New world record with ‘Strongest Resistive Magnet’

Scientists have created what is being reportedly considered as the world’s strongest resistive magnet.

Scientists from the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory (MagLab) invented the world’s strongest resistive magnet that is of 41.4-tesla, breaking records of 38.5-tesla of magnet previous week.

The project took two-and-a-half years to make and costs $3.5 million in funding. This excessively powerful magnet would prove to be helpful for the scientists in the field of medical research, chemical reactions and also quantum computing.

Inspired from the phrase ‘turn it up to 11’ of the mockumentary ‘This is Spinal Tap’, the magnet is dubbed as ‘Project11’ that means going beyond the normal limit of 10, reported Science Alert.

MagLab director Greg Boebinger exclaimed, “With the Project 11 magnet, we asked our engineers to turn it up a notch and see what they could accomplish. This new brute delivers and will enable scientists to make discoveries that lead to better materials and technologies and deepen our understanding of how our world works.”

These types of magnets work when electric current is passed through it. Project11 required 32 megawatts of DC power (equal to get up to 21,500 kettles to boiling point).

This resistive magnet works on the same principals of other resistive magnets. The lab engineers just made improvements in order to maximize the electric current density while keeping costs down by reusing parts from retired magnets, this in turn helped the team achieve the new record.

“This larger magnet allows us to use 50 percent more coils. That enabled power to be distributed more efficiently within the magnet and reach a new record with the same materials,” said the project’s magnet designer Jack Toth.

According to Science Daily, director of lab's Magnet Science and Technology division, Mark Bird expressed, “This new magnet levels the playing field in size, but our superior technology allows us to reach '11’.”