Alright so this might seem a little complex but I assure you that it's not even close to some of the other things on this site.
A series of magnetic tiles would be fixed to the ceiling and floor. A panel would be provided that was wired to the panels. An iron box with an interior made of wood would be placed in the center of these panels. You would place the items you wished to store in the interior of these boxes. The panel would have buttons to increase or decrease the levitation of the box. you would have to manually input the weight of the box with everything in it for the panels to know how much power to exert.
Storing items vulnerable to magnetism? Although this hasn't been proven completely harmless, there is a theory that even though you cannot block magnetism fully, you can guide the path it travels. The iron on the exterior of the box would attract the magnetic currents instead of penetrating the wood.
Ideas or opinions?-- punk_punker, Jun 05 2007 Kind of like these? http://images.googl...&btnG=Search+ImagesFloating globes. [BJS, Jun 07 2007] Damnit. I read this as Mango storage.-- Custardguts, Jun 05 2007 It's an interesting vision, but the distance from the floor and ceiling would be too far for magnets, even if a control system was made to regulate the height. 'tis a pity, 'cos it would be fun.
Mumetal is good at shielding magnetic fields. I used it on CRT monitors before those flatscreen displays became available/cheaper. Electric Arc Furnace magnetic fields used to make the screens unreadable.-- Ling, Jun 05 2007 [Custardguts] I just woke up and bleary eyed, I read the same thing...mmmm mangoes.-- xandram, Jun 05 2007 How are you going to keep the boxes from clamping on to the ceiling? Even if you perfectly balance the forces at the moment you load the box (so the box is hovering half way between floor and ceiling) any perturbation is going to either bump the box up (and have it clamp to the ceiling like Mel Gibson on a bottle of Chivas) or bump it down and have it crash to the floor (like Mel once the bottle is empty.)-- Galbinus_Caeli, Jun 05 2007 Somewhere to keep Japanese comics?-- coprocephalous, Jun 05 2007 [Ling] Thanks for that. I'll research that.
[Galbinus Caeli] If you modifyed the strength of the magnets so that the power they're exerting is in equilibrium with each other then they wouldn't clamp.
[Custardguts, xandram] Now I want mangoes.......
[coprocephalous] Whatever floats your boat I guess......-- punk_punker, Jun 05 2007 Yay magnetic levitation.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Jun 05 2007 What Galbinus Caeli said (just not as funny.)
In order to magnetically levitate something, you have to either spin it or continuously adjust the strength of the magnets. You can't type in the weight, and position the box, accurately enough - and even if you had it right, the slightest change in forces - due to the movement of air, say, or of materials due to temperature - would make it tip over. It's like balancing a boulder on the head of a pin - it's theoretically possible, but you're not going to ever get it right, and it wouldn't last if you did it.
The usual set up for this kind of experiment is much simpler, and involves just one magnet (on the ceiling) and a light-controlled switch - if the falling box obscures a light beam, that turns on a magnet; the magnet pulls up the box; that closes the light circuit, which turns off the electro magnet, causing the box to fall again, etc. If you wanted to control the height with a knob, you could replace the simple on/off sensor with a distance measure, e.g. by reflecting a laser from the floor against the bottom of the box.
So, if you'd bothered to build this, it would be easier to use than what you describe.-- jutta, Jun 05 2007 Further to what jutta said, google "Earnshaw's Theorem".-- xaviergisz, Jun 05 2007 Can't imagine the amount of power this would require.-- RayfordSteele, Jun 06 2007 [jutta] Maybe it's just somthing for a distant tomorrow....
[xaviergisz] Thanks for that. Makes sense.
[RayfordSteele] Well the efficiency wouldn't be high so I'm guessing a lot.-- punk_punker, Jun 07 2007 I wonder whether this might work better if the box were magnetically repulsed from the floor, rather than attracted to the ceiling, so that gravity would give you a comfortable equilibrium point? I suppose one problem with that would be how to prevent the box from capsizing, then plummeting; any sort of framework to prevent this might spoil the whole 'levitation' effect.-- pertinax, Jun 08 2007 If it were repulsed, then a single hit could send it shooting out at a 100mph-- punk_punker, Oct 16 2007 random, halfbakery