Get Your Science On: Funky Ferro Fluid
This week, Mayon show’s us how to build an awesome experiment: Funky Ferro Fluid. Music is used to make a magnetic liquid dance!
How it Works
Funky Ferro Fluid uses a ferrofluid (short for ferromagnetic fluid), which is made of tiny particles of a magnetic solid that are suspended in a liquid.
Funky Ferro Fluid takes an an electronic signal from a MP3 player, and runs it through a couple of different solenoids or coils of wire to make a magnetic field. The first coil is in a speaker, and the magnetic field vibrates a small magnet and produces the sound that we hear. The second solenoid is visible direct below the ferrofluid. The ferrofluid becomes magnetized and aligns to the magnetic field from the solenoid, which changes as the music plays.
