# Magnetic levitator - birthday present - help! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 22, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515 "2012-09-22T17:46:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/1 "2012-09-22T17:46:27Z")
My son showed me a cool video of a magnetic levitator that is available online. I want to get it for his birthday. It has a platform that need to line up with a base. Four LEDs light up when the alignment is right. The platform can then support objects such as coffee cups. I have searched and searched. Can anyone help? ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/2 "2012-09-22T18:29:15Z")
Could you link to the video? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/3 "2012-09-22T18:36:11Z")
Did it look like [this](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Levitron-Revolution-EZ-Float-Antigravity-magnetic-disc-levitating-platform-base-/180831900962?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1a6bd522)? ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/4 "2012-09-22T18:39:01Z")
Reading the thread title, I was imagining that the OP’s question was going to be something more like: “Still rising – passing radio tower – how do I turn this thing off!?” ---
**Author:** ![blood63](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/97f17d/32.png) [@blood63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blood63)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/5 "2012-09-22T19:04:54Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > Did it look like [this](http://www.ebay.com/itm/Levitron-Revolution-EZ-Float-Antigravity-magnetic-disc-levitating-platform-base-/180831900962?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a1a6bd522)? That’s it! Thank you ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2012, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/6 "2012-09-22T19:06:09Z")
[Amazon](http://www.amazon.com/Fascinations-Levitron-Revolution-Platform-Technology/dp/B003BWSW0E/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1348340745&sr=8-3&keywords=magnetic+levitator)has it too. ---
**Author:** ![AaronX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@AaronX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AaronX)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/7 "2012-09-24T08:46:34Z")
I read somewhere that this device is special because theory said you couldn’t make a stable floating magnetic device. The inventor didn’t know this and made it, using a loophole. ---
**Author:** ![Arkcon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Arkcon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arkcon)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/8 "2012-09-24T11:16:49Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I read somewhere that this device is special because theory said you couldn’t make a stable floating magnetic device. The inventor didn’t know this and made it, using a loophole. Did he get the hint it would work by conferring with bumblebees? ---
**Author:** ![listedmia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e0b2c6/32.png) [@listedmia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/listedmia)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/9 "2012-09-24T12:30:33Z")
I think this thing is super cool too, in the same vein: [http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-449747-3-D-Mirascope/dp/B000N5T8KA](http://www.amazon.com/Toysmith-449747-3-D-Mirascope/dp/B000N5T8KA) I’ve seen it in person and it’s more interesting than the photos. ---
**Author:** ![Walton\_Firm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/45deac/32.png) [@Walton\_Firm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walton_Firm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/10 "2012-09-24T18:29:20Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I read somewhere that this device is special because theory said you couldn’t make a stable floating magnetic device. The inventor didn’t know this and made it, using a loophole. “Stable” is the loophole. These devices contain a pretty sophisticated microprocessor which adjusts the electromagnetic field many times per second. What’s not possible, per Earnshaw’s Theorem, is to set up a configuration of ordinary permanent magnets in such a way that you can make something float in place. ---
**Author:** ![Blakeyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blakeyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blakeyrat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/11 "2012-09-24T21:05:16Z")
> [@AaronX](#): > > I read somewhere that this device is special because theory said you couldn’t make a stable floating magnetic device. The inventor didn’t know this and made it, using a loophole. No, it just has a little computer inside to make constant adjustments to keep it stable. I don’t think that counts as a “loophole”. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2012, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/12 "2012-09-24T21:21:59Z")
I have what is probably Levitron’s first product. It has no batteries and no microprocessors. The base is a plastic block enclosing a large powerful magnet. You place a plastic plate on the base, then you manually spin a small top on the plate. Once it’s spinning you carefully list the plate an inch or so off the base then lower it and remove it leaving the spinning top floating in mid-air about the base. It takes some practice to make it work and there are little weights that you add or remove from the top until it’s balanced just right. I’ve had it floating for 10 or 15 seconds or more. Found a video of it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/iv8msBamA3M/hqdefault.jpg "Levitron") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv8msBamA3M) ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/13 "2012-09-25T00:10:28Z")
I have one of the original levitons. Like the new ones you need to add energy into the system to keep it stable. Mine no longer works because I kept the little spinning top stored with the large magnet base for too long and it changed it’s magnetic orientation. I was able to get it to spin for almost a minute. I’ve heard claims that using a jet of air to keep the top spinning it could for hours. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/14 "2012-09-25T00:18:58Z")
Then there are the gizmos which pull an object from above, instead of pushing it from below (watching it with an electric eye to stabilize it). Ordinarily, these are even less stable than the push-from-below ones, since you have to worry about it getting too far up or down, instead of just sliding off to the side, and if anything about the device changes the slightest amount, it stops working. I’ve seen some students make one, though, that worked through a Hall effect sensor in the magnet itself, and which would automatically self-stabilize for any load hanging from it. I’m not sure why a similar design hasn’t been adopted in toys. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [September 25, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/15 "2012-09-25T00:30:58Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > I have what is probably Levitron’s first product. It has no batteries and no microprocessors. > > The base is a plastic block enclosing a large powerful magnet. You place a plastic plate on the base, then you manually spin a small top on the plate. Once it’s spinning you carefully list the plate an inch or so off the base then lower it and remove it leaving the spinning top floating in mid-air about the base. > > It takes some practice to make it work and there are little weights that you add or remove from the top until it’s balanced just right. I’ve had it floating for 10 or 15 seconds or more. > > Found a video of it. > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv8msBamA3M](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iv8msBamA3M) What a coincidence the Sixty Symbols you tube channel just had an update today with a spinning magnet levitation video. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/hri1IsxKw3E/hqdefault.jpg "Spinning Magnet - Sixty Symbols") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hri1IsxKw3E) ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/16 "2012-09-26T10:46:31Z")
Dammit! Clicking this thread just cost me $80. Gee, thanks a lot OP. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alka\_Seltzer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Alka\_Seltzer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alka_Seltzer)\ **Post date:** [September 26, 2012, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/magnetic-levitator-birthday-present-help/635515/17 "2012-09-26T12:03:19Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Then there are the gizmos which pull an object from above, instead of pushing it from below (watching it with an electric eye to stabilize it). Ordinarily, these are even less stable than the push-from-below ones, since you have to worry about it getting too far up or down, instead of just sliding off to the side, and if anything about the device changes the slightest amount, it stops working. I’ve seen some students make one, though, that worked through a Hall effect sensor in the magnet itself, and which would automatically self-stabilize for any load hanging from it. I’m not sure why a similar design hasn’t been adopted in toys. I have a magnetic floating globe, with an electromagnet at the top and a permanent one at the bottom. I can get it to spin at insane speeds through use of a hand-held fan. It’s also handy to alert me if there has been a power interruption in the office over the weekend, as I find it sitting on it’s base.