6AD – Levitating Paper Clip: Magnet Experiment

Gioia House Science Symposium

Everyone loves magnets, and why not? The way magnets attract metals and stick to each other looks like pure magic. 6AD made some ‘magic’ of our own and performed the floating paper clip ‘trick’ to celebrate National Science Week.

To build the experimental structure, we used Duplo blocks, paper clips, magnets, a metal ruler, fishing line and sticky tape. We built two Duplo towers and taped the metal ruler to connect the towers. We then stuck the magnets to the metal ruler. We taped one end of the fishing line to the table and tied the other end to the paper clip. The challenge was to find the ‘sweet spot’ where the magnetic force pulling the paper clip up was about equal to gravity pulling it down (tension).

The experiment truly showed us the pure science (not trickery) behind gravity and magnetism and gave us a greater deep insight into how these forces work. We enjoyed working collaboratively and found it fun, informative and creative.

Chloe T and Audrey W
6AD