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Superconducting Quantum Levitation on a 3π Möbius Strip

From the Low Temperature Physics Lab: Quantum levitation on a 3π Möbius strip track! Watch the superconductor levitate above the track and suspend below the track, without having to go across the edge. Our track is not an "ordinary" Möbius strip with just one twist, but rather a Möbius strip with three twists -- 540 degrees, or 3π radians, thus, a 3π Möbius strip track. You can also check out the video we made that documents the building of the track, if you want to make your own: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQkzXW7arqg If you have more questions about the physics or how we made the track, see our other videos: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uKnUCz8pads https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6lmtbLu5nxw Chapters: 0:00 What is a Mobius Strip? 0:56 The 3-pi Mobius Strip 1:35 Cooling the superconductor 2:01 Around the Mobius Strip! 2:37 Credits

Ithaca College Physics

7 years ago
A simple loop has two sides. You can't get from the red side to the green side without crossing the edge. If you cut the loop, twist one end by 180 degrees, or π radians, and connect them again, you will have a Möbius strip: a mathematically non-orientable surface with only one boundary. Now, you can travel along the red side to the green without going over the edge. If you twist the end again for a total of 360 degrees, or 2π radians, you will have a twisted loop. You again can't get from the r
ed side to the green side. If you twist the end a third time for a total of 540 degrees, or 3π radians, you will again have a Möbius strip. Our demonstration is a 3π Möbius strip track. By the time the superconductor has gone around the loop once, it has rotated 540 degrees about its own axis. This animation shows you how to twist a loop 540 degrees to get a 3π Möbius strip track.

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