Saturday Morning Science Experiment: Up With Magnets!

Ferrofluids are basically just iron nanoparticles suspended in a liquid. In the presence of magnets, they do some pretty cool things. For instance, ferrofluids flow to place where the magnetic flux--the strength of the magnetism--is strongest. So if you magnetize the screw from a meat grinder so the magnetic flux is denser at the top than it is at the bottom, the ferrofluid will climb the screw like staircase.

Thumbnail image courtesy Gregory Maxwell, via CC

Maggie Koerth-Baker is the science editor at BoingBoing.net. She writes a monthly column for The New York Times Magazine and is the author of Before the Lights Go Out, a book about electricity, infrastructure, and the future of energy. You can find Maggie on Twitter and Facebook.

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MORE: magnetism • Science

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Anonymous

The artist Sachiko Kodama specializes in kinetic sculptures using ferrofluids; they often look rather like the video cited here but more elegant (being carefully designed rather than made out of a meat grinder and a plastic tub ;-) This video is a good example of her work.
Scott V

@ #7
My favorite part is the cheesy guitar. I thought that was the 90210 these song for a moment.
that_music

there are instructions for making it at http://chemistry.about.com/od/demonstrationsexperiments/ss/liquidmagnet.htm
misterjuju

Wow! I love how it looks like a creepy, spiky snake slithering. Beautiful
paulj

Perfect – a science experiment that’s also geigereque art!
Patrick Dodds

The hand toying with the meat grinder (ugh! How CAN anyone eat the stuff?) and the spectral, spooky music – the building blocks of a nightmare.
RedShirt77

That’s from the how to….

“Several people have asked me if they can make substitutions for the oleic acid and the kerosene.”

Holy shit, can you guys light this stuff on fire for next weeks experiment?
Anonymous

My favorite part of this is the hand, reaching hesitantly into the frame, slowly caressing the curves of the screw, languidly rolling it back and forth. Clearly this experiment was more fun stoned.
thecheat

That stuff is bad ass. I’d buy some but would probably spill it somewhere.
Snig

Oh sure, all fun and games until it assembles and starts looking for John Connor.
- Chris Spurgeon
  
  Snig, that is the best comment in the history of forever.