The metal spheres are usually used to connect Geomag rods, so they result to be static devices. Only on some occasion spheres are used to "drive" magnetic forces: repulsive (click here for details)



or attractive (read here):



Well, this post will show some ways to use Geomag Spheres... just as marbles! The first model uses the same structure of the rotating device shown above.

Below the top vertex of a squared base pyramid (above on the left) attach another sphere (above right) and a simple rod (pay attention to the magnetic polarities). This simple model (17 rods) can be used to play with a Geomag Marble:

Two tips. 1:  Maybe the attraction from the lower end of the red rod will be too strong making the sphere jump up from the table and attach to it. In case, change the red rod with a weaker one: the rods are not all exactly the same strength, and it's easy to find a rod that fit our needs. 2: the table surface must be perfectly horizontal.

The next model is really strange: it requires 22 rods, but NO spheres at all!

Some Geomag rods are attached on their sides, as shown in this detail:

This simple model is just an "oscillator":

The couples of rod string that let the marble freely roll in the model above can be used also in a different way. Start building what follows:

Connect the two lattices above with a couple of four rods strips:

Now separate the right end of the red strips, so that another couple of strips (now 5 rods long) can be placed this way:

Adding the last couple of strips:

we obtain this simple Marble Machine, that requires 79 Geomag rods:

The last model mixes a normal pendulum with a free running marble. Let's start with this (be careful about the red rods polarities):

Building the following structure,

we can attach the red triangle so that the model runs this way:

Build now this slope:

Removing the bottom sphere of the red pendulum, and placing the slope below the pendulum, we obtain this funny "Catch-the-ball" model (which requires 35 rods for the pendulum and 10 rods for the slope):

That's all folks!

Article written by Guest Blogger Aldo Cavini (aka aldoaldoz)