Friday pondering

[Brettus]

Don't ask why because I know not but on the way to work a thought popped into my head....

Without the aid of google or the rest of the internet (assume the internet doesn't exist and you aren't reading this on an internet forum but a postcard delivered by your postman or carrier pigeon depending on location)

with proximity does magnetic force increase in a linear, quadratic, exponential or other fashion?

I'll stick a poll up to see what peoples basic opinion is, got me wondering about knowledge generally and how the internet has changed that. I also suspect the internet has made it less important to actually remember a lot of things that were once "necessary", be it for passing an exam or for a real world use. A new skill has come into being, the art of finding what you need to know, googling for a branded general term.

I posted it on twitter but I know there are a lot more smart people on here so wondered what the general consensus would be.

[Brettus]

I also fully accept some of my post may well be complete drivel, my ignorance knows no bounds :) and will quite happily let me embarrass myself but I also know there are lot smarter people than I on this forum and would like to think I could ponder above my station and then see what you guys think. (also curious what the general opinion is so guess away!)

[GeneticBubble]

Im voting linear, it's a total guess and i have no idea what you are actually asking but hopefully when a smart bod comes along if thats the right answer i can pretend i knew it all along and this was all a cover up :smt047

[simesb]

Am I allowed to use an old fashioned thing called a 'text book'?

[BigBaddad]

The force depends on the magnetization of the particle and the magnitude of the external magnetic field.

or are you still in Physics 101.

[benji106]

Not sure thats something I have ever learned, or if it is its buried away in the darkest reccesses of my brain but took an educated guess and seem to be in the majority so far.. now to google it :)

EDIT: Yay I got it right

[Richie]

No Idea, but I vote B. :kiss:

[Brettus]

Interesting, got far more interest in this than I expected heh, thought it would be one of those threads that just earns me funny looks ;)

Physics 101? I didn't even get that far, I had a cursory GCSE education at best as I wasn't the best at paying attention. I just have a curious mind, hence the brain fart on the way to work I guess.

My money was on exponential but I didn't know if there was a better phrase or if someone was going to say it obeys a certain law or other name that describes the rate. Quadratic was thrown in there because my wife corrected me on something the other day that I was saying looked exponential.

I'm always astounded by the collective knowledge of this forum, in such diverse fields too (considering we are all linked by a motorcycle interest at best)

[Jabba]

I'm voting "quadratic" as I suspect that the magnetic field will be parabolic in shape :thumbsup:

But what to I know - I'm a numpty :lol:

[EssexDave]

As far as I remember, basically, magnetic field strength is a quadratic relationship, as somewhere in the formula for the force acting on a particle, it is divided by distance squared.

[mikerj]

I think magnetic flux density has an inverse square law function, same as electric fields, but it's been a while since I needed that kind of information!

[slark01]

http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRfi8ckPIYJvuJvv9xa2hAApdIFqInQW mQFSxKHGgRzxy6Vxcg&t=1&usg=__19aoq0EBBE-vG2h-Y8Ey2XgWc9Q= (http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_m5WVKZPB2T4/TGowEe7xP2I/AAAAAAAAAJw/lQts-uHksdw/s1600/confused-monkey1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://youngsinc3r3-youngsinc3r3.blogspot.com/&usg=__aq4qjRhSTu4gVond5gYdmNWdHUg=&h=380&w=380&sz=29&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=rSENV_ZaIdN2_M:&tbnh=135&tbnw=150&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dconfused%26hl%3Den%26biw%3D1024%26bih %3D575%26gbv%3D2%26tbs%3Disch:1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=122&vpy=99&dur=2896&hovh=225&hovw=225&tx=135&ty=132&ei=jYqcTMvjPM2TjAftzoSPDQ&oei=VoqcTM7RJZSHswaqgq3mDg&esq=8&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0)

Ste

[Ed]

I don't even understand the quezzie:confused:

[EssexDave]

Magnetic force between two magnetic objects follows the same principles as gravitational attraction.

Now this is from memory so forgive me if I'm wrong but I believe the equation is something along the lines of...

Force = KF1F2
------
r^2

K is a constant, F1 and F2 are something else I can't remember for magnetism, but for gravity it is mass, and r is the distance.

Might not be exact but it's something like that, so as someone said, it's an inverse square function, and so they would be linked quadratically in terms of the above poll.

[Brettus]

I don't even understand the quezzie:confused:
I'm impressed how many seem to have grasped what I was blathering on about :)

trying to simplify, when you move magnets closer to each other the force pulling them together (or pushing apart I guess) increases. I wondered by what factor. I still haven't googled it, might do that this evening to see what is on the subject now I've opened this particular can of worms :)

Big thanks to people for indulging my nerdy curiosity, makes me feel not quite so odd ;)

[dizzyblonde]

:confused:

So not the definition of a fart then:rolleyes:

[MisterTommyH]

I seem to remember something about it being quadratic from school.

Logically I don't think it's linear, because if you get magnets together you get that point where they jump together - although that could just be the magnetic force being greather than the other forces acting (friction or gravity).

Also don't think it's exponential because as they got closer and closer the attractive force would become huge and you'd never get them apart.

Quadratic is the only one left.

[Milky Bar Kid]

:confused:

So not the definition of a fart then:rolleyes:

:smt026 I love you!


I guessed expo-whatsitsface....cos I have no clue.......and like many others didn't understand the question at first...

[davepreston]

i dont fully understand but in my simpletons veiw it wouldnt be linar becase magnets are omni directional, nor would it be expenential due to the fact that it doesnt expand to an infinate level no matter how close or far as it would be uncontrolable in its base form
i voted quadratic as it would due to crossing of fields it would square the forces because of the z,x and y axis

but then im a paddy so what the hell would i know