A experiment that explains the need for alignment coils in various EPG devices that Stan Meyer created
.
1. Obtain two containers of Aaron's Thinking Putty (r) online at puttyworld.com
and also at some Hobby and toy stores.
2. The putty is similar to an older product called "Silly Putty"(r) but the product by Aaron's contains
an ingredient that is attracted to magnets., possibly magnetite??
3 When this putty is placed near a magnet (which is provided in each tin) it slowly moves and
engulfs the magnet like an amoeba!!
For the first experiment, tear off a small amount (about golf ball sized) and roll it
in your hands making a cylinder about 1 cm in diameter and 5 cm tall.
.
Then wrap it with it a strip of paper about 6.5 cm by 10-20 cm. It's similar to rolling you own "cigarette"
Since the putty is slightly. sticky, before wrapping it with paper, a quick spray of Armor-All(r) or a little bit
of baby oil or mineral oil on the paper acts as a release agent Waxed paper, cooking parchment paper or a 3 x3
Post-It (r)can also be tried. Cellophane tape also can be used to temporarily hold the paper tube together
What you are trying to do is to make a temporary removable mold for the cylinder of "magnetic" putty
Put it in a copper tube slightly shorter that the putty cylinder and use two strong neodymium magnets one each end of the
putty cylinder. One with the North pole facing out on one end and the South pole facing out on the other end .
The flux lines from the magnets will flow through the putty wit it functioning like a"keeper", similar to a piece of steel
on a horseshoe magnet that carries magnetic flux
It takes a little while for the magnets to align the ferromagnetic particles along the long axis axis of the putty cylinder
because if the viscosity of the putty..
After about 24 hours, carefully remove the cylinder and its wrapping then test it to see if its like a bar magnet
Will it pick up or move a straight pin, paper clip or a small tack?
Is the effect permanent or temporary?
If you place a magnet on one end of a similar non magnetized cylinder does the other end of
the cylinder have a magnetic characteristic ??
For the next experiment
After kneading another portion in your hands for several minutes and making a similarly sized cylinder
an place a magnet on the end of a newly formed cylinder does it pick up a paper clip?
If so, this shows the paramagnetic property of the putty.
also always use a new paperclip or tack because they are easily magnetized and might give you inaccurate result
In the first case, the magnets align the magnetic material slowly and it acts like a bar magnet
After mixing and disrupting the arrangement of particles,, the putty should not act like a magnet
Next, for the third experiment, make up a number of identical cylinders of magnetic putty and freeze them.
in the refrigerator
Use a longer section of copper tube about two and a half feet long and wrap it with a pickup coil using insulated wire "bell wire"
Drop one a a time with the pipe held vertically and see if a pulse of current results
If you have an oscilloscope you may be able to see if the polarity of the magnet when dropped through the tube
makes a difference in the polarity of the voltage trace.
Fourth experiment See if a frozen sample of the magnetized putty retains its magnetism after
1 or more days
Since the magnetic particles can move more freely in a liquid then a gel this might be a reason to consider viscosity
in the design of ferrofluid cores on EPGs
You can also compare times falling through non conductive conductive tube such as pvc (using same inside diameter)
and copper tubing to see if the magnets are slower in the copper tube
If so why?
A similar experiment can be conducted with a ferrofluid in sealed vial or test tube.
What do you think will happen?
Ferrofluids such as EFH-1 by FerroTec consist of magnetite particles, a thin hydrocarbon based carrier liquid and a surfactant
such as oleic acid. Even gentle agitation will disrupt the magnetic alignment of the magnetite particles.
The mixing of the ferrofluid when pumped with an impeller in a mechanical pump EPG is counteracted
by the use of alignment coils
If one examines the ratio of magnetic susceptibly to viscosity Stan Meyer picked the one that could carry the greatest amount of magnetic flux
with the lowest viscosity.
Since the magnetic particles can move more freely in a liquid then a gel this might be a reason to consider viscosity
in the design of ferrofluid cores on EPGs
You can also compare times falling through non conductive conductive tube such as pvc (using same inside diameter
