Making a Jacob's Ladder from an Arc Lighter & Can a Bismuth Levitator create a Frictionless Motor?

[@rydude998]

Bird addition has taken these videos from A+ to A++

[@applegwava]

rydude998 we have been spoiled,more bird additions

[@ViiKing_]

i think c++

[@ThePTOV]

+Arg0n As in the coding language. :)

[@RoflCraft96]

no shit sherlock

[@turkeyboy5543]

Birds make everything better.

[@TheKingofRandom]

The macro shots make it look absolutely HUGE

[@therealfluffy-7548]

hi

[@Nighthawkinlight]

It was huge but then I used my shrink ray on it

[@labratmatt7327]

I'd love to see a DIY shrink ray. I'll call my physicist friend and see if he can come up with some schematics. Maybe Arduino controlled?

[@christhebirb]

Did you try setting it to Wumbo?

[@ikichullo]

Go back to normie clickbait land where you belong.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Thank you everyone for coming to check out my video! Be sure to leave me some comments, I love hearing from you all and especially when you have cool ideas for future videos. If you didn't stick around until the very end of my last video you might not have met Mose yet. He's my bird. If you enjoy what I do I would appreciate if you would check out my Patreon page and consider supporting my videos in that way. Thanks! www.patreon.com/NightHawkProjects You can check out how to modify an arc lighter to be used with a Jacob's Ladder in this earlier tutorial: kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3zQeImEqMSsbdE And also check out the full build video for my Bismuth Magnetic Levitator: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2bTi42AZ5ileq8

[@raoulduke7668]

ur face looks so calm xD

[@andyisles8666]

NightHawkInLight can you do some more pyrotechnics?

[@alejandronq645]

I think the magnet spins when the current in the coil changes, so it would spin if you hook it to AC. I'm not sure, but I'd say it's worth a try.

[@TheVivaLatrina]

I'm sure codyslab will do this in a vacuum :)

[@octavio2895]

Looks like the magnet is spinning in the transient period but I think is not cause by the coil, its probably caused by the motion. Not sure what you are trying to do with the coil, motors require the magnetic field to change or revolve around them in order to spin. A coil will produce a static magnetic field if you feed it DC. You'll need a bunch of coils strategically placed with some brushes and commutators in order to create a motor with DC. The magnet gets stuck when you energize the coils because the coil is either pushing upwards or downwards on the magnetic (with a slight rotation).

[@qhack]

A coil of wire when hooked to a DC source will generate an EMF field in the direction of Flemings left hand rule. When you remove the DC source (battery) the emf field collapses thus reversing the EMF direction. Since the cube magnet is central to the collapsing field it spins up with the speed relative to the speed of the collapse. The variance you see each time you try, is do to the fact that the magnet is getting hung up on the apparatus.

[@jeremykoslow9381]

well said

[@cphVlwYa]

Q-Hack! This still doesn't explain where the rotary motion comes from? It would make sense if spinning the magnet caused an increase in the flux, and then it would spin to slow the flux change. However the spinning magnet should be magnetically equivelt to a non-spinning one as the poles are up and down and the field is "round". This is proven by the fact that it keeps spinning freely. If the field was changing while it was spinning it would slow down from the inductance with the metal and the wire. This is why I think the spinning is due to its motion when it falls back toward the center

[@Meoiswa]

The rotary motion comes from the magnet being a cube and bumping the surfaces, creating a pivot point which turns the linear force into rotation

[@qhack]

+Yextus I think you missed the concept here. While the field is active, the magnet can't spin, it can only align with the field. When the field collapses, the magnet is then free to move as the force holding it in place quickly diminishes. Because the collapse of the EMF is in reverse direction from the original EMF, it provides a force to the cube which then tries to realign to the new EMF, which then goes away and momentum of the cube is free to spin in the otherwise frictionless zone of the structure.

[@andrewphillips1700]

Q-Hack is correct here. Bam.

