- 1). Drill a hole in the baseboard wide enough for the pencil. Cut off the end of the pencil just above the eraser holder and lightly dab the bottom and 1/2 inch above with glue. Fit the pencil into the hole in the baseboard.
- 2). Coat the baseboard around the pencil with glue and carefully place one of the ring magnets around the pencil. Bring the ring magnet down to the baseboard. Let the glue on the pencil and the ring dry for the amount of time indicated on the glue container.
- 3). Hold another magnet to the one on the baseboard to find which side needs to face downward for the baseboard magnet to repel it. When you find the right end, place the ring magnet over the pencil -- because both ends have the same magnetic charge, the first ring repels the second, making the first float slightly above the second. Repeat the process until you have three ring magnets floating around the pencil.
- 4). Cut a hole in the center of the paper plate with the same diameter as the hole of the ring magnets. Glue a ring magnet so the holes line up and let it sit for the recommended time. Place the the paper plate around the pencil and the force of the magnet rings should repel it, making it float.
- 5). Repeat the process of gluing magnets to plates and putting them around the pencil until you have three floating plates. You will notice that distance between the magnets increases as they go up -- this is because each magnet repels all the magnets above it, not just the one directly above it, causing their repulsion to stack up.
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