electromag vs rare earth mag

[mbkustomguitars]

I tried the old make an electro mag with a nail and wire and battery with success but could not repell a rare earth magnet.
Is this possible?

 

[electricpete]

The problem is there is still attraction from the nail to the Neo which is overcoming the repulsion created by the current. If you boosted the current high enough, I suspect you could get repulsion.

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[electricpete]

An interesting experiment for me is to compare the following:

1 - Attractive force between cube of Neo magnet and cube of steel

2 - Attractive force between cube of Neo magnet and cube of ferrite magnet.

(With all cubes roughly the same size)

The initially surprising thing is that 1 is stronger than 2. The reason is that the Neo is much stronger than the ferrite, so the attraction in 2 is limited by the ferrite magnet. In your case, the repulsion is limited by the dc current... and I suspect this is small compared to the attraction associated with the Neo to the iron.

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[electricpete]

Another way to try your experiment would be with the wire wrapped around a wooden dowel instead of steel nail. Then with dc current in the proper polarity, you should have no problem demonstrating repulsion.

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[mbkustomguitars]

thank you all. this all sounds very logical and makes sense and I will try these ideas.
mbkustomguitars