# How strong is the world's strongest magnet? (man-made) **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 28, 2009, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409 "2009-01-28T18:35:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/21 "2009-01-29T13:12:24Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > So people should be doing things at random, trying to discover things by accident? No, but when someone suggested they wanted to build a 45 Tesla magnet, I’d have expected someone to say, “What for?”. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/22 "2009-01-29T16:13:11Z")
> [@ivan\_astikov](#): > > No, but when someone suggested they wanted to build a 45 Tesla magnet, I’d have expected someone to say, “What for?”. 'Cause it will go up to _eleven_! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/23 "2009-01-29T16:20:40Z")
[QUOTE=ivan astikov] So, how big a magnet do I need, to pull an ocean liner into my floating island? [/QUOTE] Depends on how close you are planning to get the magnet to the ship. If you are getting it really close then you probably won’t need all that large a magnet (better have a strong chain and a decent tug boat though). If you are thinking to grab a passing ship from a long distance (say more than a few yards) then you can’t make a magnet that big. Magnetism doesn’t work very well at a distance. -XT ---
**Author:** ![ivan\_astikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@ivan\_astikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivan_astikov)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/24 "2009-01-29T16:24:15Z")
> [@xtisme](#): > > Depends on how close you are planning to get the magnet to the ship. If you are getting it really close then you probably won’t need all that large a magnet (better have a strong chain and a decent tug boat though). If you are thinking to grab a passing ship from a long distance (say more than a few yards) then you can’t make a magnet that big. Magnetism doesn’t work very well at a distance. > > -XT Bwahahahahahahahaha…Oh! Damn! ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/25 "2009-01-29T16:29:00Z")
Ah well…whooshed again. 🙂 -XT ---
**Author:** ![ProfessorX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@ProfessorX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProfessorX)\ **Post date:** [January 29, 2009, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409/26 "2009-01-29T17:30:46Z")
> [@pravnik](#): > > The biggest Magnetic Horseshoe can be found in Australia. It’s roughly one and one half miles across. > > [Magnetic Horseshoe](http://www.magnetic-island.com.au/horseshoe-bay.html) hahaha. Maybe one day it’ll pull the moon closer ala Bruce Almighty. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-strong-is-the-worlds-strongest-magnet-man-made/483409.md?page=1)