[@KiesandNoob]

If you used a weaker battery for the coil, you might be able to find a balance between slowly accelerating the magnet and not pulling it to the side.

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Not a bad idea.

[@CaseyRedDragon]

could just try a resister

[@otter9801]

i dont know much about electricity, but what about less coils?

[@amicklich6729]

I wonder though if the problem is simply the consistency of the magnetic field generated in the coil. At any given instant(miniscule amount of time)the force could be greater in one area causing it to pull the block to that point. In a perfect world, with a perfect coil where the field was absolutely balanced at all times the block could theoretically be held at center-ish. Just thinking "out loud". : )

[@amicklich6729]

For that matter, even the shape being a block might have an impact. Being a square with edges may even be factor, and I wonder if a cylindrical shape without the flat surface area and of course the sharp edges might help.

[@PsychoAxeMan]

your bird was stealing the show lol

[@GrinWorkshop]

haha)

[@olly123451]

Putting the coil on its side like that really caused you to make the worlds saddest Gauss Cannon

[@Nighthawkinlight]

Ha, I guess it did.

[@heruhcanedean]

The saddest Gauss Cannons are the ones trapped in the brains of procrastinators.

[@labratmatt7327]

I think that one fires with more force than the Gauss gun I built. Although mine threw some unnecessary sparks as an added bonus

[@GumpterCrayon]

Your dog is really cute

[@Nighthawkinlight]

He's a turtle you racist.

[@GumpterCrayon]

NightHawkInLight I am so sorry I missgenderd your bottle nose dolphin!!!

[@Joe-pi9bx]

This comment chain is the best thing since sliced bed.

[@shagamuffin5185]

Since when did beds have to be sliced to be considered the best? Equality for all beds!

[@shagamuffin5185]

Since when did beds have to be sliced to be considered the best? Equality for all beds!

[@jason-ge5nr]

When you cut the power you produce back emf due to the collapsing field around the coil

[@thatdude5098]

Henry Medina *You're

[@thatdude5098]

Punctuation

[@thatdude5098]

Salty

[@PixlRainbow]

+Henry Medina what happened to you?

[@Zetex2000]

got beat up in school, ya know, the usual stuff

[@Rockmyway00]

You're like the new Grant Thompson, love your videos

[@hugosander9470]

Neonal he is the originall

[@MrNavyman53]

He's been popular longer than grant tho...

[@bangasou12]

+Neonal grant now has click bate titles

[@jacewalton6677]

Nighthawk was first. and in my opinion better! ;)

[@Rockmyway00]

N Kayser But I didn't mean to insult him tho, I just like his videos cus he reminds me of old Grant Thompson who I used to watch ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@Parquimetro95]

30% of the comments talk about the actual video 70% of the comments talk about how cute the parrot is

[@Scrogan]

For the motor to work, you'd need some sort of commutator to switch the magnetic field at the optimal frequency, whether it be by brushes or by a Hall effect switch. Theoretically the Hall effect switch does take a fraction of energy out of the rotor, though this is negligible. The biggest problem you'd face would be trying to extract the mechanical energy of the rotor without bearings to stabilise the axle. I imagine magnetic bearings could be made to this end, but either they'd have to be airtight or the entire system would have to be in a vacuum, and whatever you're driving with this torque would also have to be frictionless. The only application I can see for this would be frictionless reaction wheels in a spacecraft, and for that you could simply use a large magnetic rotor as the flywheel and the motor simultaneously.

[@KeystoneScience]

I think a constant DC will not make a motor, motors usually use an actuator to turn off and on the coil as to make it spin, perhaps if you used a frequency generator you could find the correct frequency at which it will spin the magnet, you probably also should use 2 separate coils as to have one push and one pull for the magnet ( again with the frequency generator turning the coils off and on. )

[@KeystoneScience]

I meant commutator, not actuator, sorry

[@Nighthawkinlight]

I should have been more clear about the question I was asked. It simply was asking if a coil of wire and battery would turn the levitator into a motor. It would be interesting to see if a multi coil setup, AC, etc. could be made to work.

