11 ms·

Hook's law[1] states that the force of a spring scales linearly with the distance it is stretched. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hooke%27s_law https://en.w

• TheOtherHobbes 8y ago
  And magnets repel with an inverse cube law. So there is no simple way to replace a spring with magnets. You could "linearise" an electromagnet with distance sensors and code, but that's a bit of a Franken-Solution - not least because any delay in the closed loop could make the system unstable. In this case a couple of minutes of research - or maybe asking a physicist - would have saved a lot of essentially rather pointless tinkering. I mean - if you enjoy tinkering more than you enjoy producing an elegant solution, then tinker away. But this is noodling around for the sake of it, not solid engineering.
  • madengr 8y ago
    You coukd linearize it using a meta-material of small magnets, though it would probably end up being a cylinder lined with magnets of varying density.
    • SamReidHughes 8y ago
      You can also linearize it by making the displacement small enough -- which is how Hooke's law actually works.