hole of the base and let the glue dry completely.
• Two magnets snapped together and are hard to separate. Take them off the dowel together, then slide one magnet sideways off the other instead of pulling them straight apart.

• Un imán se pega al de abajo en lugar de flotar. Está al revés. Sácalo de la varilla, dale la vuelta y vuelve a bajarlo.
• Los anillos se atascan en la varilla. Asegúrate de que la varilla esté bien derecha. Dale unos golpecitos suaves a la varilla para que los anillos se acomoden.
• La varilla se mueve o se inclina. Pégala en el orificio de la base y deja que el pegamento se seque por completo.
• Dos imanes se pegaron y cuesta separarlos. Sácalos juntos de la varilla y luego desliza un imán hacia un lado sobre el otro, en lugar de jalarlos en línea recta.

Science Project

Research question: Are all the gaps between the floating rings the same size, or do they change from the top of the tower to the bottom?

Sample hypothesis 1: I hypothesize that all the gaps between the rings are the same size, because all the magnets are the same.

Sample hypothesis 2: I hypothesize that the gaps get smaller toward the bottom of the tower, because the lower magnets have to hold up the weight of more rings.

Experiment (Observation and Reporting)

1. Assemble the tower with all six magnets. Tap the dowel gently so the rings settle.
2. Number the gaps from the top: gap 1 is between the top ring and the second ring, and gap 5 is between the two bottom rings.
3. With a ruler held next to the dowel, measure each gap in millimeters, from the bottom face of the upper ring to the top face of the lower ring. Read the ruler at eye level.
4. Take all the magnets off, assemble the tower again and repeat the measurements. Do three trials in total.
5. Calculate the average of the three trials for each gap.

1. Arma la torre con los seis imanes. Dale unos golpecitos suaves a la varilla para que los anillos se acomoden.
2. Numera los espacios desde arriba: el espacio 1 está entre el anillo de arriba y el segundo anillo, y el espacio 5 está entre los dos anillos de abajo.
3. Con una regla junto a la varilla, mide cada espacio en milímetros, desde la cara inferior del anillo de arriba hasta la cara superior del anillo de abajo. Lee la regla a la altura de los ojos.
4. Saca todos los imanes, vuelve a armar la torre y repite las mediciones. Haz tres pruebas en total.
5. Calcula el promedio de las tres pruebas para cada espacio.

Record your readings in the table below:

Anota tus mediciones en la siguiente tabla:

Sample data table (Values are not real):

Analysis and Reporting

Review the averages in your data table. Did the gaps stay the same from top to bottom, or did they change? Compare your results with your hypothesis and explain them using what you learned about magnetic repulsion and weight. Discuss the other factors that could have affected your results, such as friction between the rings and the dowel, magnets of slightly different strength, a dowel that is not perfectly straight, and how hard it is to read a ruler to the nearest millimeter.

Revisa los promedios de tu tabla de datos. ¿Los espacios se mantuvieron iguales de arriba hacia abajo, o cambiaron? Compara tus resultados con tu hipótesis y explícalos con lo que aprendiste sobre la repulsión magnética y el peso. Comenta otros factores que pudieron influir en tus resultados, como la fricción entre los anillos y la varilla, imanes con fuerzas ligeramente distintas, una varilla que no está perfectamente derecha y lo difícil que es leer una regla con precisión de un milímetro.