Doubled Forces

If you have 2 magnets repelling one another, is the force doubled? If you stack 2 magnets together, is the pull force doubled? These are good questions that we receive from time to time The answers are found in the mechanical engineering study of statics, the study of forces on non!moving ob"ects #e$ll try to answer these in plain %nglish, avoiding as much engineering "argon as we can&

If you have 2 magnets repelling one another, is the force doubled?

First, let$s cover the basic assumptions here 'ur (epelling Force )agnet *alculator shows the repelling force on a magnet that happens when another magnet of the same si+e is placed at some distance from it, with like poles facing one another The force depends on the distance between the magnets The farther apart the magnets are, the weaker the force #hen the magnets are touching one another, at distance , -, the force will be appro.imately equal to the magnet$s listed /ull Force, *ase 0 This theoretical number also assumes that you$re keeping the two magnets perfectly aligned with one another, even though the repelling forces and moments try to push the magnets off!a.is In real world applications, assume your force will be a little lower than the calculator$s numbers

#hat e.actly is this calculator telling us?

1et2s consider a specific e.ample If I take two 34 diameter . 54 thick D67 disc magnets and squish them together so that both north poles 8or both south poles9 are facing one another, I can e.pect a repelling force of "ust over 0- lb right before they touch If I enter a distance of - 02:4 80;649, the force drops to < lb That is the force that is pushing on one of the magnets when they are separated by a 0;64 distance 1et$s spell this out in detail to be clear about what we$re saying here Take one D67 magnet and glue it to the desk in front of you #e$ll place a non!ferromagnetic tube over the magnet to keep the magnets aligned with one another 8If we didn$t, the floating magnet would not be stable It would tend to rotate around, and flip over to attract to the other magnet =ee our )agnet >asics article to learn more 9 ?ow place a second D67 magnet into the tube, with like poles facing one another so that they repel @ou can have the north pole of one magnet facing the north pole of the second, or the south pole from each magnet facing one another The second magnet is floating above the first, held up by the repelling force ?ow push down on the upper magnet until the distance between the 2 magnets is 0;64 The force should be about < lb

The lower magnet is pushing up on the upper magnet with a force of < lb

#ait, what about the doubled force question?

The confusion here might come from a partial application of the rules of statics @ou don$t have to be a mechanical engineer to have learned the phrase, Aevery action has an equal and opposite reaction 4 Those half!forgotten lessons in high school physics seem relevant here& In what we have described so far, we say that the lower magnet is pushing on the upper, floating magnet with a force of < lb @ou might also say that the upper magnet pushes down on the lower magnet with a force of < lb Indeed, the desk is pushing up on that lower magnet with < lb of force #hy can$t we add the two numbers together, and say < B < , C lb of force? #hy not? >ecause it$s not really related to physical reality It is nonsensical It isn$t something you can measure on the force gauge It isn$t a measure of how much weight you can rest on the upper magnet and still have that 0;64 gap

'n the other handD

1et$s redefine the problem to look at things a little differently In the last e.ample, the bottom magnet was stuck to a desk, and you were pushing down on the upper magnet Instead of a desk, let$s say that the lower magnet is resting on my hand Eow does this change our description? #ell, some things don$t change Fssuming I$m really strong and can hold my hand steady, it still takes you < lb of force to bring the magnets to within 0;64 of each other In this case, you$re pushing down with < lb of force It is also true that I am also pushing up with < lb of force Does that add up to C lb? ?o& These forces are not even in the same direction @ou$re pushing down and I$m pushing up #e$re measuring 2 different things Think of what you can measure with that pull force gauge I can$t measure what you$re pushing down with and what I$m pushing up with simultaneously

Guestion H2I If you stack 2 magnets together, is the pull force doubled?

=ometimes Eere$s a better answerI If you stack 2 magnets together 8with opposite poles touching9, they will act like a single magnet of the same overall height 8'J, technically this isn$t 0--K true #hen you stack two magnets, you really have a little less magnet material, because you have some layers of plating in the middle that you don$t have with the single magnet =till, it$s a great appro.imation L we find it hard to measure the difference with a pull force gauge 9 *onsider the table of 34 diameter, grade ?72 magnets below, which shows the listed pull force for each magnet If we stack two 0;0C4 thick D60 magnets together, it will act magnetically like a single D62 magnet that is 0;64 thick The force of < 0 lb increases to C 77 lb In this case the force is a bit more than double 8about 2-6K9 1ikewise, if you stack two 0;64 thick D62 magnets together, they$ll act like a single 54 thick D67 magnet The force "umps from C 77 lb to 0- 66 lb This time, we get about 0CMK of the pull force of one D62 magnet L we didn$t quite double it Fs you stack more and more magnets together, this e.ercise becomes a case of diminishing returns The more magnet material you stack up, the less increase in pull force you$ll see F 04 tall D6N- has over M:K of the pull force of a <4 tall D6O-& In a way, this makes perfect sense #e$re measuring the pull force from a magnet to a flat steel surface Fs you increase the height 8or stack more magnets9, each new bit of magnet material you add is farther away from the steel you$re trying to attract to =ince it$s far away, it doesn$t add as much strength Part Number D6-0 D60 D6-< D6E0 D62 D6< Diameter 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P Thickness 0;<2P 0;0CP <;<2P - 0P 0;6 P <;0CP Surface Field (Gauss) 60M 0C-0 2<0Q 27:0 2M:2 <MCPull Force (lb) 0 0: < 07 0C 7 C2 C 77 M 07

Part Number D6E2 D67 D6C D66 D6F D6* D6% D6ND6N6 D6@D6@6 D6O-

Diameter 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P 0;2 P

Thickness - 2P 0;7 P <;6 P 0;2 P :;6 P <;7 P Q;6 P 0P 0 0;2 P 2P 2 0;2 P <P

Surface Field (Gauss) 702< 7CCQ :7M2 :M-< C026 C2C0 C<7C C7-< C:0C:7M C:CQ C:QQ

Pull Force (lb) M 7M 0- 66 0< 7< 07 C0: -: 0: :0C -: 0C C0C 6: 0Q -0Q 20Q <:

1ooking for more tables like this to help find the magnet si+e you need? =ee our )agnet =ummary /age, where the lists are searchable and sortable