Science a GoGo's Home Page Forums General Discussion General Science Discussion Forum the copper wire

I saw this show on the discovery channel. Some guy got a big coil of copper wire and applied an electrical current to it. Then it took off! I was just wandering if anyone else knows about this, or if they have any idea as to why this happens. P.S. The floor was not metal.

I'm not sure what you're talking about, but it could just be an example of a simple motor.

Check out http://fly.hiwaay.net/~palmer/motor.html

I built similar, hand-held models with my kids.

No, no no. It was just a coil of wire, not connectd to anything. The whole wire took off!

Was Copper wire was invented by two scots men fighting over a penny?

What are you saying...Not connected to anything??
Your original post states that a current WAS applied to aq big coil of wire!!
PS.I assume it would have been a large DC current,
even if it was connected for an instant.
PPS I dont want to help you too much, you might start believing in magic.

I remember seeing that myself, (so your not going crazy), it appeared to be (though i cannot be certain) a copper wire formed into a coil and attached to a current. (the only thing that this coil was attached to was the current supply (ie it was not driving anything itself, it was just the coil hovering 'while' current was supplied).

the guy explained that it was some sort of principle (i cannot remember what principle) but i am guessing that electomagnetics had something to do with it.

Kindly give some more information as to what the heck "it took off" means. Can you be a little more specific? No, make that: Please be very specific.

Mike Kremer,
"What are you saying...Not connected to anything??"
It was a staight copper wire, coiled up with a bit spare that was connected to a source of electricity. (for more info, read on)
"PPS I dont want to help you too much, you might start believing in magic."
Had you read any of my other posts on this site you would know that is impossible

A Lurker,
Ok, the wire was resting on a plain white floor, wood, platic or metal -i don't know. I can't remeber what the source of electricity was, I'm pretty sure it was just a standard mains-plug in the wall. The coil was taped down to the floor, the power was turned on, nothing happened for about 4 to 5 seconds, then the wire, still in a coil shot upwards and hovered, quite steadily, but this was because it was being constrained by the tape. Then the clip ended.
P.S. I strongly doubt the tape is a fake because of the source, Discovery Channel. So save any ridiculing of the clip for their H.Q.

Y,
"i am guessing that electomagnetics had something to do with it"
Undoubtedly.

Hi guys , I saw this show too .They copper wire was in a coil,it was set on top of a glass table and it had a wire attached to it , from what I unserstand an extremely high current was put through this wire and into the copper coil .The copper coil lifted of the talbe ,it levitated ! I know this sounds strange and I don't understnad the physics behind it ,but then again the guy who was doing the demonstration did not either and he worked for boeing I think . It was something they were researching ,so I don't think there is any explantion available for this atm ,but it was very interesting science ... l

Research is apparently a lost art.

http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/tripole.htm

Rob, before you start a thread could you please make sure you do at least a little bit of research. I know that you are trying to contribute to the scientific content, but sometimes your posts are a little vague and ambiguous. The thread ends up being akin to twenty questions rather than science discussion.

Thanks

ok

I think Rob is referring to this:
http://www.americanantigravity.com/bushman.shtml

A coil of wire, plugged into the mains, that hovers! Fact or Fake?

Let me repost the link above that you apparently missed.

http://jnaudin.free.fr/html/tripole.htm

Er no, I didn't miss it, I read it and realised that it was different. The article I posted does not involve a magnet, it is simply a coil of wire. I am not saying I believe this to be true, infact I think it more likely to be a hoax, however I believe it is what Rob was referring to.