[@KeystoneScience]

NightHawkInLight ahh ok I see, yeah it would be pretty interesting... great video btw!

[@robson6285]

Hèhè, finally... someone who sees and knows (and says) whats really going on there. Clearly because its from that keystoneman himself! It is very clear here again, that education helps gigantic when experimenting with simple things like this. Good that you watch that youtubers and help them understand what they are speaking of!

[@SonOfFurzehatt]

That's the Jacob's ladder of a man who doesn't need to compensate for anything.

[@RBMRoman]

I want a shoulder bird that like, chills with me and shit, but I don't want poop everywhere? Obviously it will poop, but are they bad poops? Or like, dry poops? What's your guys' experience with birds and poop?

[@Nighthawkinlight]

You can house train them. But think long and hard before getting a bird. They're needy and live a long time. Do some research into how much work they are.

[@RBMRoman]

Yea, that's what I thought. I own finches and doves in an outdooor aviary and would probably get more seasoned in the art of birdkeeping before the ultimate trained shoulder bird.

[@GregZuro]

rule of thumb: bigger bird = bigger poop. not dry. :)

[@pedroamerico9992]

Bird poop is like really extra wet

[@theapotheosisofgdot2294]

RBMRoman birds dont piss. It's a combo move of #1&2 in one, so it's never dry...

[@joshhill4760]

In case you couldnt tell from all the other comments, mose is great and we need more mose in our lives, :D

[@cleetus1715]

That bird is so cute

[@DraconicMaker]

Don B it’s a dog u racist

[@ociemitchell]

That Bisumth levitator is nice and I like the idea of a levitating motor. I see a couple things you would need to address to make this motor work: 1) A coil of wire with DC won't make a magnet spin. You need to change the magnetic field in some way, either by putting in alternating current, or switching the direction of the magnetic field with brushes. Since you are going for low friction, the AC route is probably better. 2) The orientation of the magnet is wrong. You have the magnet suspended by the larger magnet above so that the north-south axis is vertical, but if you were trying to build a motor, you would want the magnet's axis to be horizontal, with the coil also horizontal (.ie. wrapped around a horizontal axis). You might be able to get this to work by putting the small magnet at the center of a non-magnetic disk and then putting even smaller magnets around the circumference of the disk like spokes. An alternating current in a coil next to the disk might be able to get it to spin, but if it is too strong, it will just pull the disk towards it. It looks like from the video, the magnet is not pulled very strongly back to the center.

[@TristanBehrens]

From what I can understand, you're providing the coil with a DC current which is giving it a magnetic field similar to that of a bar magnet. That's why the magnet is just sticking to it. An emf is generated through change in magnetic flux (in the case of disconnecting the battery, from max to 0) and so a similar emf is produced when disconnecting the coil as when connecting it. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think that may be causing the spinning? AC would produce more motion, I think. I haven't thought about it in much detail but are you sure that a permanent magnet inside a coil would work the same way as a conventional motor, with the coil spinning inside a magnetic field? Keep up the good work.

[@sienile]

A frictionless motor is an oxymoron. A motor is meant to drive a load, which introduces friction. Also any bearing that will stabilize the motor will add friction. Even when using magnets to float the motor as bearings, the load will make it unstable and pull it off center creating magnetic friction. It is possible to create a frictionless spinning object, but it can't drive a load without friction and therefore can't do any work, making it not a motor.

[@ZeroPlayerGame]

Well, a motor that doesn't ADD friction would be pretty good!

[@JacksonUW]

The only thing I can think of as to why it continues to spin so rapidly without the circuit complete would be inductive effects from the coil acting back on the magnet. But even that shouldn't make it sustain the spin the way it did, since, as you already mentioned, there is friction from the air.. Very interesting. It would be worth seeing if you could get the magnet spinning without the battery but with the coil around it, and whether it it would still keep spinning like that. Nice work!

