Cool Effect: Dropping a neodymium magnet down a copper pipe [Video]

Check out what happens when you drop a neodymium magnet down a copper pipe.

The movement of the magnet induces an electric current in the copper and with electric current comes a magnetic field, which makes the magnet attracted to it. The magnet doesn’t stick to the wall as it falls because the induced current, and its corresponding magnetic field, are perfectly distributed so that the magnet feels magnetic force equally from all sides.

The magnetic field slows the magnet, but can’t stop its fall because if the magnet stopped moving, the induced electric field would go away and the magnet would start falling again.

[Via]