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So since a lot of competitions have passed, I was wondering if people had maglev times to share? What mass was the sled at your competition and what was your time?

I was just assigned to this event and I have no idea about the actual construction of the car. I know most of the electricity and magnetism behind the event, but the construction is ticking me off. Anybody have any suggestions? Where should I start?

Does anyone know what exactly would be on the test?

quizbowl wrote:Does anyone know what exactly would be on the test?

Anything remotely related to magnetism is fair game. History, important scientists (know these!), physics (magnetic fields, current through wires, etc), and just plain old common sense about how magnets behave. Know paramagnetism and dimagnetism too.

Sample question from our test--I'm not sure what the answer is:
You're given three rods. One is a permanent magnet, one is brass, and one is steel. How can you determine which is which, using only your hands and the three rods?

bchero wrote:I was just assigned to this event and I have no idea about the actual construction of the car. I know most of the electricity and magnetism behind the event, but the construction is ticking me off. Anybody have any suggestions? Where should I start?

1. Get some motors, propellers and a bunch of nine volt batteries. You are going to suck a lot of them dry doing time trials.
2. Build a very simple platform for them - I like aircraft plywood, myself.
3. Get some velcro strips to attach the magnets to the bottom. These are a lifesaver - a small adjustment of your magnets can produce a huge reduction in friction.

You are going to need to elevate the prop, unless you use a really small one (which I do not recommend).

Flavorflav wrote:

bchero wrote:I was just assigned to this event and I have no idea about the actual construction of the car. I know most of the electricity and magnetism behind the event, but the construction is ticking me off. Anybody have any suggestions? Where should I start?

1. Get some motors, propellers and a bunch of nine volt batteries. You are going to suck a lot of them dry doing time trials.
2. Build a very simple platform for them - I like aircraft plywood, myself.
3. Get some velcro strips to attach the magnets to the bottom. These are a lifesaver - a small adjustment of your magnets can produce a huge reduction in friction.

You are going to need to elevate the prop, unless you use a really small one (which I do not recommend).

Also, once you elevate that prop, you need to make sure your balance is spot-on--the motor/prop will have a lot of torque on your vehicle. Any tipping causes a huge increase in friction.

Jocool wrote:

Jocool wrote:i would use plastic propellers. You should bring your own pencils, but the judge will usually have one just in case.

this

Great job Jocool! Your amazing!!!!!

quizbowl wrote:Does anyone know what exactly would be on the test?

personasaurus rex wrote:ii. The following topics may be included: Basic information on physics of magnetism, common uses of magnets, medical uses of magnets, superconductors.

I hope that helps- it's what the rules say, even if it's not very specific. The only test I've taken so far was extremely random- our resources didn't help much (basically I printed everything NASA had to say on magnetism the night before the invite) so we just guessed on alot of it. The test was all multiple-choice though, and we got the highest score on that part. unfortunately, we got taken down two tiers and lost our first place because our battery was dieing and we had to remove weight and came in a few grams under.

Where is a good place to get the magnets? The sources the new york site lists have them listed for $20..
Is there any other type of magnet you could get from Wal Mart or other store? Or somewhere cheap online?

That's not $20 per magnet, it is $20 for a package of 100. You are not going to do better on a per magnet basis unless you get the Kelvin pack of 250, but you can find smaller quantities. Just be sure to get rectangular magnets - the round ones don't work at all.