[@srdjansavic2223]

Try switching the direction of the current through the coil to see if it affects the direction of the spinning. If you get random results, then perhaps the spinning is just by accident. Great work, love your videos :)

[@carterschmidt5200]

What if you had 4 square bismuth magnet levitators in a grid with wire coils in the gaps between them, then pulsed electricity through each coil in a sequence to make the magnet jump to the adjacent squares?

[@codymikolitch1369]

Good video nighthawk, I wonder if there is not some way to use the magnetic levitation not for a motor but a generator. Maybe attaching fins to it to make a super low friction wind turbine might have some use. Also thanks for including us on the prototype run it is fun to try to understand the principles at work with you, maybe include more in future videos?

[@DivisibleNut489]

when you were trying to make the friction less motor at one point the magnet flung towards the wire. Could you try to make the magnet fling to another bismuth levitator.

[@Grayson.P]

cool video: and a thought somewhat about the motor/coil (that's what got me thinking about it): wherein you have a setup similar to that of a coil gun, except instead of having the straight line, have the bearing in a closed loop so it is constantly pulled around in a circle.

[@tylerbtopg]

If you put a black strip on the half's of each sides of the magnet, you shout be able to build momentum as light reacts differently to the lighter spots and darker spots. Theoretically, you could make it spin for a long time.

[@tomvincent8659]

Inductors store energy in their magnetic fields. The is what causes inductive reactance, where an AC signal has its current and voltage put out of phase when running through an inductor. The magnetic flux from current takes to time to build up as well as discharge. The discharging of current creates an opposite magnetic field and I believe this is what is causing the magnet to spin. Even though you disconnected the battery, the air can act as a very large resistor which will allow the current the discharge slowly. The speed is due to the very small amount of friction from air. A very simple circuit can be made where you wrap an iron nail in wire hook it up to a battery and then attach two free wires to the inductor in parallel. If you hold the wires and then disconnect the battery, you will feel a very large zap. I made one of these in my first electronics class, hence my knowledge.

[@TheOriginalCoolDad]

A) When the magnet spins up, put a DMM on the wires to see if it generates a current and B) you made a rudimentary coil gun with the coil on its side.

[@PureChaos69]

This is awesome! I've always wanted to make one of these Jacob's Latter, because I always saw them in movies! I never made one myself, because I was always worried I would electrocute myself on it... even though I would be using caution and common sense..

[@seanhampson4126]

Your bird is such a beauty!

[@MobiusHorizons]

you could attempt a multiple coil design much like a brushless motor. In such a design the magnet would be pulled from both sides at once, so it might not require a spindle to keep it centered. you would then use 2 or more such pairs to help the magnet keep turning. It would also be very interesting to see what very short pulses in the first configuration look like. This could probably be achieved with an Arduino and PWM motor control hardware, or even just a simple mosfet to pulse the coil. I would specifically be interested to see what happens if you can pulse the magnet short enough that the magnet does not come in contact with the bismuth. Fun project, thanks for sharing.

[@davidbennett9107]

That is the best bird I've ever seen, after this video I feel like getting one of my own

[@CAGreve1231]

Why not use a 555 timer to commutate the floating magnet? You can swap one resistor with a potentiometer and have a speed controller. I wonder how fast it would spin?

[@TheMrMKultra]

now I want to have this bismuth levitator as a decoration piece. might build one some day

[@CoryPickerign333]

6:57 - i wonder if u had a bismuth doughnut(casted in two halves, so that the inner walls can be smoothed out) then put bead magnets inside the middle and wrapped it with a coil or several time delayed coils, would that create something that is antigravity.? or would it fly/spin out of control?

[@karm65]

if I recall correctly it has over 30 years since I studied electronic induction. the collapsing electromagnetic field causes an oscillating current in the copper wire creating an alternating magnetic field. This will trickle down after a while due to the resistance in the wire and other reasons. This causes the magnet to spin.

