Reference: M145
Category: Mechanics
Purpose: To show a system that is highly sensitive to inital conditions.
Description: A metal ball suspends by a piece of string is allowed to swing freely above a configuration of 3 magnets. One magnet is repulsive while the other two are attractive. The configuration of the magnets causes the system to be highly sensitive to initial conditions. This is essentially a three-body problem with the repulsive magnet necessary to keep the ball in check. It is uncertain which of the two attractive magnets the ball will end up being attracted to when it has run out of energy.
