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NEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCENEWSCIENCE construction of this representation of a "lin- would be asked if the track might have had ear motor". a slant, I reversed the vehicle and started it I was prepared to develop eye strain in from the opposite end of the track. It an effort to detect some sort of motion in worked just as effectively in the reverse the vehicle. I need not have been con- direction. In fact, the vehicle can even nav- cerned. The moment the inventor let go of _ igate a respectable upgrade. the vehicle he carefully placed at one end In light of these tests, and considering of the track, it accelerated and literally the remarkable speed of the vehicle, you zipped from one end to the other and flew can discount any notion that this was a sim- onto the floor! Wow! ple ‘coasting’ effect. I tried the experiment myself, and could The second device has the U-shaped feel the powerful magnetic forces at work magnets standing on end in a rough circular as I placed the vehicle on the track. I gen- arrangement oddly reminiscent of tly eased the vehicle to the critical starting England's Stonehenge. This assembly is point, taking great care not to exert any mounted on a transparent plastic sheet sup- kind of forward push, even inadvertently. I ported on a plywood panel, pivoted under- let go. Zip! It was on the floor again, at neath on a free-turning wheel obtained the other end of the track. Knowing thatI from a skateboard. construction of this representation of a "lin- would be asked if the track might have had As instructed, I eased the 8-ounce focus- ear motor". a slant, I reversed the vehicle and started it ing magnet into the ring of larger magnets, I was prepared to develop eye strain in from the opposite end of the track. It keeping it at least four inches away from an effort to detect some sort of motion in worked just as effectively in the reverse the ring. The 40-pound magnet assembly the vehicle. I need not have been con- direction. In fact, the vehicle can even nav- immediately began to turn, and accelerated cerned. The moment the inventor let go of _ igate a respectable upgrade. to a very respectable rotating speed which the vehicle he carefully placed at one end In light of these tests, and considering it maintained for as long as the focusing of the track, it accelerated and literally the remarkable speed of the vehicle, you magnet was held in the magnetic field. zipped from one end to the other and flew can discount any notion that this was a sim- | When the focusing magnet was reversed, onto the floor! Wow! ple ‘coasting’ effect. the large assembly turned in the opposite I tried the experiment myself, and could The second device has the U-shaped direction. feel the powerful magnetic forces at work magnets standing on end in a rough circular Since this assembly is clearly a crude as I placed the vehicle on the track. I gen- arrangement oddly reminiscent of sort of motor, there's no doubt that it is tly eased the vehicle to the critical starting England's Stonehenge. This assembly is indeed possible to construct a motor pow- point, taking great care not to exert any mounted on a transparent plastic sheet sup- _ ered solely by permanent magnets. kind of forward push, even inadvertently. I ported on a plywood panel, pivoted under- The third assembly, which looks like the let go. Zip! It was on the floor again, at neath on a free-turning wheel obtained bones of some prehistoric sea creature, the other end of the track. Knowing thatI from a skateboard. consists of a tunnel constructed of rubber magnet material that can be AN S&M SPECIAL easily bent to form rings. The tunnel device of J . Amazing Magnet-Powered Motor course worked very eli RENT, ond my visit, although Johnson observed that the rubber magnets are perhaps a thousand times weaker than the cobalt samarium magnets used in the other assemblies. There's just one big problem with the more powerful magnets: they cost too much. How do they work? The drawing that shows a curved ‘arcuate’ armature magnet in three successive positions over a line of fixed stator magnets pro- vides at least highly simpli- fied insights into the theory of permanent magnet motive power generation. Johnson says curved magnets with sharp leading and trailing edges are important because they focus and concentrate the magnetic energy much more effectively than do blunt-end magnets. These arcuate magnets are made slightly longer than the lengths of two stator mag- nets plus the intervening space—in Johnson's setups about 3% inches long. Note that the stator mag- nets all have their North faces upward, and that they in this rendering of Howard Johnson’s magnet motor the Stator magnets provide the ropul- sion force to the Armature magnets which are attached to a rotating drum. As drum sping M drives a belt attached to a conventional generator. The generator provides electrical power. The magnet motor runs on Its own. SPRING 1980/45 Amazing Magnet-Powered Motor 52 - NEXUS FEBRUARY — MARCH 1999