The Levitating Top

Developed by a pair of physicists, this precisely weighted and balanced top will spin and float in mid-air, without electricity or strings to support it. Two powerful magnets (one in the top, one in the base), each with the same polarity, oppose each other and force the top to float in apparent defiance of Earnshaw's Theorem of 1842, which states that two magnets of like polarity cannot oppose each other without one of them turning over to its unlike polarity, thereby attracting the other magnet. Although the theorem remains true as long as there is no external force to prevent the magnets from attracting each other, the precise gyroscopic spinning of the top provides just enough force to keep the top floating about 2 1/2" from the base without falling over. Spinning the top above the base sets the levitation phenomenon in motion, and the top remains in the air anywhere from two minutes up to four minutes with practice. The cherry wood base has brass legs that can be easily adjusted for accurate leveling the base magnet. Includes instructions and adjusting weights. 3 1/2" H x 6 1/2" Sq. (4 lbs.)