[@dfvhswrjjrefvyht4110]

Could you measure the voltage from the coil after disconnecting? Thanks

[@peterbucek2136]

Could the spinning magnet in the coil generate electricity forever in a vacuum?

[@Blu3Jao]

Could you attach four small pieces of steel to the neodymium magnet to act as fins, then blow air through the tubing to create a continuous jet of air. Granted the fins have rotational symmetry, the deflection of the air would create a pneumatic motor, right?

[@ficolas2]

if I wanted to have a bigger gap in the bismuth levitator, what would I need? A bigger magnet? And making the distance between the magnet and the bismuth smaller?

[@teslaptak]

I would highly suggest to try low frequency PWM signal to the coil

[@tcmyoda]

Coils have an inductive reaction to maintain the flow of current after the power is turned off by generating a voltage. There is also a capacitive effect between the wires and the coil has a resonate frequency it can oscillate at. The surrounding electrical conductors generate a counter current to resist the movement, including collapse & expansion, of magnetic fields. To use the bismuth as a "frictionless" bearing or rotor, you would need to setup opposing coils for a polyphase/uniphase AC motor.

[@dippingbird7533]

Perhaps it is spinning because the cube is first close to the wire in an assymetric magnetic field, and once you disconnect the battery the magnetic field is changing fast, inducing a current in the cube which in turn causes the cube to spin due to an imbalance of forces, but i have no idea if this effect would be strong enough to cause the rotation. btw great video, keep up the good work!

[@sparkyprojects]

If you go with 2 small vertical coils one each side, that should help, you may have to attach a couple of small magnets to the sides of the magnet because the poles are vertical, you want horizontal poles, also small pulses to make it spin. Would the jacobs be better if the wires were more vertical ? A jacobs ladder will work with AC, and generally works better with a gabrielle electrode to make it start with a wider bottom gap.

[@MrDb4894]

Say you alternated sections of bismuth levitator and vertical coil wraps in a circular formations, and alternated the flow of electricity between the coils in a pattern in which the electricity turns on when the magnet is in the center of the coil behind it, and then turn off when the magnet reaches the center of that coil, and so on, would the magnet levitate in a circular motion?

[@applegwava]

what we need a a massive project for youtubers to collab,like Codyslab,nurdrage,grant thompson(in his non clickbait form),nighthawkinlight and ave

[@GrothBrooks]

What if you rapidly disconnected the current several times a second? If you made a mechanism to connect the battery 20-30 times a second, would the magnet stay in the center more reliably?

[@lablulz2483]

What would happen if you used neon or argon instead of air? could you continuously modulate the color of the arc by varying the proportions of a mixture of the two?

[@serggie3]

You have such a unique look., I've never seen anyone who looks like you ever

[@gavinshah7932]

What would happen if you put the levatator in a vacuum chamber and had the magnet spinning with a coil around it? Would it be free energy?

[@Hazarth]

does that rotating magnet create some kind of magnetic field fluctiations? and if yes, could you generate energy by letting it spin in the center of the coil?

[@thagrit]

On the motor. try metering the coil of wire after you get it spinning. also when disconnecting a conductor from a current source you get a momentary spike of significantly higher power.

[@iankunesky6740]

I wonder if the bismuth motor idea would work if a coil on each of the 4 sides that were set up to pulsate in sequence very quickly. It would have to be quick enough that the magnet wouldn't have time to come out of one side before the next side would start acting upon it.

[@ayushgarg3694]

If feels like rubberband effect, and it creates a tension in magnetic field, causing it to spin when the wire is discharged. Try swinging the magnet and see if the results are same & would less powerful battery help. btw that lighter looks dope

[@92turbo240]

i could be wrong but wouldnt it be the calapsing magnetic field when you disconnect the battery that induces the spin? and if it is, im sure the crystals are affecting the fall time of the field giving varied speeds when the battery is disconnected.

