Magnets and Weights in Microgravity

Several donut-shaped magnets and weights (washers) are dropped in free fall. A free fall like this creates a microgravity environment during the time the experiment is in free fall. This experiment was designed and built by middle school students and was conducted in the 2.2 Second Drop Tower at NASA Glenn Research Center as part of the WING student program. The outer (far left and far right) magnets are fixed in position while the inner magnets are suspended on a string and are free to move. Between those two magnets are several metal washers on the string. Gravity keeps those inner magnets down and pulling on the strings. The weight of the washers on the string also keep the inner magnets away from the fixed magnets. Basically the container lid and the strings are preventing the loose magnets from falling. When the experiment is dropped in free fall, the effects of gravity are drastically reduced. While in free fall, the loose, inner magnets move to the fixed magnets by magnetic attraction. This pulls the horizontal string straight and lifts the washers up floating them around the string. Notice that the clock timer was not operating during this experiment operation. The 2.2 Second Drop Tower is described here: http://facilities.grc.nasa.gov/drop/