Philosophy
Being of the Hack 'em Off or Chew 'em Up school of nail design, I was unaware that there was such a thing as magnetic nail polish. Now that I've learned about it, let's take a look at the physics of a nail polish that forms fascinating patterns when exposed to a magnet!
We all have fingernails. Some people pay more attention to them than others. I keep mine free of potato chip crumbs, because the salt stings — but I don't do much more than that. However, it appears that some like to care for their nails . . . with science! There's a brand of nail polish which makes three-dimensional patterns when exposed to a magnet. Put down a base coat, put down on normal coat of the nail polish, and then glob on the next coat of polish. While the polish is still wet, swoop in and hold a magnet (and they supply one on the lid of the jar of polish) over the coat for ten seconds, and a cool light-and-dark striped pattern appears.
It's no secret that there are iron shavings in the polish. That's why it responds to the magnet at all. What's less clear is why the nail polish forms a striped pattern, in particular. We've seen metal shavings hang from the ends of magnets in long 'beards,' so it seems like the whole coat of polish would just pull to a peak right under the magnet.
It doesn't, because the magnet in the jar isn't just an 'end.' Both poles go to work on the shavings. We've seen how metal shavings placed on a piece of paper just over a bar magnet arrange themselves into long curving lines between the two poles. When under the influence of a magnetic field, bits of metal, with their highly mobile electrons, turn themselves into little magnets as well. Each little piece of the metal turns into a magnet, with a south pole and a north pole. The north pole heads toward the south pole of the original magnet. The south pole heads north. Under the force of the magnet, and the many little magnets under the shavings, the entire network of magnetized bits of metal arrange themselves until the push of one pole equals the pull of another, forming clear lines.
Different shapes and forces of magnets make for different patterns in the nail polish. It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone tried this with something other than the magnet on the lid.
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Philosophy
Magnetic Nail Polish...a new fad?
"The Physics of Magnetic Nail Polish"
by
Esther Inglis-Arkell
February 17th, 2012
io9
by
Esther Inglis-Arkell
February 17th, 2012
io9
Being of the Hack 'em Off or Chew 'em Up school of nail design, I was unaware that there was such a thing as magnetic nail polish. Now that I've learned about it, let's take a look at the physics of a nail polish that forms fascinating patterns when exposed to a magnet!
We all have fingernails. Some people pay more attention to them than others. I keep mine free of potato chip crumbs, because the salt stings — but I don't do much more than that. However, it appears that some like to care for their nails . . . with science! There's a brand of nail polish which makes three-dimensional patterns when exposed to a magnet. Put down a base coat, put down on normal coat of the nail polish, and then glob on the next coat of polish. While the polish is still wet, swoop in and hold a magnet (and they supply one on the lid of the jar of polish) over the coat for ten seconds, and a cool light-and-dark striped pattern appears.
It's no secret that there are iron shavings in the polish. That's why it responds to the magnet at all. What's less clear is why the nail polish forms a striped pattern, in particular. We've seen metal shavings hang from the ends of magnets in long 'beards,' so it seems like the whole coat of polish would just pull to a peak right under the magnet.
It doesn't, because the magnet in the jar isn't just an 'end.' Both poles go to work on the shavings. We've seen how metal shavings placed on a piece of paper just over a bar magnet arrange themselves into long curving lines between the two poles. When under the influence of a magnetic field, bits of metal, with their highly mobile electrons, turn themselves into little magnets as well. Each little piece of the metal turns into a magnet, with a south pole and a north pole. The north pole heads toward the south pole of the original magnet. The south pole heads north. Under the force of the magnet, and the many little magnets under the shavings, the entire network of magnetized bits of metal arrange themselves until the push of one pole equals the pull of another, forming clear lines.
Different shapes and forces of magnets make for different patterns in the nail polish. It would be interesting to see what would happen if someone tried this with something other than the magnet on the lid.
- New Europe = New Coke? Or What's The Matter With Poland
The Polish Prime Minister is in Brussels to try to smooth over the rough relations that have developed of late with their fellow European Union member states. Things seem to be a bit odd in Poland and I'm wondering how seriously we need to be concerned...
- Polish Jokes
This weekend's Comedist meditation will be the first of a three part series on Polish jokes. Next week we will set out a surmise about the history of Polish jokes. Why did Poles end up a standard butt of "dumb people" jokes? The easy answer is that...
- The Scanner's Prayer
If there is one thing most of us think is private, it's our thoughts. And the only time we tend to be okay with our private thoughts being heard by anyone would be when we silently pray. If you happen to work with an MRI machine, however, you probably...
- Visualizing Magnetic Fields
Magnetic fields are invisible to the naked eye, so how do we know what they would look like if they were visible? And how would we even know they exist in the first place? One of the first humans ever to attempt to understand the nature of magnetic fields...
- Deceased--jan Sawka
Jan Sawka December 10th, 1946 to August 23rd, 2012 "PASSINGS: Jan Sawka" Jan Sawka, Polish-born poster artist and architect, dies at 65 August 12th, 2012 Los Angeles Times Jan Sawka, 65, a noted Polish American artist and architect whose designs included...