Lenz’s law with aluminum foil and a lengthwise slit

Rob Berls 1 and Michael J Ruiz2

1
Department of Drama, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina,
28804, United States of America

2
Department of Physics, University of North Carolina at Asheville, Asheville, North Carolina,
28804, United States of America

E-mail: rberls@unca.edu and ruiz@unca.edu

Abstract

The classic demonstration illustrating Lenz’s law by dropping a magnet through a copper pipe is

presented using household aluminum foil right out of the box. Then comes the surprise. The

teacher presents an aluminum foil cylinder with a missing lengthwise slice (cut before class).

Will the demonstration still work? Students are amazed at the result, described in this paper

and included in our accompanying video (Ruiz M J 2018 Video: Lenz's law with aluminum foil

http://mjtruiz.com/ped/aluminum/).

Introduction

Far back in 1990 it was typical for teachers at professional meetings to see demonstrations of

magnets falling through copper pipes [1]. One motivating factor was the availability of the

demonstration through science supply vendors such as Pasco [2]. Today, one can easily

purchase a copper pipe and a powerful magnet to construct the demonstration.

To the surprise of students, the magnet takes a long time to fall through the pipe. The

change of the magnetic field in pipe sections as the magnet falls generates current loops in the
copper via Faraday’s law. These currents in turn produce local magnetic fields due to Ampère’s

law. The new magnetic field lines oppose the falling magnet, thereby slowing it down.

With the advent of inexpensive rare earth magnets during the 1990s, falling magnets

through cylindrical metal tubes have become a widespread classic. Papers have been written

discussing various aspects of the phenomenon [1, 3-7]. For even more references, see the

recent paper by Mayer and Varaksina on Lenz's law [8]. There is also a commercial magic trick

version of a magnet falling through an aluminum pipe [9]. The key to these demonstrations is to

use a metal pipe such as copper or aluminum that conducts electricity and is not attracted to a

magnet. It is important that the falling magnet does not exert the usual magnetic force on the

pipe as it does for a paper clip. Therefore, the pipe is a non-ferromagnetic conductor while the

falling magnet is ferromagnetic.

Our main goal is to lead up to a demonstration where the conducting tube is missing a

complete section along its length. After cutting copper and aluminum pipes with some

difficulty, Laura Berls, wife of coauthor Robert, suggested using aluminum foil. Aluminum foil is

very easy to work with and can be readily purchased at a grocery store. One can cut a section

out of the aluminum foil with a utility knife.

We designed our classroom activity with three demonstrations: 1)the classic long

copper pipe, 2)the cylindrical aluminum foil roll from the kitchen, and finally 3)the cut

aluminum foil roll. These three demonstrations are described below.

Demonstration 1. The classic long copper pipe and magnet

We first present for our students the classic demonstration with a magnet and copper pipe, as

illustrated in figure 1. To make the presentation very dramatic and memorable, a 3 m (10 ft)
copper pipe is used. The pipe can readily be purchased at a local hardware store. However,

challenges include fitting the pipe in your car for transporting if you do not have a truck and

finding a classroom where the pipe can be held upright without hitting the ceiling. In figure 1 a

ceiling panel is removed so that the long pipe can be oriented vertically for the demonstration.

This feature adds much interest in class as the students look on.

Figure 1. Coauthor Rob Berls preparing to drop a magnet down a long copper pipe.

The pipe used in figure 1 is 1.9 cm (3/4 inch) copper water tubing with an inner pipe

diameter of 1.6 cm (5/8 inch). A cylindrical neodymium magnet with a slightly smaller diameter

is usually dropped in the classic experiment. Students are always amazed at the slow drop

through the pipe. For the demonstration in figure 1, it takes 49 s to reach the bottom. In

comparison, the time to free fall 3.0 m from rest is a very short 0.8 s. Years ago it was pointed

out that when a magnet falls through a copper pipe, terminal velocity is reached quickly [1].

Therefore, the speed of our magnet through our copper pipe is roughly
3.0 m 300 cm cm
 6 .
49 s 49 s s

Demonstration 2. Aluminum foil right out of the box

For the next demonstration, the teacher opens a brand new box of aluminum foil and pulls out

the cylinder of wrapped foil. If a standard cylindrical magnet was used for the classic

demonstration just performed, the teacher should switch to a spherical neodymium magnet for

the experiments with the aluminum. The sphere is especially important when the aluminum foil

has a slit since cylindrical magnets tilt and can rub against the inner surface of the cylinder. O ur

spherical magnet, which is very inexpensive, is 1.9 cm in diameter (0.75 in) and can provide a

force of 125 newtons (28 pounds), capable of lifting a mass of 13 kg. This size of the spherical

magnet fits easily inside the cardboard cylinder around which the aluminum is packaged.

