If you have 2 iron spheres and a magnet, the lighter sphere will move first to the magnet. But with earths gravity fall tests we know that every object falls with the same speed when dropped no matter theirs weight. What makes it different?
In: Physics
Also, gravity attraction drops off at the square of distance, magnet force of attraction drops off at cubed of distance (theoretically if you had a monopole which means just Positive pole or just Negative pole it would drop off at square of distance) I’m not positive this has an effect on your question, but it might.
Gravity pulls heavy objects harder. But you can have a light object and a heavy object that are attracted by the same magnetic force.
Magnets accelerate objects at a speed proportional to “magnetic force / mass”, so a heavy magnetic object like a giant neodymium magnet will move fast, but a light and non-magnetic object like a feather won’t move at all.
Gravity accelerates objects based on mass so it’s proportional to mass / mass, or more simply put, mass is irrelevant, everything is the same
Gravity and magnetism are very different forces. (This is an ELI5 so this is a very simplified explanation).
The force of gravity is proportional to the mass of both objects. In the case of the earth, a high mass object “feels” a higher force and a low mass object “feels” a lower force. The result is that the acceleration is identical since the effects of mass difference essentially “cancel out”. (Since acceleration is proportional to the force).
The force of magnetism is NOT governed by an object’s mass. A high mass object might feel the same magnetic force as a small mass object (operating in the same magnetic field). So this results in greater acceleration for the smaller mass than the high mass object.
Because the gravitational force is explicitly proportional to the mass of both objects attracting each other. A large object made of the same material has more mass, so is attracted more strongly, but because of its greater mass, that cancels out and the acceleration works out the same. In the case of a magnet the attractive force is dependent entirely on the strength of its magnetic field, which is intrinsic to the magnet and isn’t affected by the mass of the other object, so it will exert the same force, meaning lighter objects will accelerate faster.
In the simplest form, Gravity is one variable, where as magnetic fields are two.
So while gravity affects all objects the same
A magnet’s attraction is based on the magnet itself AND the object. The difference in their magnetic properties effect the magnetic field and thus two different objects (weight, composition, etc) can be attracted and repelled at different speeds.
We’re ignoring other forces for this ELI5
In the case of gravity, that’s the only force you’re talking about.
Say you’ve got a large metal ball and a small metal ball in a table and introduce a magnet. The magnetic force is not acting in a vacuum. It is fighting against gravity at a 90 degree angle.
That is, the large ball with the higher mass is more inclined to stay where it is, because it has a greater downward force to compete with the sideways force of magnetism.
Cause Gravity isn’t real. It’s a perceived “force” based on movement, kind of like hitting the gas in your car suddenly makes it feel like a “force” is pushing you into your seat. Magnetism on the other hand is a real force.
Mr gravity and Mr magnetism are both pullers. They pull on things all day long. Mr gravity likes BIG things. He pulls harder on them because they TURN HIM ON, you know what I’m saying?
You don’t? Oh right. You’re five. What I meant to say is that big things excite him. Paper clips? Meh. Dinosaurs? Woo! Mountains? Woo hoo hoo!
His excitement cancels out the fact that bigger things are harder to pull. So things get pulled the same speed, big or small.
Mr Magnetism is not excited by big things. He’s slower with large objects bc he pulls just as hard on a paper clip as he would a dinosaur. He is excited by something else though – things with charge. That’s for another day.
The speed at which a parachuter falls to the earth is slower than say, a ball of the same mass. (Although the same force is exerted in both) This is because wind drag.
For magnets, say, sitting on a table they must overcome some friction to move towards the other magnet. The smaller magnet will have less friction to overcome and thus will move first. The attraction is very fast but if you watch in slow motion, and the magnets aren’t too dissimilar in size, often as the small magnet gets closer the force of attraction will get high enough for the large magnet to move as well. They’ll meet at some intermediate point relatively close to the large magnet.
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