Exploding things is always fun, but did you know there is a reason for it when it comes to magnets?
Scientist have been on a quest for stronger and stronger magnets ever since they knew what magnetism was. It started with perminet magnets like loadstone and neodymium. After that it was electromagnets. Although electromagnets can produce extreamly strong magnetic fields, they generate an enormus amount of heat. Because of this, electromagnets can only produce about 50,000 gauss before they melt, even with special cooling systems.
So what did scientist do to make a more powerful magnet? Well, they stuck with the electromagnet and pumped several times as much power through them as they normally would. The result was an electro magnet so powerful that it actually blew itself apart rather than just melting. After carefully analyzing the magnet power fluctuation during its short existence scientist concluded that as the magnet flew apart it lost a large amount of energy. To fix this problem, the experimenters placed high explosives around the electromagnet before they turned it on. Then, they light the explosives and turn on the magnet at the same time. The result is a magnetic field of 1000 Tesla! (That's 10,000,000 gauss!) Of course, it's gone in about 10 microseconds.
Sources:
National High Magnetic Field Laboratory:
http://www.magnet.fsu.edu/
World Book Encyclopedia, 1997 Edition
Photo courtesy of the National High Magnetic Laboratory
World Book Encyclopedia, 1997 Edition
Photo courtesy of the National High Magnetic Laboratory
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