Levitation

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From fiction to non-fiction[edit]
Earnshaw's theorem is a well established theory stating paramagnetic materials
cannot levitate in mid-air in a static enviroment. It was considered for a long time that magnnetic-based levitation was impossible, until in 1984; the spin-stabilized magnetic levitation
top was patented by Roy M. Harrigan.
[1][2] The theorum wasn't wrong, according to Theodore Gray:[2]
It turns out that Earnshaw's theorem is absolutely correct, but it has a couple of loopholes […] It turns out that precession (the rotation of a spinning object’s axis of spin) creates an island of genuine stability in a way that does not violate Earnshaw's theorem, but that went completely unpredicted by physicists for more than a century.
Physicists were shocked to find that levitation was a reality, all because of a misinterpretation of the theorem. The second loophole involved diamagnetism:[2]
His theorem only applies to ferromagnetism, the common north/south pole type of magnetism found in most magnets. Diamagnetism is a purely repulsive magnetic force exhibited to varying degrees by all materials in the presence of a magnetic field. Simply drop a chip of graphite, for example, onto a block of magnets and it will float in midair forever.
Harrigan's patent resulted in the creation of a toy called the Levitron, one variety of which can be seen here:
Fake levitation[edit]
Stage Magic[edit]
Levitation has been a long standing element of stage magic with various tricks being based on objects and people seemingly defying gravity. In reality these tricks uses things like strings or metal poles [3] to make something look like it's floating.
Religious views[edit]
Judaism[edit]
Solomon's Carpet is an extra-Biblical Hebrew legend that King Solomon had a flying carpet that was 60 miles long by 60 miles wide.[4] Magic carpet legends have also appeared in Arabian (One Thousand and One Nights) and Russian folklore.
Christianity[edit]
Jesus provides the most well known case of levitation in Christianity by walking on water to his disciples. He is also mistaken for a spirit at first which gives another example of a levitating creature in Christianity.[note 1] More specifically, Catholicism considers levitation to be a symptom of possession by demons, and cause for exorcism.[5] Except when Jesus did it, presumably.
Islam[edit]
Solomon's carpet also appears in Qur'an 21:81 and Qur'an 34:12 according to Sunni Qur'an commentator Tafsir Ibn Kathir.[6]
Hinduism[edit]
Galleries[edit]
Fake[edit]
Real[edit]
See also[edit]
- Flying carpet fallacy — a type of false equivalence using orientalism as a device
- Hyperloop — a proposal by Elon Musk to use magnetic levitation for high-speed transport
- The Ig Nobel Prize, which awarded the 2000 prize in physics for magnetic levitation of a frog
- Ionocraft — a type of ionic levitation that uses the Biefeld–Brown effect
External links[edit]
- Natural Law Party
- Levitation Day - January 4th
- See the Wikipedia article on Levitation.
- See the Wikipedia article on Levitation (paranormal).
Notes[edit]
- ↑ See Matthew 14:22-33.
References[edit]
- ↑ Levitation device US patent #4382245
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Ignorance = Maglev = Bliss: For 150 years scientists believed that stable magnetic levitation was impossible. Then Roy Harrigan came along. by Theodore Gray February 1, 2004. "This spinning top, which hovers above a magnetic base, was patented in 1983 by a Vermonter named Roy Harrigan."
- ↑ The Levitating Woman – Stage Trick Revealed Rebel Magic
- ↑ Solomon: Solomon's Carpet by Emil G. Hirsch et al. (1906) 'Jewish Encyclopedia
- ↑ Demonic Possession & Oppression; Exorcism: Roman Catholic beliefs & practices Religious Tolerance
- ↑ Fables and Legends of the Quran: Solomon’s Flying Carpet by Sam Shamoun
- ↑ www.physics.org/facts/frog-really.asp