See figure 2 for the experiment. It is instructive to have the same student release

simultaneously an object for free fall (preferably an identical magnet) with one hand and a

magnet into the aluminum cylinder with the other hand. The free fall object rapidly reaches the

hand of another student in a split second, while the magnet traveling through the aluminum foil

takes appreciably longer.

Figure 2. Student dropping one magnet for free fall and the other into the aluminum foil
cylinder.

When textbooks introduce the basic physics related to these experiments, the

arrangement illustrated in figure 3 is introduced, where a magnet falls through a wire loop

rather than a cylinder. The analysis for figure 3 is rich in physics as it includes four laws of

electricity and magnetism: Faraday's law, Ampère’s law, Lenz's law, and the magnetic force law

for north and south poles ("likes" repel and "unlikes" attract).

When a magnet falls through a circular wire loop, the magnetic field increases inside the

loop as it approaches the wire. The increase in magnetic field in the loop region generates a

current in the wire loop via Faraday's law. Next comes Lenz's law, which is typically stated in

introductory texts as: "The induced current in a loop is in the direction that creates a magnetic

field that opposes the change in magnetic flux through the area enclosed by the loop." [10] The

magnetic flux for a constant magnetic field strength B perpendicularly piercing an area A is

equal to BA, the product of the magnetic field strength and the area. The generated current
then produces a magnetic field due to Ampère’s law. Since the produced magnetic field

opposes the magnetic field of the falling magnet, a braking force is applied to the moving

magnet. The fact that this produced magnetic field opposes the incoming magnet is a

consequence of Lenz's law. Refer to figure 3 to see the north pole of the falling magnet against

the north pole of the magnetic field produced by the induced current. According to the

magnetic force law, "likes" repel and an upward magnetic force is applied to the falling magnet.

Ask students what happens when the magnet leaves the coil loop, i.e. the magnet flux through

the loop decreases rather than increases as shown in figure 3. Is the force on the falling magnet

still upward (as it must be)?

Figure 3. Falling magnet entering the middle region of a wire loop generates current in the wire
loop that produces a magnetic field to oppose the incoming magnet.

The simple loop example of figure 3 serves as the basis [1, 3-8] for many of the
publications analyzing a falling magnet though a conducting tube. However, this model will not

be sufficient when analyzing a cylinder with a complete vertical section removed. The break in

such a cylinder prevents any loops of current as illustrated in figure 3 from occurring since there

is no longer a complete cylindrical pipe. Students are not warned about this feature in advance,

but presented with the challenge to predict what will happen in the final demonstration when

the aluminum cylinder is missing a lengthwise section. If they apply the model of figure 3 to this

case, they will predict the wrong outcome.

Demonstration 3. The incomplete cylinder

Finally comes the big question: Will the magnet fall slowly through a cylinder with a full

lengthwise cut? See figure 4 for a photo of the aluminum roll with a large lengthwise section

missing in the front. The instructor can bend the aluminum to try the experiment with a narrow

lengthwise slit and then open the aluminum so that the missing section is almost 50% of the

circumference.
Figure 4. Coauthor Rob Berls showing the students the aluminum cylinder with a large section
missing. The aluminum can be bent so that almost half the cylinder is open.

Students are asked to predict the outcome based on what they know about Faraday's

law and Lenz's law. Many students will suggest that the magnet will now fall freely because

circular currents described by figure 3 will no longer be possible due to the break in the

cylinder. There is no complete loop circuit around the cylinder axis.

The experiment is then performed and the magnet still travels slowly; however, the

magnet is not as slow as it was before. This is a shock to some students. How can an opposing

magnetic field be produced if a complete circular current around the vertical axis cannot be

produced? The answer is that the physics of a cylinder, whether complete or missing a section,

is more complicated than the physics of a single loop shown in figure 3. The magnet still travels

slower in the partial cylinder due to the formation of eddy currents. See figure 5, which

illustrates swishing eddy currents with opposing magnetic field lines to slow down the falling
magnet.

Figure 5. Eddy currents producing magnetic field lines that oppose a falling magnet through an
aluminum tube which is missing the front vertical section.

