Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

I'm taking up Physics right now and I decided to settle on the Maglev project. I'm in high school and materials should come as cheap as possible. we are to avoid premade machines or motors. my problem is that
1. ONCE THE "TRAIN" FLOATS, HOW DO i GET IT TO MOVE BACK AND FORTH?
2. HOW DO I PUT CURVES ON THE TRACKS TO MAKE IT REALISTIC?

I presume you are using opposing permanent magnets to "float" your vehicle. A full size maglev vehicle would probably use a linear magnetic motor to move. That looks to me like a hard job to do on the cheap. However you could simulate it by using a moving permanent magnet on (possibly) a model railroad track interacting with a permanent magnet on your vehicle.

Another possibility would be a rubber band-powered propellor, since you don't want to use a store-bought D C motor. Of course you could build your own D C motor. As far as the curves go, I can't see any problem with curving the "track" of your system.

Hi lizetters!

Re your two questions: giving the following two (slightly edited) questions to answers.com yields a good selection of websites:

How do I put realistic curves on the tracks?
How is maglev motion achieved?

Hi!

You project idea sounds very interesting; I never heard of this project before I read your post. Here is a site that might be useful:

1.http://amasci.com/maglev/train.html

I hope that helps!