[@MrMarshallMan3]

What would happen if you decreased the current and made the coil a little wider in diameter? I assume it would still pull, but maybe not as much? It might rotate weird though

[@xgaustinxg3413]

Because of the static charged created by the DC voltage applied by the battery the magnet just wants to cling to the coil. If you used an alternating current with a coil that is made with motor wire that is smaller but with less of an insulator on it. With the AC and motor wire you should be able to come close to achieving the friction less motor that is the goal here.

[@richardunterberger2614]

Hey NHL, couldn't you use a significantly larger coil that could perhaps act on the magnet without pulling it off center?

[@radioactivated]

Could you use a circuit to automatically change the polarity of the wire coil? Would that make it run more smoothly, or am I overthinking?

[@BlitzProHD]

if you have a coil that doesnt have as many loops would it produce a magnetic field that is weak enough to spin it without getting it completely stuck?

[@EliJoeUKnow]

I think it might be interesting to put multiple coils surrounding the magnet. And a possible answer to get it going is putting the coil/s farther away so the the magnetic poles connect lightly.

[@euroamerican92]

It spins because the fields are strongest from the poles of the magnet, meaning the bismuth would have the poles horizontal. When you turn on the coil, it flips 90 degrees and locks in place, storing some energy in the proximity to the bismuth. When disconnected, it immediately rotates back to being horizontal and the momentum is preserved as a spin.

[@ΑλΜπαμπαΐμ]

I think that u should attach the magnet to a wooden base but be able to spin freely up to one poin and around it glue the coil (sorry for my English but I am from Greece). Hope that helps!!!

[@steffen2480]

The important thing to note here is that not the electric current itself makes the magnet spin but the change in current.

[@r4tch3t]

just a guess but it looks like conservation of angular momentum, when disconnecting the magnetic flux would dissipate unevenly causing one part of the magnet to move towards the centre first causing an initial spin. As it moves towards the centre the magnet seems to spin up indicating the angular momentum from moving in has been transferred to a faster spin.

[@MrNavyman53]

Try using a large bowl with a space blanket over the opening and a vacuum to make a better parabolic mirror. You have to keep the vacuum constant but it's nearly perfect, and cheap.

[@melissawilson2521]

Nighthawk thank you have given my son so many save / daggers idea's thank you :)

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

Apparently the magnet sometimes spins because it just hits a wall when external field is turned off.

[@HalfBlindProductions]

you need a commutator for that motor if you have two batteries with opposite poles that way it won't be pulled one way or the other or rather it alternates quickly alternatively hook up your pulse DC lighter battery

[@wasimjaan3300]

can you please explain Ohm' s law V and resistance R with any vedio presentation? 😊

[@brotherblood1180]

How long will it take for my TV to completely discharge if I leave it unplugged

[@lohphat]

Perhaps the initial spark gap is too narrow to allow a large enough surface area for heating. What if you increase the distance between the leads?

[@firestorm8265]

Just one question, where did the "How to Isolate Alkali metals project part 3" go?

[@TheLuckymod13]

I assume that the magnet spins at disconnect due to the magnetic field collapsing. I would be curious to time the average spin, and then time the average spin when connecting the two wires together (closing the loop) immediately after disconnecting them from the battery.

[@ShankMods]

If it IS spinning faster when you remove the connection, my guess is that it is caused by "inductive spiking". A youtuber by the name of AfroTechMods has a great video explaining the concept.

[@kegan187]

The issue I see with how you're trying to make the magnet rotate is that you are using a stationary magnetic field, as in it remains in one polarization after it is connected. Motors that use electromagnets to produce torque on the rotor are arranged in a circle around the rotor and alternate between being a north and a south magnet in order to keep the rotor moving. Also, if you were to apply this to a levitating magnetic such as this, the rate at which the individual magnets change would need to be pretty high to prevent the magnet from moving to one side of the coil (the one that aligns the magnet's and electromagnet's respective poles), as you see occur in the video.

[@PyroThunder]

what an awesome parrot. beautiful birds.