The changes of the magnetic field at various sections of the aluminum tube set up eddy

currents. The model of the eddy currents illustrated in figure 5 should be used to analyze

cylindrical tubes with slits rather than the simpler loop physics of figure 3. The magnet falling

through a cylinder sets up appreciable amounts of eddy currents that retard the vertical speed

of the magnet. However, the ideal thin loop can only support a circular current around the

entire loop. Such a circular current cannot flow when there is a break in the thin loop.

Therefore, the magnet does not appear to slow down as it falls through an incomplete loop.
 See the excellent YouTube video by Carlos R Villa [11] of the National High Magnetic

Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida, USA for an analysis of the complete cylinder using eddy

currents. Villa also demonstrates that for a conducting loop like figure 3, but with a break in it,

the magnet does not slow down. If teachers are able to spend more money, they try aluminum

C-channel bars, which have lengthwise openings. Teachers may also want to 'dilute gravity' by

letting spherical magnets roll down cylindrical tubes at inclines, similar to experiments of

Galileo.

Conclusion

Demonstrating the slow fall of a magnet through a cylinder of aluminum foil is a very

inexpensive way to illustrate several laws of electricity and magnetism. First, the falling magnet

produces currents in the metallic surrounding due to the changing magnetic fields in sections of

the aluminum via Faraday’s law. The currents then generate magnetic fields due to Ampère’s

law. The new magnetic fields oppose the falling magnet due to Lenz’s law. The force on the

moving magnet is upward, against the force of gravity. The generated magnetic field lines point

in the opposite directions of the magnetic field lines of the falling magnet.

Finally, cutting out a section of the aluminum cylinder poses a rather advanced question

to the student. Years ago when one of us (MJR) asked two physics colleagues what would

happen if a copper pipe was cut completely down the length of the pipe, the two physicists

started to debate. So the demonstration includes some subtle physics to explore

observationally. The resulting discussion introduces the concept of eddy currents, which is

necessary in explaining the incomplete cylindrical tube with a vertical cut. Students also get to
participate in the demonstration. Watch our video [12] to see students in action and experience

the fun of these demonstrations.

Acknowledgment

We would like to thank Laura Berls, wife of coauthor Robert, for the idea to use aluminum foil

for the demonstration.

References

[1] Clack J A M and Toepker T P 1990 Magnetic induction experiment Phys. Teach. 28 236

[2] Pasco Scientific 1990 Physics Apparatus (Roseville, California, USA: Pasco) 114

[3] Saslow W M 1992 Maxwell's theory of eddy currents in thin conducting sheets, and
applications to electromagnetic shielding and MAGLEV Am. J. Phys. 60 693

[4] MacLatchy C S, Backman P, and Bogan L 1993 A quantitative magnetic braking experiment
Am. J. Phys. 61 1096

[5] Íñiguez J, Raposo V, Hernández-López A, Flores A G, and Zazo M 2004 Study of the
conductivity of a metallic tube by analysing the damped fall of a magnet Eur. J. Phys. 25 593

[6] Pelesko J A, Cesky M, and Huertas S 2005 Lenz's law and dimensional analysis Am. J. Phys. 73
37

[7] Roy M K, Harbola M K, and Verma H C 2007 Demonstration of Lenz's law: Analysis of a
magnet falling through a conducting tube Am. J. Phys. 75 728

[8] Mayer V V and Varaksina E I 2017 Experimental confirmation of Lenz's law Phys. Educ. 52
065001

[9] Ruiz M J 2006 Lenz's law magic trick Phys. Teach. 44 96

[10] Serway R A and Jewett J W Jr 2014 Physics for Scientists and Engineers with Modern Physics
9th edn (Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Brooks/Cole) p 944
[11] Villa C R 2016 YouTube Video: Eddy Currents and Lenz's Law
https://youtu.be/MEUufvpefEE

[12] Ruiz M J 2018 Video: Lenz's law with aluminum foil http://mjtruiz.com/ped/aluminum/
Authors

Robert Berls is an Associate Professor in Drama and Humanities at the

University of North Carolina at Asheville. He has long been interested

in engineering and machining with his main research areas in creating

large format 3d printers and CNC milling machines and their impact

on the entertainment industry. Robert has an MFA in production

design from Michigan State University where he focused on Technical Direction and research

and development of new theatrical technologies.

Michael J Ruiz is professor of physics at the University of North

Carolina at Asheville (UNCA), USA. He received his PhD in theoretical

physics from the University of Maryland, USA. His innovative courses

with a strong online component aimed at general students have been

featured on CNN.