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From:
Allan Ayres <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Informal Science Education Network <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Wed, 24 Mar 2004 14:26:27 -0800
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ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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Edmund Scientific's "Scientifics" catalog also has an excellent
assortment of magnets.

http://www.scientificsonline.com/

We've tried any number of types of magnets, coatings, etc., in our
quest for floor-worthiness.  For our vertically-oriented floating
magnet exhibit, our best solution has been to tape up ceramic magnets
from Edmund using black vinyl tape. Slap some red vinyl tape on one
pole and they look pretty slick.

Doing the taping is fairly laborious, but the result is quite
surprisingly durable; we've had four floating magnets stacks on the
floor for almost two years with the original magnets!  (Two stacks
use 3-7/8" O.D. rings on a 1-3/4" O.D. polycarbonate tube; the other
two use 1-3/4" O.D. rings on a 3/4" O.D. polycarbonate rod.)

We've tried and tried to do a horizontally-oriented "sliding magnet"
setup, but we haven't yet found a way to make it durable enough.  For
whatever reason, the magnets are much more likely to 'bind' when
strung on a horizontal tube, so as the visitors push them sideways,
they break in half.  sigh.  It's a really fun activity, but we've
never been able to make it floor-worthy.


--
~~

Allan Ayres
Exhibit Developer
Lawrence Hall of Science
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA 94720-5200
[log in to unmask]
510-642-1254

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