how powerful can a magnet be?
Can a very small magnet be very powerful? I know everyone’s heard of the toys called “Magnetix”, which has supposedly caused the death of a child. They are so powerful, that they actually caused his intestines to close, forcing bacteria into his blood stream.
There was the James Bond movie, “Live and Let Die”, where he had a watch with a super-high powered magnet, which you could use to grab a piece of metal from 10 feet away. I don’t know if they are THAT powerful, but think of the possibilities. A super powerful magnet is in the ceiling of a convienence store. Someone goes in and brandishes a gun. The magnet causes the gun to go flying out of the robbers hand, and the robbery is botched.
Anyone think that would work? Could magnets be THAT powerful, or THAT beneficial to humanity?
There is a theoretical limit to the strength of a magnet. Magnetic field is measured on Gauss. The practical limit to a useful magnetic field is on the order of 40,000 Gauss (compared to Earth’s magnetic field of 1 Gauss). Typical iron saturates at about this level meaning that even a stronger magnet will not produce a greater force on a piece of iron.
To figure the maximum strength of a magnet. you can figure the change in the magnetic field energy as a piece of iron (or another magnet) approaches the magnet. When the objects are just ready to come in contact, the maximum force is around 100 psi. Meaning that a 1 square inch magnet can produce a force of 100 lbs. Keep in mind that the force drops off quickly as the pieces separate. There are ways to adjust the geometry to make the force drop off more slowly but the limit of about 100 pounds per square inch still holds.
The James Bond or “disarming convenience store” magnet is fiction and will remain so. This is because the field strength drops off so quickly. To do these kinds of actions requires a magnet that is at least as big in diameter as the distance that you expect it to act at. So to grab a piece of metal 10 feet away, you would need a 10 foot (and probably bigger) diameter magnet.
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