The Curie-effect heat engine in action
Click on image for an animated picture
How we built this model
The three wooden blocks in the photo above are all about the same size
and shape. The large ferrite (ceramic) magnet is resting on two "tea-light"
candles (small candles in little cups). One candle is lit (the other is
just there to hold up the other end of the magnet). The flame just grazes
the near end of the magnet.
Click on image for a larger picture
The moving part of the engine is a bent length of copper wire, with one of our
tiny neodymium-iron-boron magnetic beads
at the center.
If we let the neodymium magnet touch the large magnet, then it will not heat
up as quickly as if it were just a little farther away. So we bend the wire
a little bit, so only the copper wire touches the large magnet, and the small
magnet can sit in the middle of the flame.