Monday, July 07, 2008

Magnetic Fluid Art

This is not CGI or anything, it's actually a physical art piece. It makes use of a ferrofluid and magnetic fields.
wiki A ferrofluid (from the Latin ferrum, meaning iron) is a liquid which becomes strongly polarised in the presence of a magnetic field. It is a colloidal mixture comprising extremely small magnetic particles suspended in a liquid. The particles are coated with a soap or detergent to prevent them from clumping together. Ferrofluids are composed of nanoscale ferromagnetic, or ferrimagnetic, particles suspended in a carrier fluid, usually an organic solvent or water. The ferromagnetic nano-particles are coated with a surfactant to prevent their agglomeration (due to van der Waals and magnetic forces). Although the name may suggest otherwise, ferrofluids do not display ferromagnetism, since they do not retain magnetization in the absence of an externally applied field. In fact, ferrofluids display (bulk-scale) paramagnetism, and are often referred as being "superparamagnetic" due to their large magnetic susceptibility. Permanently magnetized fluids are difficult to create at present.
More on the artist Sachiko Kodama. And a different piece by her. Also; I want one of those!

No comments: