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When two magnets with like poles, that is, both south or both north poles are brought together, repulsion occurs. One of the magnets will push the other. This occurs within a given range because the magnetic field strength decreases rapidly with distance. If you try to place one of the magnets on another such that both surfaces facing each other have the same poles, mutual repulsion will cause one of the magnets to be suspended vertically if the magnetic field strength is strong enough to support the weight of the top magnet.
This principle has many applications, one of which can be seen in a magnetic levitation of trains. Trains using this technology are very efficient, comfortable and can reach very high speed since friction between the rails and the train is zero as the train is suspended
■ Place the larger circular magnet on the table.
■ place the thin piece of wood at the center of the larger circular magnet.
Note : This thin piece of wood is used to stabilize the unstable horizontal movement of the magnet. This could be achieved using other methods. For the sake of keeping this project simple, it will be enough to use this thin piece of wood for now.
■ Place the smaller circular magnet slowly over the larger magnet making sure the thin piece of wood is at the center of both.
■ Observe how the smaller magnet simply defies gravity and remains suspended.
■ Another way to stabilize the unstable horizontal movement of the magnet is to pin - attached strings from the magnet to the table