Learn more physics! What would happen if... I have a round
magnet with a hole in it. Then I put a magnet shaped like a
nail, into the center of the other magnet? Would it float? If I
spun the magnet around the inner magnet, would it spin the inner
magnet? Thank you very much. - Matt K. Leiner (age 40) South
Lyon, MI The inner magnet would definitely not float. A
mathematical theorem due to Earnshaw proves that there\'s no way
to get a magnet to float with any scheme like this. The nail
will pull over to the other magnet and get stuck on it. For your
second question, let\'s assume the nail-magnet was tied on a
string or something to keep it in the center, but free to
rotate. What it does when the round magnet spins will then
depend on how the round magnet\'s poles are configured. (I\'m
assuming the poles of the nail are at its ends.) If the round
magnet has, say, the south poles on its inside ring and the
north poles outside, spinning it won\'t change the magnetic
field and won\'t make the nail spin. If the ri