[@nexaentertainment2764]

Even in a vacuum, wouldn't the magnet have losses due to eddy currents and all sorts of magnetic effects between the magnet and metals?

[@MakeTestBattle]

... OR you could blow on the magnet with compressed air. :D -Justin

[@mattsoup4121]

Hey, didn't expect to see you guys here

[@MakeTestBattle]

I like DIY channels. :3 -Justin

[@revimfadli4666]

@@mattsoup4121 but then it would be a _friction-based_ pneumatic motor :P

[@KnaufL]

The cause of that rapid spinning after disconnecting the battery is the pulse defined by Lenz law;" The direction of current induced in a conductor by a changing magnetic field due to Faraday's law of induction will be such that it will create a field that opposes the change that produced it. "

[@alexgehl8691]

I'd say the magnet spins faster on release because the magnet is just being pulled back to the center. I think a good solution to make a motor would be to use finer copper wire wrapped around something as close to circular as possible in order to keep the magnet centered.

[@EdDrow]

Can you try to measue the voltage when the cube is spinning. I'm interessted if it induce voltage or it just stop to move.

[@Zarosian_Ice]

Hmm when you put that coil sideways it reminded me of a rail gun lol.. I'm wondering what would happen if you have a long spiral coil, and then basically try to get the magnet in the coil.. Would it work like a railgun? Or will it just hooer the magnet out of the tube/spiral?

[@locouk]

If you applied a positive charge to the lower plate and negative on the upper plate, maybe with a fine strand of wire just contacting the magnet from each plate you'd have a levitating homopolar motor.

[@Neventual]

What about a spherical magnet within the coil? This may prevent contact with the diamagnetic bismuth.

[@_Jeremyxlewis]

Great video plus your bird is super cute

[@DarkCrawler]

what would happen if you use less voltage to the magnet? I feel like thats too much voltage for such a small scale

[@flames5000]

I wonder what would happen if he would have made the coil smaller would that change the results?

[@Zambieslar]

Its possible that the magnet by spining around the coper coil is acting like its own generator and creating its own charge which intern may make it spin as fast as it is.

[@johndoe-bq1xt]

Maybe back emf due to a coil's opposition to instantaneous current changes gives that magnet one last flux push to spin it while the top magnet holds it in place with its OWN flux?

[@ElectronicsExplored]

Even if you would make a motor with it (lets say a small induction motor running on low voltage AC with two coils and a capacitor), shouldn't lenz' law slow it down?

[@epooloope]

How about using AC current and trying to play around with the frequency?

[@JackSinger]

That bird is adorable!

[@oscill8ocelot]

You should try humming as you blow through the tube and see if the arc will be affected by the sound waves.

[@DanielYusim]

Your motor is supposed to switch poles at least every half-turn. That way, it's always repelling the magnet on each side, instead of attracting it once it spins around a partial turn. That's why you need something like brushes or a rotating switch to get the polarity of the electromagnet to switch based on the position of the magnet.

[@MrTeaStew]

try using a smaller coil or lower voltage and lower amperage. the coil was creating too strong of a field and was overpowering the force holding it between the bismuth plates. It is a fun experiment and I think it could be made to work.

[@PenfookioGaming]

Probable cause of the magnet rotating after releasing the power is the induced currents into the coil, made by the rotating magnet.

[@dperez1302]

when it comes to the magnet spinning, upon disconnecting a load in the fashion you are there is a huge inductive spike that runs through the coil causing the magnet to spin, it very brief, in order to make this a motor of some kind you need a specially polarized magnet and and rapidly switching power supply connected to several coils in order to create something similar to a brushless motor, I think it's very possible to create a near frictionless motor this way using your levitator

[@zinckensteel]

It may work better with thinner wires, further apart. Otherwise, run a 100k-1Meg resistor from one pole to the middle of the gap where you want the arc to start. The smaller gap from the resistor's free-floating end to the other pole will break down first, triggering the full gap, which may be long enough to get some travel out of the arc, as the longer the arc, the more power it's dissipating into the air.