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How Do 'Singing Magnets' Work?
dpbsmith asks: "Singing magnets are available at all of the usual geek-toy emporia, and, for all I know, ordinary toy emporia as well. They consist of a pair of magnets made of a polished substance with the general appearance of hematite. What is surprising, pleasing, and unexpected is that when the magnets strike each other under their own power, they produce a sharp, loud buzz that rises in pitch. The sound lasts a good fraction of a second and climbs somewhere into what sounds like the 200-500 Hz range. The exact sound and its duration are somewhat unpredictable and depend on how the magnets happen to strike each other. It is a little like the sound that you get when you mash a pingpong ball against a pingpong table with a paddle. What physics are involved in the production of these sounds?"
"Google searches turn up some forum postings that indicate that it is a synthetic magnetic substance similar to hematite that's available cheaply in China as an industrial byproduct. The singing magnets are a little larger than size of olives; the shape is similar to a (U. S.) football but slightly more elongated. Their major axis is about 5 cm long, their minor about 1 cm. They are fairly powerful and will jump together when placed on a desk about three inches apart. They can distort the colors on a CRT display from a distance of over 20 cm.
Contrary to expectation, the poles of the magnets are oriented along one of the minor axes of the ellipsoid, not the major axis.
Neodymium magnets in 'ordinary' shapes produce boring 'plinks' when they snap together. Something about the shape of these magnets makes the sound much longer-lasting and entertaining. It is not simply the bounding rebound of two objects made of stiff-but-elastic material. Transfers of linear to angular momentum are clearly involved.
If course, I'd love to know whether these things were 'invented' or 'discovered', and by whom, trying to do what.
Contrary to expectation, the poles of the magnets are oriented along one of the minor axes of the ellipsoid, not the major axis.
Neodymium magnets in 'ordinary' shapes produce boring 'plinks' when they snap together. Something about the shape of these magnets makes the sound much longer-lasting and entertaining. It is not simply the bounding rebound of two objects made of stiff-but-elastic material. Transfers of linear to angular momentum are clearly involved.
If course, I'd love to know whether these things were 'invented' or 'discovered', and by whom, trying to do what.
This is clearly the work of witchcraft! BURN HIM!!!
No make that scream...
I took the magnets out of an old SCZI drive bigger than my head, and pried them apart with a screwdriver.
Well I was holding a magnet in each hand, and while I was walking they got a little too close, and my was caught in-between. Oh I sang, like a little girl in church choir.
Long story short, I didn't need stitches, but I did have one very bruised bone, not to mention my ego...
Go ahead and call me unreliable; reliable is just a synonym for predictable.
.. it is the 'sound of the magnetism itself', which is to say, the 'out of balance' nature of the two magnetic forces reflective attraction for each other, pitched over time, much as a delay line, while things stabilize and the energy of the initial collision dissipates ..
; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
Ok, I'll probably lose mod points for this, but I can't be the only one to read that as "How Do Singing Midgets Work?" And here I was so excited to find out if singing midgets really do have to work harder to stay in show-business.
http://instagram.com/thephotographer
Holy. Fucking. Shit. Audiophiles are the stupidest people on earth.
- "Hear that?! The percolations are imminent! Cease your ingress!"
$1,200.00 is not that much for a high quality digital cable, but notice the arrows on the pictures. They indicate the direction in which the sound should flow. Of course it works best with quantum sound purifiers which strips electronic noise from individual electrons. When you are at it, don't forget to buy your tuning dots: "Marigo's VTS Tuning Dots have been one of the most effective and dramatic steps I have taken to improve my system's performance. The improvements were not sublte. They brought great transparency without losing musicality. Clarity, dynamics, inner detail, midrange bloom, bass slam and articulation have such an improved sense of openness that they represent a major paradigm shift in resonance control." Yes, those are little round stickers in various sizes that cost between $5 and $20 a piece, that you should stick to every single piece of equipment and flat surface in your listening room. It is not surprising that when James Randi offers them a million dollars if they can demonstrate that it works in a simple double-blind test (search the commentary archive for audiophile) they don't want it--if I was selling stones and sticks for thousands, I wouldn't want that laughable million either.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
"Sharpen razors overnight with a patented proprietary magnetic field. After each shave simply place the blade edge on the Razor-Mate. Razor blades are reported to last up to ten times longer, and give a smoother, closer shave." Looks impressive, but I only use free magnetic fields and I am strongly against field patents.
Sincerely,
Pan Tarhei Hosé, PhD.
"Homo sum et cogito ergo odi profanum vulgus et libido."
You know, back in my day, they didn't have magnets for keeping razors sharp - the fad back then was using a small pyramid (I kid thee not). This pyramid would not only sharpen razor blades, it also gave water stored in it miraculous healing properties...
As PT Barnum may have said, "there's a sucker born every minute".