The slower fall.
Same gravity. A very different journey. Discover where the energy goes.
The apparatus
Playback changes viewing speed; the equations use physical time.
Velocity over physical time
Downward is positive. The reference stops at the ground; its impact is not magnetic braking.
Follow the energy
Flip the magnet. Does it fall faster?
The induced currents reverse. Their magnetic force still opposes the motion, so the fall is unchanged for the same magnet strength.
The model & its limits
Newton’s second law gives m dv/dt = mg − bv, with downward positive. Here b = b₀ f(z) for intact copper; a smooth envelope f(z) turns braking on and off at the tube ends. Slit copper uses 0.06b and a nonconducting tube uses b = 0. The slit factor is illustrative, not a universal experimental value.
P = bv² ≥ 0 · mgz = ½mv² + Q + Eimpact
Phenomenological, quasistatic eddy-current braking; not a calibrated Maxwell simulation. The 1.00 m tube and 1.50 m drop use an ideal dipole sign model for explanatory loops. Air resistance, magnet rotation and detailed material response are omitted. The ground supplies a support force after contact.
For an upward magnetic moment, upward ring flux is proportional to [a² + (zmagnet − zring)²]⁻³ᐟ². Faraday’s law, ε = −dΦ/dt, sets the opposite circulation signs above and below the descending magnet.