Uploaded March 2013 | Updated September 2026, 10 minutes ago
The Snail Tube is a thick metal tube with two large ball bearings that easily fit into the tube. One ball drops through quickly, while the other drops very slowly. You can see how that slow ball floats down the tube without touching the sides.
The slow ball is in fact a very strong magnet. Even though the tube itself is not magnetically active, and so is not attracted by the ball, the field still has an effect. The falling magnet causes a moving magnetic field which induces currents in the metal tube. Those currents create a magnetic field that counteracts the one of the ball, and so slows the ball down.
The Snail Tube is a thick metal tube with two large ball bearings that easily fit into the tube. One ball drops through quickly, while the other drops very slowly. You can see how that slow ball floats down the tube without touching the sides.
The slow ball is in fact a very strong magnet. Even though the tube itself is not magnetically active, and so is not attracted by the ball, the field still has an effect. The falling magnet causes a moving magnetic field which induces currents in the metal tube. Those currents create a magnetic field that counteracts the one of the ball, and so slows the ball down.
