#HTE

Using Magnets to Launch Nails Through the Air

As we’ve often lamented, the problem with darts is that they’re not dangerous enough. There’s virtually no chance that the sharp, pointy objects will be be yanked out of your hand by unseen forces and propelled through space seemingly of their own volition.

Well, problem solved!

The gent behind the Magnetic Games YouTube channel has inadvertently created a sort of miniature rail gun that fires nails. By experimenting with washer-shaped magnets, he realized that

The magnetic fields of the dart and of the launcher interact with each other. When the dart is located exactly in the center of the launcher the attractive and repulsive forces are in balance and contains a high potential energy (the same amount of energy that I used to let the dart into the launcher). when I push the dart the system exits from equilibrium and the repulsive force prevails over the attraction, and the dart is fired.

Presto: Magnetic darts.

How long before Colin Furze spots this video, then attempts to scale it up? I’m picturing his shed filled with mutilated phone books and spent framing nails.